# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Phepoe, John

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​PHEPOE. (Retired Commander, 1848. f-p., 12; h-p., 34.)
John Phepoe, born 10 Aug. 1786, is son of John Phepoe, Esq., of Dublin, Colonel of a regiment of the Irish Volunteers of 1782.
This officer entered the Navy 15 May, 1801, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Atlas 98, Capt. Theophilus Jones, attached to the Channel fleet, with which he served until April, 1802. In the following Oct. he joined the Galgo 16, Capt. Michael Dodd, stationed on the coast of Ireland; he next, in May, 1803, became Midshipman of the Minotaur 74, Capt. Chas. John Moore Mansfield, again in the Channel; and in Aug. 1805 he was received on board the Ajax 74, Capts. Wm. Brown, John Pilfold, and Hon. Henry Blackwood. He was in the latter ship when she caught fire and was burnt off the island of Tenedos 14 Feb. 1797; on which occasion he was obliged, in order to save his life, to plunge into the sea, and to support himself, by dint of swimming, until picked up by a boat belonging to H.M.S. Canopus. Being at once received into the Thunderer 74, Capt. John Talbot, he served with Sir John Duckworth at the ensuing passage of the Dardanells, and then accompanied the expedition to Egypt, where he landed and cooperated with the army in the two unsuccessful attacks on Rosetta. From the Thunderer Mr. Phepoe, in Sept. 1808, was transferred to the Warspite 74, commanded by his former Captain, Blackwood, with whom he continued employed on Home service until promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 13 June, 1809. In the following Sept., after having been attached to the flotilla in the operations against Walcheren, he obtained an appointment to the Armide 38, Capts. Lucius Ferdinand Hardyman, Rich. Dalling Dunn, Fras. Temple, and Sir Edw. Thos.Troubridge; in the boats of which ship, aided by those of the Cadmus sloop and Monkey and Daring gun-brigs, we find him, 4 May, 1810, contributing to the destruction of 13 out of a convoy of 17 sail, defended, at the Ile de Ré, by batteries on shore, two armed luggers, and several pinnaces – the loss of the British amounting, on the occasion, to 3 killed and 3 wounded, all belonging to the Armide. In command, 19 Oct. following, of two boats, carrying 22 men, Mr. Phepoe, in company with two other boats under the orders of Lieut. Jas. Couch of the Acasta 40, captured in a calm on the coast of France an American schooner, the Trojan, pierced for 18 guns, but carrying only 4 12-pounder carronades and 2 swivels, with a crew of 22 men. From March, 1813, to March, 1814, he served on the Newfoundland station in the Sybille 44, Capts. Clotworthy Upton and Jas. Sanders. The latter was his last appointment. He accepted his present rank 5 Jan. 1848. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
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​PHEPOE. (Retired Commander, 1848.)
John Phepoe served with the boats of the Armide, and of the Christian VII. 80 and Seine 36, eight in number, under Lieut. Gardiner Henry Guion, in a gallant attempt made, 13 Feb. 1810, to destroy part of a convoy which had got on a reef that projects from the point of Chatelaillon, between Aix and Rochelle. The vessels in question were protected by nine gun-boats, each carrying a 12-pounder carronade and 6 swivels, and rowing from 20 to 30 oars. One of the latter was boarded and carried, with a loss to the enemy of 2 men killed and 3 wounded. Lieut. Guion was promoted for his conduct to the rank of Commander. On the night of 27 Sept. following Mr. Phepoe contributed to the destruction, by the boats of the Armide, the Caledonia 120, and Valiant 74, the whole commanded by Lieut. Arthur Philip Hamilton (whose valour also obtained him promotion), to the capture of two brigs and the destruction of a third, lying at Pointe du Ché, near Rochelle, under a strong battery, which was at the same time stormed and taken by a party of marines.
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