Edward Rotheram

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Edward Rotheram
Edward Rotheram as a Post captain of 3 year seniority
Born	1753 Hexham, Northumberland, England
Died	6 November 1830 Bildeston, Suffolk, England
Occupation	Royal Navy Officer

Captain Edward Rotherham, RN, CB (1753 - 6 November 1830) was a senior British naval officer who serevd for many years during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars, seeing some action, including two major battles. His most important achievement occurred in 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar, at which he was flag captain on the HMS Royal Sovereign to Admiral Sir Cuthbert Collingwood, second in command of the fleet and first ship into action.

1 Career
2 Further reading
3 References
- 3.1 Fictional references
4 External links

[edit] Career

Born in 1753 at Hexham in Northumberland, Rotherham was not of wealthy heritage ^[1] , and so went to sea at an early age as a sailor on colliers sailing from Newcastle. In this manner he gained invaluable experience of the sea and so when in 1777 he made the unusual jump from a merchant seaman to a midshipman in the Royal Navy, he was experienced and educated in seamanship and was able to rapidly rise through the ranks. He became closely acquainted with Lord Howe during his early years at sea, and it was under Howe's influence that he was promoted to lieutenant ^[2] on the HMS Monarch, and then again to commander in 1794 ^[3] after providing valuable and distinguished service on the HMS Culloden in the thick of the battle of the Glorious First of June.

Rotherham had solid if undistinguished service during the next six years, at which point he was made Post Captain ^[4] and commanded a number of ships in an efficient manner resulting in his securement of command of the first rate ship of the line HMS Royal Sovereign, a much-sought after and important position. He did not have a good relationship with his admiral, although he did enjoy a good relationship with Lord Nelson who was in overall command when Royal Sovereign joined the fleet off Cadiz.

During the battle of Trafalgar on the 21 October 1805, Rotherham led his ship into action rapidly and bravely, and Royal Sovereign was the first to breach the Combined Fleet's line, engaging the Spanish flagship Santa Ana. Although other ships joined the fight from both sides, this engagement was the longest and in some ways the mpost draatic of the battle as the two huge ships stood broadside to broadside for several hours. Royal Sovereign lost 141 casualties,^[5] whilst the Santa Ana reportedly took over 300 before she surrendered. After the success, Collingwood left the crippled flagship as he needed to direct the fight elsewhere, and so Rotherham continued to exchange gunfire with passing enemy ships until the fight was over.

After the battle, the frigate HMS Euryalus took the Royal Sovereign in tow and returned her safely to Gibraltar, although the Santa Ana was lost in the storm which followed the battle. Rotherham was given command of the HMS Bellerophon,^[6] whose captain John Cooke had been killed in action, and brought her back to Britain, accompanying the HMS Victory and Nelson's body. At the funeral, Rotherham was a guideon bearer and he also received several gifts of money and valuable swords for his part in the action. He remained in command of the Bellerophon for the next four years, commanding her in the English Channel and the North Sea, before returning to shore in 1809.

Bellerophon was Rotherham's last sea-going command and he settled down in England with his family after this date in semi-retirement. He was occasionally called on for administrative posts, and was commissioner for Greenwich Hospital during 1828 to 1830. In 1815 he had been made a Companion of the Bath,^[7] and was slated for further honours, when in 1830 he died suddenly aged 77. He was buried in the local St Mary Magdelene Church in Bildeston in Suffolk, where his grave and a wall memorial to him are still legible today.