John Wainwright (Royal Navy officer)

John Wainwright C.B. was an officer in the Royal Navy.

John Wainwright
BornWickham, Hampshire
DiedNovember 4, 1819
Portsmouth, Great Britain
Allegiance Kingdom of Great Britain
 United Kingdom / British Empire
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1783–1819
RankCaptain
Commands held
Battles/wars
AwardsOrder of the Bath
Alma materRoyal Naval Academy
Spouse(s)Harriet Wainwright
ChildrenJames Francis Ballard Wainwright

In 1806, he became captain of the frigate HMS Chiffonne and, in 1809, was the commodore of a squadron sent to suppress pirates in the Persian Gulf.[1]

After having led that joint-services expedition to ‘burn the Pirates out of the Gulf’, he was awarded a scimitar by a grateful emir and a gift ‘for plate’ by the Honourable East India Company. In recompense for the period without the opportunity to capture prizes, he was invited to escort on Chiffonne the 1810 Trade fleet from India to China, involving a lucrative ‘freight’ fee.[2]

In 1814, he captained Admiral Cochrane's flagship, HMS Tonnant, and saw action against the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla of Joshua Barney in the War of 1812.,[1] and subsequently landed some of the Marines who later helped burn Washington.

In 1819, he became lieutenant governor of the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth but died within ten days.[1]

John Wainwright's father, also John, had been an RN Master's Mate at the siege of Quebec, his elder son, also John, was navigating lieutenant on HMS Blossom on the 1825–1828 Beechey expedition through the Bering Strait, and his younger son James Francis Ballard Wainwright C.B. was commissioning captain on HMS Black Prince.[3]

See also

British Warships in the Age of Sail

References

  1. O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Wainwright, John" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray via Wikisource.
  2. 'John Wainwright and family', MG 24 F 125, Finding Aid No. 2333. National Archives of Canada.
  3. 'John Wainwright and family', MG 24 F 125, Finding Aid No. 2333. National Archives of Canada: (Collected letters, transcript by request)


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