Richard Grindall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Grindall
Born	1750 Holborn, London, England
Died	23 May 1820 Wickham, Hampshire, England
Occupation	Royal Navy Officer

Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Grindall, KCB (1750 - 23 May 1820) was an officer in the British Royal Navy who undistinguished career during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars was highlighted by his presence at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when despite being cursed with the slow and ungainly 98 gun HMS Prince was instrumental in the final stages of the battle and especially in the chaotic storm which followed, when many of the British fleet would have been lost but for the efforts of Grindall and other captains of largely undamaged ships.

1 Biography
2 Further reading
3 Fiction
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in 1750, Grindall had a late initiation to the Royal Navy, only making lieutenant ^[1] in 1776, a full eight years past the date most of his contemporaries had reached that rank. Almost his entire service was spent in ships of the line especially flagships, including the HMS Barfleur, Samuel Hood's flagship in the West Indies during 1781^[2]. In this ship he saw his first action off Martinique and was promoted two year later to Post Captain.^[3]

The outbreak of the Revolutionary War saw him in command of the frigate HMS Thalia, but after an uneventful time in command he was transferred to the HMS Irresistible in 1795 and was engaged with the French Brest fleet in the battle of Groix. The next eight years was slow and uneventful for Grindall, consisting of constant blockade and convoy work and little chance for action or excitement. Following the Peace of Amiens, this seemed likely to continue, as he was given the huge Prince, which had a reputation for "sailing like a haystack". This unfortunately proved to be the case, and the boring blockade duty continued, joining Nelson off Cadiz in 1805. It was on the 21 October that the combined Franco-Spainsh fleet attempted to escape and Grindall lined up in Collingwood's division to attack them.

Unfortunately for Grindall's hopes of action, the ship was such an awful sailer that she was passed by her whole division, and took over two hours to cover the two or three miles to reach the battle. By the time she arrived most of the enemy fleet was in British hands or had fled, leaving few targets for the Prince's massive broadsides. She did fire on the Spanish flagship Principe de Asturias and the already blazing Achille but was not attacked and suffered no damage or casualties. Making the most of his unique position, Grindall immediately launched boats and rescued hundreds of struggling survivors in the water, including many from the sinking Achille.

In the week of ferocious storms which followed the battle the sturdy Prince was invaluable, providing replacement stores to more battered ships and towing those that needed it. She also played the humanitarian very successfully, at one point saving 350 men from the sinking Santissima Trinidad who would otherwise have drowned. When his laden ship arrived at Gibraltar, it was ready to sail again in a matter of hours.

Thanks to his good long service record, Grindall was made a Rear-Admiral^[4] and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath ^[5] in the general promotion which followed the action on the 9 November. This however spelt doom for his career, as so many admirals were created that not enough posts could be found for them, and Grindall was one of the promoted men who never commanded at sea again, taking a shore appointment in late 1805 and retiring with his family soon afterwards as a Vice-Admiral^[6]. His retiremnet was a difficult one however, as two of his sons who had joined the navy in their father's footsteps, Edmund and Festing Horatio ^[7], died in 1811 and 1812 from unconnected illness. When Richard Grindall died in Wickham in 1820 he was laid to rest next to them ^[8], joined by his wafe Katherine in 1831.