South America Station

The South America Station was a formation of the Royal Navy which existed from 1808 to 1838 when it was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of America Station.

Commander-in-Chief
South America
The capture of USS Essex by Phoebe and Cherub off Valparaíso, 28 March 1814
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFormation

Following the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon, the Portuguese court escaped to Brazil with an escort of the Royal Navy under the command of Admiral Sidney Smith. Following the establishment of the Portuguese Court in Rio de Janeiro in early 1808, was shortly followed by the reinforcement of Smith's escort and the establishment of the Brazil or South America Station.

The commander-in-chief heading the formation played a diplomatic role in South America in the early nineteenth century as the British diplomatic service was limited to having a representative in Brazil.[1]

Commanders-in-chief
List of commanders-in-chief, South America (1808–1837)[2][3]
Commander-in-chiefFromUntilNotes
Rear Admiral William Sidney Smith25 January 180817 May 1809
Vice Admiral Michael de Courcy18 May 18091812
Rear Admiral Manley Dixon18121816
Commodore William Bowles181617 May 1819
Commodore Thomas Hardy18 May 181916 November 1823
Rear Admiral George Eyre16 November 18231826
Rear Admiral Robert Otway[4]18261829Later promoted to Admiral, flagship was HMS Ganges
Rear Admiral Thomas Baker9 January 1829January 1833Promoted to vice admiral 10 January 1837
Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour1 January 18339 July 1834Died en route to station
Commodore Francis MasonJuly 183416 September 1834Temporary command after death of Seymour
Vice Admiral Graham Hammond16 September 183417 May 1838Promoted to Vice Admiral 10 January 1837

References
  1. Thienel, Phillip M. (1963). "Review: The Navy and South America, 1801-1823: the Correspondence of the Commanders-in-Chief on the South American Station". The Americas. 20 (2): 223–224. doi:10.2307/979149. ISSN 0003-1615. JSTOR 979149.
  2. Ortiz-Sotelo, Jorge (1998). Peru and the British naval station (1808-1839) (Thesis). University of St Andrews Library. hdl:10023/2958.
  3. Davis, Peter. "Principal Royal Navy Commanders-in-Chief 1830-1899". Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  4. "HMS Ganges circa late 1800s - Wisdom is strength". Retrieved 2010-03-07.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.