Everything about Thomas Graves totally explained
» This article is about Sir Thomas Graves, knight of the Order of Bath. For information on his cousin, The Lord Graves, see Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves.
Admiral Sir Thomas Graves KB RN (1747?–1814), admiral, third son of the Rev. John Graves of Castle Dawson, Ireland, was nephew of Admiral
Samuel Graves, and first cousin once removed of
Admiral Thomas, Lord Graves.
Graves' three brothers all served as captains in the navy, becoming admirals on the superannuated list. Thomas entered the navy at a very early age, and served during the
seven years' war with his uncle Samuel on board the
Scorpion,
Duke, and
Venus. After the peace he was appointed to the
Antelope with his cousin Thomas, whom he followed to the
Edgar, and by whom, in 1765, while on the coast of Africa, he was promoted to be lieutenant of the
Shannon. It is stated in Foster's ‘Peerage’ that he was born in 1752, a date incompatible with the facts of his known service: by the regulations of the navy he was bound to be twenty years old at the date of his promotion, and though the order was often grossly infringed, it's highly improbable that he was only thirteen: it may fairly be assumed that he was at least eighteen in 1765.
In 1770 Graves was lieutenant of the
Arethusa, and in 1773 was appointed to the
Racehorse with Captain
Phipps for the voyage of discovery in the
Arctic Seas. In the following year he went out to
North America with his uncle Samuel, and was appointed by him to command the
Diana, one of the small schooners employed for the prevention of smuggling. She had thirty men, with an armament of four 2-pounders, and on 27 May 1775, being sent from
Boston into the Charles river, was attacked by a large force of insurgents, whose numbers swelled till they reached a total of something like two thousand men, with two field-pieces. It fell calm, and towards midnight, as the tide ebbed, the
Diana took the ground, and lay over on her side, when the colonial forces succeeded in setting her on fire, and the small crew, after a gallant defence, were compelled to abandon her, Graves having been first severely burnt, as well as his brother John, then a lieutenant of the
Preston flagship, who had been sent in one of the Preston's boats to the
Diana's support (BEATSON, Nav. and Mil. Mem. iv. 72).
After this Graves continued to be employed in command of other tenders in the neighbourhood of
Boston and
Rhode Island till, on the recall of his uncle, he rejoined the
Preston and returned to England; but was again sent out to the North American station in the same ship, commanded by Commodore Hotham. In 1779 he was promoted to the command of the
Savage sloop on the West Indian and North American stations, and in May 1781 he was advanced to post rank. In the temporary absence of Commodore
Edmund Affleck, he commanded the
Bedford in the action of 5 Sept., off the Chesapeake (→
Battle of the Chesapeake), and continuing afterwards in the
Bedford, as Affleck's flag captain, was present in the
engagement at St. Kitts on 26 January 1782, and in the actions to leeward of
Dominica on 9 and 12 April, in which last the
Bedford had a very distinguished part.
In the following autumn Graves was appointed to the
Magicienne frigate, in which, on 2 January 1783, he fought a very severe action with the French
Sybille, a frigate of superior force, but encumbered with a second ship's company which she was carrying to the Chesapeake. Both frigates were reduced to a wreck, and so parted; the
Magicienne to get to Jamaica a fortnight later; the
Sybille to be captured on 22 Jan. by the
Hussar [see
Thomas McNamara Russell]. During the peace Graves spent much of his time in France, and in the early years of the
revolutionary war had no employment. It wasn't till October 1800 that he was appointed to command the
Cumberland of 74 guns, in the Channel fleet, under the orders of
Lord St. Vincent. This was only for a few months; for on 1 January 1801 he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the white, and in March hoisted his flag on board the
Polyphemus of 64 guns, one of the fleet proceeding to the Baltic with
Sir Hyde Parker (1739–1807).
Graves afterwards shifted his flag to the
Defiance, and in her was second in command under
Lord Nelson at the
battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801. For his services on this important occasion he received the thanks of parliament, and was nominated by the king a knight of the
order of the Bath. Towards the end of July the fleet quitted the Baltic, and on its return to England Graves, who had been in very bad health during the greater part of the campaign, retired from active service. The
Foudroyant carried his flag in the
Bay of Biscay from October 1804 to February 1805 (→
Christopher Nesham).
He became a vice-admiral on 9 November 1805, admiral on 2 August 1812, and died at his house near
Honiton in 1814. He was twice married, but had only one daughter. His portrait by
Northcote is in the
National Maritime Museum at
Greenwich.
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