John Gore (Royal Navy admiral)

John Gore
Born 9 February 1772
County Kilkenny, Ireland
Died 21 August 1836
Datchet, Buckinghamshire
Allegiance  Kingdom of Great Britain
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1781-1836
Rank Admiral
Commands held
HMS Fleche
HMS Medusa
East Indies and China Station
Nore Command
Battles/wars French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
Awards Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir John Gore, KCB (9 February 1772, County Kilkenny, Ireland 21 August 1836, Datchet, Buckinghamshire) was a British naval commander of the 18th and 19th centuries. His father was Colonel John Gore.

Naval career

Gore joined the Royal Navy in August 1781, as a Captain's Servant, and would have served as a Midshipman, before gaining promotion to Lieutenant on 26 November 1789 and Commander on 24 May 1794.[1] The Royal Navy had just captured the French corvette Fleche at the capture of Bastia, in which Gore had played a significant role and had been injured. The Navy took the corvette into service as HMS Fleche and commissioned her under Gore. He fitted her out and sailed her to Malta where he negotiated with the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc for seamen, supplies, and the like. On 13 September Gore was a witness at the trial of Lieutenant William Walker, commander of the hired armed cutter Rose, on charges that Walker had accepted money from merchants at Bastia to convoy their vessels to leghorn, where the courtmartial took place. Walker was acquitted.[2]

Gore received promotion to post captain on 14 November 1794.[1] When in command of HMS Triton he took part in the successful Action of 16 October 1799 in which two Spanish frigates were captured and more than 2 million silver dollars taken.[3] While commanding the 32-gun frigate HMS Medusa, he took part in the Action of 5 October 1804. Promoted to rear-admiral on 4 December 1813, he became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore from 1818 to 1821.[4] Promoted to vice-admiral on 27 May 1825,[1] he served as Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station from 1831 to 1834.[5]

Family

On 15 August 1808, at St George's, Hanover Square, he married Georgiana Montagu, daughter of Admiral Sir George Montagu and Charlotte Wroughton. The couple had four children:[1]

In fiction, he appears in Hornblower and the Hotspur as the Medusa's captain.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Peerage
  2. Byrn (2009), p.31-3.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 15197. pp. 1093–1095. 22 October 1795. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  4. Stewart, William (2009). "title=Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present". McFarland & Co Inc. p. 145. ISBN 978-0786438099.
  5. William Loney RN
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Charles Rowley
Commander-in-Chief, The Nore
18181821
Succeeded by
Sir Benjamin Hallowell
Preceded by
New Post
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station
18311834
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Capel