Curtis Barnett Curtis Barnett ( died 2 May 1746 ) , was an officer of the Royal Navy . He served during the War of the Austrian Succession , commanding ships in the Mediterranean and in the English Channel , before being appointed a commodore and sent to the East Indies with a squadron . He served with moderate success , but died after a short illness on board a British ship at Fort St . David , Cuddalore in 1746 . Family and early life . Barnett was reputedly the son of Benjamin Barnett , first lieutenant of . Benjamin was lost with his ship when she was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands on 27 November 1703 , in the Great Storm of 1703 . Curtis Barnett ' s date of birth and his early service is not recorded ; but he was already a lieutenant of some standing when , in 1726 , he was appointed to , Sir Charles Wager ' s flagship in the Baltic cruise of that year , during which he seems to have served on the personal staff of the admiral , in a capacity afterwards known as a flag - lieutenancy . In the summer of 1730 Barnett was appointed to command the sloop on the coast of Ireland , and early in the following year he was promoted to command the frigate , then fitting out for the Mediterranean as part of the fleet under Admiral Sir Charles Wager . In October he was at Leghorn and Wager sent him with despatches for the king of Spain , then at Seville . ‘ The despatches I brought , ’ he reported to the Admiralty , ‘ gave great satisfaction to the king of Spain , who was pleased to present me with a diamond ring , and ordered his ministers to thank me for my diligence and despatch ’ ( 8 November 1731 ) . On his return through the Straits on 24 November 1731 , he encountered a French merchant ship , which fired at " Bideford " , taking her for a Sallee rover , only to be forced to apologize after a short action . Barnett continued in " Bideford " as part of the Mediterranean Fleet for three years , returning home in August 1734 ; and in the following February commissioned the 60 - gun , for service as a guardship in the Downs . Later commands . On 1 August 1737 he turned over to the 60 - gun , and continued in the English Channel for some time after the declaration of war with Spain , when , in October 1740 , he was sent out to join Admiral Nicholas Haddock off Cadiz . In July 1741 he was detached with the 40 - gun ships and to cruise in the Straits ; and on the night of the 25 July chased and came up with three French men - of - war homeward bound from the West Indies — the 60 - gun " Borée " , 40 - gun " Aquilon " , and 26 - gun " Flore " . Barnett hailed the " Aquilon " ; she replied they were French from Martinique . Barnett suspected that they were Spaniards . So , after repeated warnings , he fired into the " Aquilon " ; she replied with a broadside , and a sharp action began . The " Folkestone " only was in company ; but about daybreak the " Faversham " came up , when the Frenchmen brought to , and hoisted their colours . Barnett on this sent a boat on board the " Borée " , to explain to the French commodore , M . de Caylus , that what had happened was due to the captain of the " Aquilon " , who had behaved with great want of politeness . M . de Caylus , after some discussion , said that from the manner of the English attack he had concluded there was war between the two countries , and desired the " Dragon " s officer to declare , on his honour , that there was not ; and so the ships separated . It was an unfortunate affair ; but there is no reason to suppose it other than a mistake on both sides . When Haddock was compelled by ill - health to leave the fleet , the command devolved for a short time on Rear - Admiral Richard Lestock , between whom and Barnett a difference of opinion gave rise to a correspondence which , viewed by the light of after events , seems to have an almost prophetic significance . It would appear that in manœuvring the fleet , the " Dragon " and some of the other ships had not got into their station with that quickness which the admiral wished , and he accordingly wrote a severe reprimand to their respective captains , on 14 April 1742 . Barnett replied that it was an understood thing that the ships kept with their own divisions . Lestock , in reply , asked , ‘ Is it your duty to see two - thirds of the squadron sacrificed to the enemy when you could and did not join in the battle ? Such an account would tell but ill to our country after the loss of a battle ; but I hope such a thing can never happen to an Englishman . ’ Commodore . A few months afterwards " Dragon " returned to England , and in March 1742 – 3 Barnett was appointed to for Channel service , and was with the fleet under Sir John Norris when the French made their failed attempt to invade and were scattered off Dungeness , on 24 February 1743 – 4 . A few weeks later he turned over to the 50 - gun , and was appointed commodore of a small squadron ordered to the East Indies . With this he put to sea on 1 May 1744 , and on the 26th anchored in Porto Praya . There was already in the bay a Spanish privateer , which at first Barnett had no intention of disturbing , out of respect to the neutrality of Portugal ; but being shortly after informed that this same privateer had taken and burnt some English vessels at the Isle of May , he sent his boats on board and took possession of her and her prizes without delay . The prizes he restored to their former owners , and finally sold the privateer to the Portuguese for 1 , 200 dollars . After they had passed St . Paul ' s the squadron was divided , part of it making for the Straits of Malacca ; whilst Barnett , in " Deptford " , with the 50 - gun , went through the Straits of Sunda to Batavia , and thence for a cruise in the Straits of Banca , where , on 26 January 1744 – 5 , they encountered , and after some resistance captured , three large French East Indiamen , richly laden from China . The governor of Batavia readily bought them for 92 , 000l . , cash down , which was at once shared out amongst the ships ' companies . But with these captures the war in Indian seas was for the time ended . The French had no ships of war to fight with , no more merchant ships to seize , and Barnett ' s force was not equal to any operations on shore , even if he had been instructed or advised to attempt them . Last command . The year 1745 was spent in a vague cruise in the Bay of Bengal , backwards and forwards from Ceylon to the mouths of the Ganges ; and though two 50 - gun ships , and , came out as a reinforcement , " Deptford " and one of the frigates were sent home with a convoy . For the time being the war was at a standstill ; and a few weeks before a French squadron appeared on the station , Barnett died onboard " Harwich " at Fort St . David , Cuddalore , on 2 May 1746 , after a few days ' sickness . He had married , on 13 May 1725 , Elizabeth , a daughter of Benjamin Rosewell , Esq . , and had two surviving sons , Charles ( 1733 - 1811 ) , later of Stratton Park , Biggleswade , and Benjamin ( 1735 - 1805 ) , a banker , ancestor of the Barnetts of Glympton Park .