page_title: Edward Knowles (Royal Navy officer)
section_title: Final voyage
hierarchical_section_title: Edward Knowles (Royal Navy officer) / Final voyage
caption_attribution_description: The Peregrine (later renamed the Royal Caroline) in Two Positions off the Coast). Oil on Canvas. Signed and dated. 23 1/4 x 34 1/2 in (59 x 88 cm).
context_page_description: Edward Knowles was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the Seven Years' War.
  Knowles was born into a distinguished naval family, with his father rising to the rank of admiral and receiving a baronetcy for his services. Edward followed him into the navy, and served with several important officers in operations during the Seven Years' War, which he spent mostly in North American waters. He supported the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec and made the acquaintance of the natural philosopher John Robison, who spent some time as his mathematics tutor.
  Knowles was eventually promoted to command his own ship, an elderly and much reworked vessel, which already had a reputation for being difficult to steer. He set off in poor weather to deliver important despatches to the British commands in the Bay of Biscay but never returned. His ship was presumed to have foundered at sea with the loss of all hands.
context_section_description: The imminent declaration of war with Spain necessitated the sending of despatches to the British commands at Belle Isle and Lisbon, and Knowles was entrusted with the task. He rendezvoused with the fleet under Commodore Augustus Keppel off Belle Isle and passed on the news. Keppel attempted to persuade Knowles not to put to sea again owing to the stormy weather, but Knowles convinced Keppel to allow him to continue on. Keppel relented, and Peregrine put to sea. She was never seen again. It was assumed that she had foundered with the loss of all hands on or sometime after 28 December 1761.
caption: The Peregrine (later renamed the Royal Caroline) in Two Positions off the Coast, 1766 by John Cleveley the Elder
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