James Richard Dacres

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Vice Admiral James Richard Dacres RN (1788-1853) was an English naval officer, born at Lowestoft. He entered the navy in 1796, accompanied the expedition sent against Ferrol, and in 1806 was promoted captain and put in command of the sloop Bacchante. After distinguished service he was in 1811 transferred to the Guerrière. Upon the loss of that vessel in the famous contest with the Constitution he was taken aboard the latter - he and Captain Isaac Hull were intimate friends - and subsequently paroled at Boston. By the court-martial assembled in 1812 he was honorably acquitted of all blame for the surrender of his vessel. In 1815, while commanding the Tiber, he captured the Leo, an American privateer. He became a rear admiral in 1838, commander at the Cape of Good Hope in 1845, and vice admiral in 1848.

• This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.