Samuel Pechell Rear - Admiral Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell , 3rd Baronet CB , KCH , FRS ( 1 September 1785 – 3 November 1849 ) was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century . Although he served in several celebrated naval actions of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars his most important achievements were made while serving as a Lord of the Admiralty , pioneering the science and instruction of rapid and accurate gunnery in the Royal Navy through training facilities and manuals . In addition to his work at the Admiralty , Pechell served in the House of Commons for two constituencies and was on good terms with King William IV , who supported his efforts to improve standards of gunnery and returned him to the Admiralty in 1839 after a five year absence caused by his support for the Whig government . In 1826 he inherited the Pechell Baronetcy from his father , but died childless and the title passed to his brother George . Life . Pechell was born in Ireland in 1785 , the son of Sir Thomas Brooke Pechell and his wife Charlotte . Pechell was well connected in military circles : his father was a senior army officer , as were both his grandfathers , Sir Paul Pechell and Sir John Clavering . His uncle was John Borlase Warren , later to become a senior Royal Navy officer . His younger brother , George Pechell would also become a prominent naval officer . Aged 11 , Pechell joined the Royal Navy under the guidance of his uncle , joining HMS " Pomone " in 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars . The following year he moved to HMS " Phoebe " , commanded by Captain Robert Barlow and there remained for the next four years . Under Barlow , Pechell was involved in two significant frigate actions , when " Phoebe " captured the French frigate " Néréide " at the Action of 21 December 1797 and then the " Africaine " at the Action of 19 February 1801 . For his actions in these engagements , Pechell was highly praised and promoted , following Barlow into HMS " Triumph " in the aftermath of the " Africaine " action and then moving to HMS " Active " during the Peace of Amiens in 1803 as a lieutenant . In January 1806 , Pechell joined his uncle ' s flagship HMS " Foudroyant " and was present at the defeat of the French squadron under Admiral Charles Linois at the Action of 13 March 1806 . In April 1807 , Pechell was given his first independent command , in charge of the brig HMS " Ferret " operating from Jamaica . In June 1808 , he was promoted to post captain and took command of the frigate HMS " Cleopatra " , in which he joined the squadron being assembled at Barbados for operations against the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe . It was while blockading the latter that he served in his most celebrated battle , the Action of 22 January 1809 . The French frigate " Topaze " had been forced to take shelter under a gun battery off Pointe - Noire , Guadeloupe , but had been spotted by Pechell ' s blockade force . Despite fire from the shore , Pechell attacked immediately and brought " Cleopatra " close inshore to engage " Topaze " from close range . Pechell ' s dispositions were so good that " Topaze " was soon unable to respond , and the arrival of two other Royal Navy ships allowed him to bring his prize out of the bay successfully . The following month , " Cleopatra " performed a supporting role in the successful invasion of Martinique and later in the year the ship returned to European waters , Pechell briefly moving to HMS " Guerriere " before returning to " Cleopatra " in 1811 , operating in the North Sea and off Gibraltar . In 1812 , Pechell became captain of Warren ' s flagship HMS " San Domingo " , the flagship of the North America Station during the War of 1812 . Pechell did not see any action and returned to Britain in 1814 . The following year the war ended and Pechell entered semi - retirement , being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1815 for his services during the Napoleonic Wars . In 1823 he returned to active service aboard the frigate HMS " Sibylle " and operated off Algiers and the Peloponnese , following the surge in piracy caused by the Greek War of Independence . In 1826 , " Sibylle " was paid off and Pechell returned home , the death of his father making him a baronet a few months later . He also inherited the additional surname Brooke at his grandmother ' s request . In 1830 he entered politics , briefly serving as a Whig Member of Parliament for Helston and subsequently elected for Windsor , serving until 1835 . In April 1833 he married Julia Maria Petre , daughter of Lord Petre . His most notable service during the 1830s was his position as one of the Lords of the Admiralty ( as Third Naval Lord then Fourth Naval Lord and finally Third Naval Lord again ) , during which he made determined efforts to impose his enthusiasm and interest in accurate and reliable gunnery training on the rest of the Navy . As a serving captain , Pechell had copied and then adapted the system used by Philip Broke , writing a pamphlet on the topic entitled " Observations upon the Defective Equipment of Ships ' Guns " . When he was elevated to a position of authority he determined to spread his ideas in the service . Supported by King William IV , who had been a serving naval officer and a keen proponent of gunnery training , Pechell worked with Sir Howard Douglas and Sir William Bowles to establish HMS " Excellent " , the Royal Navy ' s first gunnery training ship . He was also involved in the appointment of Sir William Symonds as Surveyor of the Navy . For his work in naval administration , Pechell has been described as " one of the architects of the professional navy of the later nineteenth century . " During his time in office , Pechell was promoted to rear - admiral and made a Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order . He died childless at his home in Berkeley Square , London in November 1849 , and was survived by his wife and younger brother , who became the fourth Pechell Baronet .