John Conn
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| John Conn | |
| Born | 1764 Devon, England |
|---|---|
| Died | 4 May 1810 Off the coast of Bermuda |
| Cause of death | Drown |
| Nationality |  English |
| Occupation | Royal Navy Officer |
Captain John Conn R.N. (August 1764 - 4 May 1810) was a senior captain in the Royal Navy, whose shining career included service at the battles of the Saintes, the Glorious First of June, Copenhagen and Trafalgar ended tragically in a shipboard accident before he could reap the rewards of his long service. Conn could also claim membership of Nelson's "Band of Brothers", a clique of dashing naval officers who participated in Nelson's campaigns during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as a close friendship with the admiral himself, who once said: A better or more zealous officer than Captain Conn is not in His Majesty's service.
Born to a Royal Navy warrant officer of Irish extraction in Devon on 1764, Conn gained first hand experience of the sea at twelve on his father's ship HMS Weazel, before securing a place on HMS Arrogant as a midshipman on board which he saw action at the battle of the Saintes in 1782. In 1788 he was made a lieutenant but had to wait five years before being given a good position [1], using the intervening time to get married to Margaret, a vicar's daughter. Serving aboard the flagship HMS Royal Sovereign at the Glorious FIrst of June, he came to the attention of Admiral Lord Howe and further distinguished himself in 1798 in HMS Foudroyant at the battle of Donegal which resulted in the destruction of a French invasion fleet headed for Ireland. In 1801 As a commander [2] at the first battle of Copenhagen, his expertise with bomb vessels caused terrible damage to the Danish fleet, and he participated in Nelson's disastrous attack on the French invasion force in Boulogne shortly afterwards, gaining his commanding officers attention and respect.
Promoted to Post Captain in 1802[3] , Conn commanded the veteran ship HMS Culloden accompanied by his nine year old son Henry, before transferring to the French prize ship HMS Canopus and being specially requested by Nelson in the Mediterranean. In 1805 he was given temporary command of the first rate flagship HMS Victory and his old ship HMS Royal Sovereign whilst their commanders were on leave and further contributed to his reputation as a reliable and steady officer. On the 10 October he returned the Royal Sovereign to Admiral Collingwood and was given the fast new second rate HMS Dreadnought to command.
Eleven days later Conn and his crew where thrown into battle as the Franco-Spanish fleet attempted to break out of Cadiz. Situated halfway down Collongwood's division, Conn struggled to reach the action, only getting there around the time Nelson was mortally wounded in the northern division. Making up for the delay, Dreadnought tangled with the San Juan Nepomuceno, rescuing the battered HMS Bellerophon, killing the Spanish captain Cosmé Damián Churruca and forcing his ship to surrender. Charging on from this victory, the Dreadnought engaged the Spanish flagship Principe de Asturias, mortally wounding the Spanish admiral, but being unable to defeat the enemy, which succeeded in escaping back to Cadiz. Conn even managed to rescue his prize, the San Juan Nepomuceno being one of only four captured enemy ships to survive the storm.
Following the battle, in which Dreadnought suffered 33 casualties, Conn continued in service taking over the massive 112 gun HMS San Josef and then the 120 gun HMS Hibernia as flag captain before moving as a commodore to the West Indies in HMS Swiftsure in 1810. Admirals' rank and the honours which came with it were surely not far away when tagedy struck on the 4 May when during the chase of a small French ship near Bermuda, Conn became overeager, slipped and fell overboard. Swiftsure was halted and a search was conducted but Conn had drowned before help arrived. His passing was mourned in Britain and especially in the Navy where he was a popular and respected figure. Sir John Borlase Warren, an old commander and friend, expressed regret at the death of so deserving an officer as Captain Conn.
[edit] Further reading
- The Trafalgar Captains, Colin White and the 1805 Club, Chatham Publishing, London, 2005, ISBN 1-86176-247-X
