Herbert Sawyer ( 1730 – 1798 ) Herbert Sawyer ( c . 1730 – 4 June 1798 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years War , the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary War . He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral . Early life . Little is known about Sawyer ' s early life , but he entered the navy in 1747 , spending his first six years mostly on the Jamaica Station aboard George Townshend ' s HMS " Gloucester " . He passed his lieutenant ' s examination on 30 August 1753 , when his age was given as ' more than 22 ' , suggesting he was born in or before 1730 . He was promoted to lieutenant on 4 March 1756 , and the following year was serving aboard HMS " Grafton " , which at the time was part of Vice - Admiral Francis Holburne ' s fleet off Louisbourg . Promotion to command . He received his first command , that of the sloop HMS " Happy " on 19 October 1758 , but was soon moved to HMS " Swallow " off the coast of France under the orders of Lord Howe . He took command of HMS " Chesterfield " on 26 December , followed with a transfer to HMS " Active " in February 1759 . He spent the rest of the war aboard her . On 21 May 1762 he and the sloop HMS " Favourite " , the latter commanded by Philemon Pownoll , captured the Spanish treasure ship " Hermione " off Cadiz . A cargo of over £500 , 000 in cash and bullion was secured , of which Sawyer received £65 , 053 13s . 9d . Now extremely wealthy , he married the daughter of a Lisbon merchant . His next appointment came in 1777 , with the command of HMS " Boyne " . He sailed with her the following year to join Rear - Admiral Samuel Barrington off the West Indies , and was present at the repulse of Charles Hector , comte d ' Estaing ' s attempt to capture St Lucia on 15 December that year . Sawyer remained in the Caribbean , and was present at the Battle of Grenada as part of Vice - Admiral John Byron ' s fleet on 6 July 1779 . Sawyer returned to England in the autumn , and was given command of HMS " Namur " in 1780 . He commanded her in the English Channel , and was present at the relief of Gibraltar in April 1781 . He left the " Namur " in December , and by 1783 he was in command of the guardship HMS " Bombay Castle " at Plymouth . On the North American Station . He left the " Namur " in 1785 and was appointed commodore of the North American Station ' s base at Halifax . He took up his post in June , and authorized the frigate HMS " Mercury " to escort a merchant vessel to the American port of Boston to collect a shipment of cattle . This marked the first free visit of a British warship to the port since March 1776 . In 1787 Sawyer had taken part of his fleet to Quebec , where he was embarrassed by a French squadron of three ships of the line and four frigates , which sailed unchallenged along the Nova Scotia coast bound for Boston . His wife Sophia died in Halifax in 1788 and was buried in the crypt at St . Paul ' s Church ( Halifax ) . Soon after he returned to England in August 1788 . Further promotions . Sawyer never returned to sea but continued to rise through the ranks based on his seniority . He was promoted to rear - admiral on 24 September 1788 , vice - admiral on 1 February 1793 and admiral on 1 June 1795 . Poor health meant he was unable to take up any commands . He died in Bath Somerset on 4 June 1798 . His eldest son , also named Herbert Sawyer followed his father into a navy , and also had served in the American Revolution . He too reached the rank of admiral , and even was appointed to his father ' s old command on the North American Station , which he commanded during the War of 1812 .