Charles Penrose (Royal Navy officer)

Penrose joined the Royal Navy in 1775.[1] He took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1781[1] and the capture of Martinique in 1793.[1] In 1794 he became Commander in HMS Lynx.[1] He later commanded HMS Cleopatra, HMS Resolution, HMS Sans Pareil and HMS Carnatic.[1]

During 1813 he commanded a small squadron operating off northern Spain and south-western France[1] with his flag in HMS Porcupine.[2] He coordinated naval support for the crossing of the Adour River in early 1814 that allowed the Anglo-Portuguese Army to isolate and invest Bayonne.[3]

A chart of the Mediterranean with the tracks of the different ships bearing the flag of the Rear Admiral, 1814-18

He went on to be become Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in Autumn 1814.[1] He remained in this role until May 1815 when Viscount Exmouth reclaimed his former position again.[1] Penrose then accepted the position of Second-in-Command under Exmouth but was appointed overall Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet again in May 1816.[1] He retired in 1819.[1]

In 1787 he married Elizabeth Trevenen; they had three daughters.[1]

• Nauticus (1943). "Sir Charles Vinicombe Penrose". Mariner's Mirror. Cambridge, UK: Society for Nautical Research. 29 (April): 92–99. doi:10.1080/00253359.1943.10658832.
• Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2nd edition, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.