Leeward Islands Station
The Leeward Islands Station [1] and originally known as the Barbadoes and Leeward Islands Station [2][3] was a formation or command of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at English Harbour,[4] Antigua, Leeward Islands from 1743[5] to 1821.
Leeward Islands Station | |
---|---|
English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour on Antigua | |
Active | 1743–1821 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Navy |
Type | Formation |
Part of | Royal Navy |
Garrison/HQ | Nelson's Dockyard |
History
During the 18th and 19th centuries Antigua served as the headquarters of first the Commander in Chief Barbadoes and Leeward Islands Station then later the Commander in Chief of the Leeward Island Station which was the British navy's important base in the Eastern Caribbean area during the Napoleonic Wars The three most strategically important islands the British utilized on the Leeward Islands Station were Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia and these were the islands they used as naval bases.[6] The Station, was formed in October 1743 [7] as a separate command to the older Jamaica Station[5] to contribute to a permanent British naval presence in the area to protect Britain's sugar producing islands and its convoys. During the Seven Years' War a number of large scale naval actions were conducted by the Royal Navy from this Caribbean base, one of its major engagements was the Battle of the Saintes. The station was in existence from 1743 to 1821 when it was abolished the last commander-in-chief was transferred to the larger North America Station.[8]
Commander-in-Chief, Barbadoes and Leeward Islands
Notes:Incomplete list Included:[8][2]
- Commodore, Charles Knowles, (1743-1744)[9] (also Second-in-Command, Jamaica Station)
- Rear-Admiral, Peter Warren (1744 - 1745) [2]
- Commodore, The Hon. Fitzroy Henry Lee (1745-1746) [2]
- Rear-Admiral, Isaac Townsend, (1744-1746) promoted to VAdm in 1746.[10]
- Commodore, Edward Legge, (1746-1748) [2]
- Rear-Admiral, Henry Osborn, (1748) [2]
- Commodore, Commodore, Francis Holburne, (1748-1752) [2]
- Rear-Admiral Thomas Pye, (1752-1755).[11]
- Commodore Sir Thomas Frankland, (1754).[12][2]
- Commodore, Charles Steevens (1755)[2]
- Commodore Sir Thomas Frankland, (1756-1757).[2]
- Commodore John Moore, (1757-1760).[2]
- Commodore Sir James Douglas, (1760-1761).[13]
- Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, (1761-1763)[14]
- Rear-Admiral, Sir William Burnaby, (1763)[15][2]
- Rear-Admiral Richard Tyrell, (1763).[2]
- Rear-Admiral Robert Swanton, (1763-1764).[16][2]
- Rear-Admiral Richard Tyrell, (1765-1766).[2]
- Vice-Admiral Thomas Pye, (1766-1769).[2]
- Rear-Admiral Robert Man, (1769-1772).[2]
Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands
- Vice-Admiral William Parry, (1772-1775).
- Vice-Admiral James Young, (1775-1778).
- Rear-Admiral Samuel Barrington, (1778-1779).
- Vice-Admiral John Byron, (1779).
- Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, (1779-1780).
- Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, (1780-1781).
- Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, (1781-1782).
- Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, (1782).
- Admiral Hugh Pigot, (1782-1783).
- Rear Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, (1783-1786).
- Commodore Sir Richard Bickerton, (1786-1787).
- Commodore Sir William Parker, (1787-1789).
- Rear-Admiral Sir John Laforey, (1789-1793).
- Rear-Admiral Alan Gardner, (1793).
- Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, (1793-1794).
- Vice-Admiral Benjamin Caldwell, (1794-1795).
- Admiral Sir John Laforey, (1795–96).
- Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian, (1796).
- Rear Admiral Henry Harvey, (1796-1799)
- Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, (1799-1800).
- Rear Admiral Sir John Duckworth, (1800-1801).
- Rear-Admiral Thomas Totty, (1801-1802).
- Commodore Samuel Hood, (1802).
- Commodore Robert Stopford, (1802-1805).
- Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, (1805-1811).
- Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, (1811-1814).
- Rear-Admiral Sir Philip Charles Durham, (1814-1816).
- Rear-Admiral John Harvey, (1816-1818).
- Rear-Admiral Donald Campbell, (1818-1819).
- Commodore Thomas Huskisson, (1819-1820).
- Rear-Admiral William Charles Fahie, (1820-1821).
References
- Ward, Geoff. "A Shift in Focus: The Shift in Naval Warfare in the Caribbean during the Eighteenth Century" (PDF). University of the West Indies, pp.1, 2 September 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- Harrison, Simon. "Commander-in-Chief at Barbados & the Leeward Islands". threedecks.org. S. Harrison. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
Commission and Warrant Books, 1744 to 1773, ADM 6/17-20, National Archives UK
- Richmond, Herbert W. (Herbert William) (1920). "Squadrons in the Plantations:B. Barbados and Leewards Islands Stationed Ships". The Navy in the war of 1739-48. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press. p. 243.
- Ward, Geoff. "Nowhere is Perfect: British Naval Centres on the Leeward Islands Station during the Eighteenth Century" (PDF). fieldresearchcentre.weebly.com. University of the West Indies, pp.1, 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- Sanderson, Michael. "English naval strategy and maritime trade in the Caribbean, 1793 to 1802 Original November 1968" (PDF). kcl.ac.uk. Kings College London, University of London, pp. 5, 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- Ward p.1
- Brietowe Sanderson., Michael W. (November 1968). "Thesis: English naval strategy and maritime trade in the Caribbrean, 1793 - 1802" (PDF). core.ac.uk. Kings College London. p. 5. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- Haydn, Joseph (13 Jun 2008). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.
- Laurens, Henry (1970). The papers of Henry Laurens originally published November 1, 1755-December 31, 1758 ([1st.] ed.). Columbia, South Carolina, United States: Published for the South Carolina Historical Society by the University of South Carolina Press. p. 210. ISBN 9780872491410.
- Schomberg, Issac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace: Vol 5. London, England: T. Egerton. p. 232.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British warships in the age of sail, 1793-1817 : design, construction, careers and fates. Barnsley: Seaforth. p. 144. ISBN 978-1844157006.
- Schomberg, Issac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace: Vol 5. London, England: T. Egerton. p. 235.
- Heslip, Philip. "Finding aid for James Douglas Papers, 1738-1850". umich.edu. Manuscripts Division William L. Clements Library University of Michigan, April 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- Billias, George Athan (1972). The life and correspondence of the late Admiral Lord Rodney. Boston: Gregg Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780839812715.
- Schomberg, Issac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace: Vol 5. London, England: T. Egerton. p. 238.
- "Dictionary of Canadian Biography SWANTON, ROBERT, naval officer". biographi.ca. University of Toronto, 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
Sources
- Billias, George Athan (1972). The life and correspondence of the late Admiral Lord Rodney. Boston: Gregg Press. ISBN 9780839812715.
- Brietowe Sanderson., Michael W. (November 1968). "Thesis: English naval strategy and maritime trade in the Caribbrean, 1793 - 1802" (PDF). core.ac.uk. Kings College London.
- Haydn, Joseph (1851). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain. Digitized by the University of Michigan. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
- Heslip, Philip. (2010) "Finding aid for James Douglas Papers, 1738-1850". umich.edu. Manuscripts Division William L. Clements Library University of Michigan.
- Laurens, Henry (1970). The papers of Henry Laurens originally published November 1, 1755 – December 31, 1758 ([1st.] ed.). Columbia, South Carolina, United States: Published for the South Carolina Historical Society by the University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9780872491410.
- Miller, Nathan. Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815 . New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000.
- Rodger, N.A.M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2004.
- Ward, Geoff. (2011) "Nowhere is Perfect: British Naval Centres on the Leeward Islands Station during the Eighteenth Century" (PDF). University of the West Indies.
- Richmond, Herbert W. (Herbert William) (1920). "Squadrons in the Plantations:B. Barbados and Leewards Islands Stationed Ships". The Navy in the war of 1739–48. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press.
- Schomberg, Issac (1802). Naval Chronology: Or, An Historical Summary of Naval & Maritime Events, from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace: Vol 5. London, England: T. Egerton.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British warships in the age of sail, 1793-1817 : design, construction, careers and fates. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 1844157008