Robert Linzee Robert Linzee ( 1739 – 4 October 1804 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence , and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Linzee entered the navy and was promoted to lieutenant during the Seven Years ' War . He was advanced to his own commands shortly before the outbreak of the American War of Independence and served off the North American coast and in the Caribbean during that conflict . He saw important service against privateer s as a frigate captain before advancing to command a ship of the line despite the loss of one of his ships . He saw action in several important battles , commanding a ship at the Battle of the Saintes and at the Battle of the Mona Passage . Left without a ship after the peace , he briefly commissioned a ship during the Spanish Armament , but paid her off after the crisis passed . He was back in service after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars , taking a ship out to the Mediterranean , and quickly being appointed a commodore with orders to assist the Corsican patriots against the French . Linzee commanded a small squadron in the area supporting Corsican and British efforts to dislodge the French . He later became a junior flag officer in the Mediterranean Fleet . He fought in two fleet actions in 1795 , at Genoa and then at Hyères Islands . He returned to Britain shortly after Sir John Jervis took over command in the Mediterranean . He did not serve at sea again , though he continued to be promoted , rising to the rank of admiral of the blue before his death in 1804 . Family and early life . Robert Linzee was born in Portsmouth , Hampshire in 1739 , the youngest child of five sons and five daughters born to Edward Linzee and his wife Anne Newnham . Edward Linzee was a burgess and several times mayor of Portsmouth and the Linzees were a significant local family . Robert Linzee was baptised on 13 February 1740 and entered the navy and saw service during the Seven Years ' War , being promoted to lieutenant on 29 January 1761 . He was advanced to commander on 25 November 1768 and given command of the 10 - gun sloop , based at Boston in 1769 . His promotion to post - captain followed soon after , on 3 October 1770 , and took command of the 50 - gun that month . " Romney " was at this time flying the broad pennant of Commodore Samuel Hood , and Linzee remained in command until she was paid off in March 1771 . American War of Independence . In February 1775 he took command of the new 28 - gun sixth rate and sailed for Newfoundland in May that year . He participated in the Relief of Quebec the following year , before undertaking cruises against American shipping . " Surprize " captured the American privateer s " Maria " , on 7 May , and " Gaspee " , on 15 May 1776 . Linzee returned to Newfoundland in January the following year , spending 1777 and part of 1778 off the North American coast , capturing another American privateer , " Harlequin " , on 7 September 1778 . Linzee then took " Suprize " back to Britain to be refitted and coppered . Linzee ' s next command , from 1780 , was the 32 - gun . He was sent out as a convoy escort under the command of Captain Sir John Moutray , and managed to escape when the convoy was largely overwhelmed and captured on 9 August 1780 by a Spanish fleet under Luis de Córdova y Córdova . Linzee then joined the squadron dispatched to the West Indies under Samuel Hood in November 1780 , and remained serving in the Leeward Islands the following year . On 12 May 1781 " Thetis " struck a rock off Saint Lucia and was wrecked . Linzee ' s career survived the customary court martial for the loss of his ship and in November 1781 he commissioned the 74 - gun for service . He resumed his service in the Caribbean by returning to the Leeward Islands in February 1782 , and went on to see action in a number of important engagements between British and French fleets . He was present with Admiral Sir George Rodney ' s fleet at the first indecisive clash with the Comte de Grasse ' s force in the Dominica Channel on 9 April , and then again at Rodney ' s decisive victory over de Grasse three days later at the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April . Linzee was one of those dispatched a few days later under Sir Samuel Hood to search for more French ships , and was in action again on 19 April at the Battle of the Mona Passage . In the British victory that resulted , " Magnificent " played a significant role in chasing down and capturing the 32 - gun frigate " Aimable " , at the cost to herself of four killed and eight wounded . Linzee left the Caribbean for North America in July 1782 with Admiral Hugh Pigot ' s force , and spent September and October at New York . He participated in the blockade of Cap - François in November 1782 , and on 12 February 1783 " Magnificent " sailed from Gros Islet Bay on a cruise in company with the 64 - gun ships and . On 15 February 1783 " Magnificent " sighted the 36 - gun French frigate " Concorde " and gave chase . She was close enough to identify the mysterious ship as a frigate by 18 : 00 , and by 20 : 00 as darkness fell " Concorde " opened fire on her pursuer with her stern guns . " Magnificent " overhauled the French ship by 21 : 15 , and after fifteen minutes forced her to strike her colours . " Magnificent " took possession of " Concorde " , described as carrying 36 guns and 300 men and under the command of M . le Chevalier du Clesmaur . Shortly after her surrender the " Concorde " s maintopsail caught fire , forcing the crew to cut away the mainmast to extinguish it . " Prudent " and " St Albans " came up two hours later and " Magnificent " towed " Concorde " to St . John ' s , Antigua . The American War of Independence ended shortly afterwards , and Linzee took " Magnificent " back to Britain to be paid off . Peace and French Revolutionary Wars . The peace between the end of the American War of Independence in 1783 and the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 resulted in the drawdown of the navy , and Linzee does not appear to have had any commands except for a short period during the Spanish Armament in early 1790 . He commissioned the 74 - gun in May 1790 , and sailed her from Portsmouth to St Helens in June to join the Channel Fleet under Samuel Barrington , and later Lord Howe . The crisis eventually passed without breaking into open war , and Linzee duly paid " Saturn " off in September 1791 . Linzee was appointed a Colonel of Marines in March 1793 , shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars . He was given command of the 74 - gun that month , and went out to join Lord Hood ' s fleet off Toulon in April . He supported the defence of Toulon , and was appointed a commodore in September , raising his broad pennant aboard " Alcide " . Hood then dispatched him with a small force , consisting of the 74 - gun ships HMS " Alcide " and , the 64 - gun , the 32 - gun and the 28 - gun , to support the Corsican insurgents under General Pasquale Paoli . The squadron carried out several attacks on fortified French positions , but the British could render little material assistance until the landing of an expeditionary force under Lieutenant - General David Dundas and the reinforcement of the British blockade with extra ships from the Mediterranean Fleet . In one such attack , on 30 September 1793 , Linzee took his squadron in to bombard Forneille , but suffered a number of casualties without inflicting appreciable damage . Linzee was then sent with his force to Tunis to attempt to capture or destroy the French 74 - gun " Duquesne " and some gunboats , but the dey refused to allow any violation of his neutrality . Flag rank . Linzee was promoted to rear - admiral of the white on 12 April 1794 . He remained with " Alcide " , passing command of her to his flag captain , Thomas Shivers . Linzee shifted his flag later that year to the 98 - gun , at first commanded by Captain Edward Cooke , and then from October by Captain William Shield . Linzee remained active in the operations off Corsica during this time . While anchored in San Fiorenzo Bay on 10 November 1794 , a mutiny broke out aboard his ship . The mutineers declared that they were unhappy with the admiral , captain , first lieutenant and boatswain . Hotham , Rear - Admiral Hyde Parker , and several senior captains went aboard " Windsor Castle " to try to persuade the men to return to their duties . Shield requested a court martial to investigate his conduct , which was granted and honourably acquitted him . The mutiny was suppressed in time , the mutineers being pardoned by Hotham , and shortly after this Shield left the ship and was replaced by Captain John Gore , while a new first lieutenant and boatswain were also appointed . Linzee then went on to serve as one of the junior flag officers of the Mediterranean Fleet , seeing action under Hood ' s replacement , Lord Hotham . Still flying his flag aboard " Windsor Castle " Linzee was in action at the Naval Battle of Genoa on 14 March , and the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands on 13 July 1795 . He had been promoted to vice - admiral shortly before the latter battle , on 1 June 1795 . He briefly flew his flag aboard the 100 - gun between October and November 1795 , in the short interim between Hotham ' s departure , and the arrival of the new commander , Admiral Sir John Jervis . After serving for a brief period under Jervis , Linzee finally returned to Britain aboard in June 1796 , escorting several merchant convoys . Linzee appears to have had no further active commands , although he was promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue on 1 January 1801 . Admiral Robert Linzee died on 4 October 1804 , at the age of 64 , at Wickham , Hampshire . He was buried in the church there . Family and issue . Linzee was twice married . He married his first wife , Ann Redstone , on 9 October 1771 . She died on 26 July 1781 , and Robert remarried on 2 February 1792 , uniting with the 21 - year old Mary Grant . She survived her husband , and later remarried . Robert Linzee had a single son with his first wife , born circa 1774 and named Edward Linzee . Edward did not follow his father into the navy , but entered the Church .