William Martin ( Royal Navy officer ) William Martin ( c . 1696 – 17 September 1756 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Wars of the Spanish and the Austrian Successions . Martin rose from obscure origins to see service during the War of the Spanish Succession . He was promoted to command several ships , seeing service in home waters and in the Mediterranean during the years of peace , and shortly after the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession , was rewarded for his good service with a posting as commodore , and command of a squadron . He served under several of the Mediterranean Fleet ' s commanders , Nicholas Haddock , Richard Lestock , and most significantly Thomas Mathews . Mathews was engaged in promoting British interests in the Mediterranean during the war , and policing the neutrality of the Mediterranean kingdoms , trying to prevent them joining the war in support of Britain ' s enemies . Several times Martin was sent with squadrons to rival nation ' s ports , to threaten them with naval retaliation if they did not comply with British demands , and was uniformly successful in convincing local rulers not to resist . Promoted to flag rank during the war , Martin served in a junior role in commanding the principal fleets , mainly in British waters , but also on an expedition to Lisbon . Rising steadily through the ranks , and taking command in his own right eventually , he eventually retired ashore towards the conclusion of the war , and died in 1756 with the rank of admiral of the blue . Family and early life . Little is known about Martin ' s early life . He may have been the eldest son of Tutchen Martin , resident of Stepney , and his wife Bennet Gash , or Gage . Other accounts suggest that he was the son of Commodore George Martin , who died in 1724 . William Martin appears to have entered the navy , as a volunteer - per - order , on 26 August 1708 , joining . " Dragon " went out to Newfoundland in May 1710 , but Martin did not accompany her , having been left at Plymouth on account of his health . Instead he went out to the Mediterranean aboard and was promoted to second lieutenant of on 30 July 1710 by Sir John Norris . Martin remained in the Mediterranean for the next few years , being transferred to on 4 January 1712 by Sir John Jennings and serving aboard her until July 1714 . Martin then went out with the fleet despatched to the Baltic under Sir John Norris , and served at first aboard Norris ' s flagship , but transferring at some point between 1715 and 1718 to , before returning to " Cumberland " . He was promoted to captain of " Cumberland " on 9 October 1718 , remaining with her until 9 February 1720 , when he took command of , still with Norris ' s fleet in the Baltic between 1720 and 1721 . He afterwards went to American waters to combat piracy . Command and Mediterranean . Martin took command of in 1727 , and was assigned at first to the fleet supporting Gibraltar , and then to service in the English Channel with Sir Charles Wager ' s fleet . He left " Advice " in 1732 and took command of the following year . His command of " Sunderland " lasted until 1737 , and took him to Lisbon and into the Mediterranean . His service in these waters continued after his transfer to in May 1738 , with " Ipswich " assigned to Rear - Admiral Nicholas Haddock ' s fleet . Martin ' s service continued after the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession , and he was appointed commodore in January 1741 and given a detached squadron off Cadiz . Haddock returned to England at about this time , handing over command in the Mediterranean to his second officer , Richard Lestock , who was in turn superseded by the arrival of Vice - Admiral Thomas Mathews . Mathews had the task of carrying out diplomatic missions with the Mediterranean states and of securing British interests during the war . The Neapolitans had , in violation of their claims of neutrality , sent troops to support Britain ' s enemy , Spain , and Mathews was determined to force their withdrawal from the war . In July 1742 Mathews sent Martin , in command of squadron , to Naples ' to bring the King of the two Sicilies to a just sense of his errors in having attacked in conjunction with the Spaniards the Queen of Hungary ' s territories in Italy . ' Mission to Naples . Martin arrived at Naples on the afternoon of 19 August , with orders to capture , sink or burn any vessels carrying military stores and supplies he found there and ' to use his utmost to lay the said city in ashes , unless the King of the two Sicilies shall agree forthwith not only to withdraw his troops now acting in conjunction with those of the King of Spain in Italy , but to forbear from giving in future any assistance of what kind soever . ' Martin sent his flag captain , Merrick de L ' Angle , onshore to present the terms to the King , demanding that an answer be returned within half an hour . The small squadron was considerably more powerful than anything the Neapolitans could muster , and after calling an emergency council , the King and his ministers attempted to make conditions , sending a deputy back to Martin with de L ' Angle . Martin instead stated that he was sent ‘ as an officer to act , not a minister to treat ’ , and once more demanded the King comply with the demands . With no way of resisting , the Neapolitans confirmed their neutrality , and promised to withdraw their troops . His objective achieved , Martin weighed anchor at midnight , and sailed to rejoin Mathews at Hyères Bay . Actions against the Genoese . Martin ' s next task involved cruising to protect Tuscany from Spanish attacks , and in February 1743 he went to the Genoese town of Ajaccio , with orders to destroy some Spanish magazines there . On arrival Martin again threatened to destroy the town with a naval bombardment , unless the inhabitants agreed to demolish the magazines , which they did . Despite this , the Genoese continued to provide assistance to the Spanish , and news reached Mathews early in 1743 that a Spanish ship had collected levies from Corsica and sailed them to Italy , anchoring at Ajaccio . Mathews despatched Martin on 13 February in " Ipswich " , and accompanied by HMS " Revenge " and to Ajaccio . Martin anchored off the port on 18 February , with his quarry , the " San Isidro " , anchored inside , hauled in close to the shore batteries . Martin weighed anchor at 4 am the next morning and warped into the harbour , laying " Ipswich " alongside the Spanish vessel , while " Revenge " did the same . The ships exchanged a heavy fire until the " San Isidro " caught fire and blew up at noon . Martin then returned to Mathews at Hyères . Flag rank . After these successes Martin sailed back to England , arriving there late in 1743 , and receiving a promotion to rear - admiral on 7 December . He received a command in the Channel Fleet in February 1744 under his old commander , Sir John Norris , and was promoted to vice - admiral on 19 June 1744 . Martin was appointed second in command of the fleet sent to Lisbon under Sir John Balchen , and while there produced a report on the contract hospitals . Martin was highly critical of them , and influenced the later decision to introduce dedicated medical centres solely for naval use . Balchen was lost during the return voyage to England , when his flagship , the 100 - gun , disappeared at sea . Martin replaced him as commander of the fleet , a post he held until 1745 . Fleet commands and later life . Martin was based in the Downs under Admiral Edward Vernon in December 1745 , and then succeeded Vernon in the command . The fleet had been based off the Downs to meet the threat of a French invasion to support a Jacobite rising . One such fleet had already been dispersed the previous year , and with the collapse of the threat Martin returned to his usual station , and commanded the main fleet until his retirement in July 1746 on health grounds . He was promoted to admiral of the blue on 15 July 1747 , and retired to Twickenham where he died on 17 September 1756 . He had married Mary Atkins , of Twell , Gloucestershire on 16 August 1726 , but the couple did not have any children . Notes . a . The squadron consisted of Martin ' s 70 - gun " Ipswich " , the 50 - gun , Captain Solomon Gideon ; the 50 - gun , Captain Harry Powlett ; the 40 - gun , Captain Richard Hughes ; the 20 - gun , Captain Merrick de L ’ Angle ; and the 8 - gun bomb vessel s , Captain J . Bowdler ; , Captain J . Philipson ; and , Captain the Hon . George Edgcumbe . Also listed in some sources as forming the squadron are a xebec named " Guarland ' s Prize " , and the bomb vessel . < br >