# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Dunn, David

Layout 4
​DUNN, Kt., K.C.H. (Captain, 1814. f-p., 26; h-p., 21.)
Sir David Dunn is brother of the late Robt. Dunn, Esq., Surgeon, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 30 April, 1800, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Jason 36, Capts. Joseph Sydney Yorke and Hon. John Murray, with the latter of whom he was wrecked, as Midshipman, off the coast of France, and taken prisoner, 21 July, 1801. In Aug. of the same year, having been liberated, he rejoined Capt. Yorke on board the Canada 74, in which ship he continued until transferred, 11 May, 1802, to the Donegal 74, Capts. Sir Rich. John Strachan and Pulteney Malcolm. During the four following years we find Mr. Dunn assisting at the capture, in 1804, of the Spanish 44-gun frigate Amfitrite, and of a ship with a cargo on board worth 200,000l. – next accompanying Lord Nelson in pursuit of the combined fleets to the West Indies and back in 1805 – participating also in the capture of El Rayo of 100 guns, one of the ships recently defeated at Trafalgar – and finally contributing to the victory gained by Sir John Thos. Duckworth, off St. Domingo, 6 Feb. 1806. After a further servitude of 12 months in the Channel on board the Hibernia and Ville de Paris, flag-ships of Earl St. Vincent and Lord Gardner, he became Acting-Lieutenant, 1 Sept. 1807, of the Warrior 74, Capt. John Wm. Spranger, on the Mediterranean station, where he was ultimately confirmed by commission dated 12 July, 1808. Subsequently to the surrender of the islands of Ischia and Procida, Mr. Dunn (who, during his attachment to the Warrior, was also employed in command of a gun-boat at the defence of Sicily, and the reduction of Zante and Cephalonia) removed, as First-Lieutenant, in Oct. 1810, to the Amphion 32, Capt. Wm. Hoste. While in that frigate he was severely wounded in the memorable action off Lissa, 13 March, 1811, when a British squadron, carrying in the whole 156 guns and 879 men, completely routed, after a battle of six hours, and a loss to the Amphion of 15 killed and 47 wounded, a Franco-Venetian armament, whose force amounted to 284 guns and 2655 men. Being rewarded for his most “zealous, brave, and intelligent” conduct on the occasion with a Commander’s commission, dated back to the day of the action, Capt. Dunn, on 24 Nov. in the same year, assumed the acting-captaincy of the Bacchante 38, which he retained until appointed, 21 March, 1812, to the Mermaid 32, armée en flûte. Continuing in the Mediterranean and Adriatic, he particularly distinguished himself, in Oct. and Dec. 1813, by his assiduity at the siege of Trieste, and his exertions in forwarding everything that was necessary to the landed party during the unsuccessful attack on Leghorn. As a Post-Captain, to which rank he was elevated 7 June, 1814, Capt. Dunn’s appointments appear to have been – 6 Jan. and 28 Nov. 1824, to the Jupiter 60, and Samarang 28, employed on the Halifax and Cape of Good Hope stations – 2 April, 1831, to the Curaçoa 26, which he paid off, after intermediately serving in the East Indies, in the summer of 1835 – and, 2 April, 1840, to the Vanguard 80, successively stationed in the Mediterranean and off Lisbon. He has been on half-pay since 1843.
Sir David Dunn received the honour of ​knighthood 12 Aug. 1835, and was nominated a K.C.H. 1 Jan. 1837. He married, 13 April, 1838, Louisa Henrietta, daughter of the late Gerard Montagu, Esq. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1811, p. 894.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1813-14, pp. 2478, 179.