William Whetstone Sir William Whetstone ( died 1711 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy in the later 17th and early eighteenth century . He eventually rose to the rank of Rear Admiral , having spent his career serving with several distinguished figures . Family and early life . Whetstone appears to have been born into a naval family , his father John Whetstone had probably been a naval officer . William established himself in Bristol , becoming a member of Bristol corporation and commanding a merchant ship , the " Mary of Bristol " , with which he carried out trading with Virginia and Barbados . His trading appears to have been in a wide variety of goods , including serge . He appears to have married a woman named Sarah by 1677 , and that year he took an apprenticeship that would last until 1684 . This marriage produced two sons and two daughters , his eldest daughter , also named Sarah , married the naval officer Woodes Rogers . William ' s first wife died in 1698 and was buried in the church of St Nicholas ' s , Bristol , on 19 October 1698 . Naval career . William entered navy service , being appointed on 30 July 1689 to command the hired ship " Europa " , and he spent the next two years conveying supplies to Ireland . He was then briefly appointed to command HMS " Portsmouth " from 3 February to 12 August 1691 . Here he came to the attention of Admiral Edward Russell , who described him as ‘ a good man ’ . He did not however exert himself on Whetstone ' s behalf , and William spent 1692 unemployed . He returned to active duty in 1693 , at first as the part owner of the privateer " Delavall " , and later receiving a commission to command HMS " Norfolk " which was then being built at Southampton . She was launched on 27 March 1693 , and Whetstone proceeded to man the ship . He was discharged from her on 23 May . A series of brief commands followed before he took command of HMS " York " from 13 July 1693 to 13 June 1695 . In the Atlantic and Caribbean . Whetstone ' s next command was to HMS " Dreadnought " on 6 July 1696 . He sailed her to Newfoundland , spending the next three years on the station , being finally discharged on 13 July 1699 . The command of HMS " Yarmouth " followed , lasting from 19 May 1700 to 4 June 1701 , when Whetstone was promoted to commodore and was moved to the " York " at the head of the squadron dispatched to Jamaica . He attempted to set sail , but was twice forced to return to Plymouth for repairs . He then made better progress , but soon had to put into Cork . She was then surveyed and pronounced unfit for the journey to the West Indies . Whetstone instead took command of HMS " Canterbury " on 4 February 1702 and was finally able to cross the Atlantic . He arrived in the West Indies in May , joining the fleet at Port Royal under the command of Vice - Admiral John Benbow . Benbow gave him the local rank of rear - admiral . By now the War of the Spanish Succession had broken out , and news of its declaration reached Benbow on 7 July . He detached Whetstone and six ships to search off Port St Louis in Hispaniola for a French squadron under Admiral Jean du Casse , which it was believed would call at the port on his voyage to Cartagena , from where he might raid English and Dutch shipping . After Whetstone had left , Benbow took his squadron and sailed for Cartagena , anticipating that either he or Whetstone would find Du Casse and bring him to battle . By the time Whetstone had reached Hispaniola , Du Casse had already departed , and it was Benbow who eventually found Du Casse . After the unsatisfactory conclusion of the action , a wounded Benbow returned to Port Royal , meeting up with Whetstone who had returned from cruising off Hispaniola . Benbow then ordered the trial by court martial of several of his captains for cowardice and disobedience they had shown during the action . Whetstone was president of the courts martial , Benbow being too ill to take the role himself . Benbow died on 4 November 1702 , and Whetstone took over the command . He held it until June 1703 , when he was superseded by Vice - Admiral John Graydon . Whetstone went on to engage and destroy a number of privateers off San Domingo but an attempt on the French colony at Placentia had to be abandoned because of the weather , the island ' s defences , and sickness in the fleet . Whetstone and Graydon then departed Jamaica , with Whetstone returning to England in October 1703 . Promotion . Prince George promoted Whetstone to rear - admiral of the blue in January 1704 . This was a measure designed to show both approval of his conduct whilst holding acting rank , and at the same time to separate him from charges arising against Graydon . The promotion caused controversy however , as it was done over the heads of other captains , including Sir James Wishart . Wishart was serving under Sir George Rooke , who threatened to resign over the issue . Wishart was then made a rear - admiral of the blue as well , and made senior to Whetstone through antedating his commission . Whetstone was given command of a squadron in the English Channel in March 1704 , and was promoted to rear - admiral of the white on 18 January 1705 . The appointment to the post of commander - in - chief in the West Indies came on 17 February , with a knight hood five days later on 22 February . He raised his flag aboard HMS " Montagu " and arrived at Jamaica to take up his post in mid May . He was largely thwarted though by the weakness of the ships under his command . The smaller vessels were able to take several valuable prizes , but he was not strong enough to allow him to attack any Spanish settlements . He hoped to convince the governor of Cartagena to declare in favour of King Charles , but received the reply that the governor ‘ knew no sovereign but King Philip ’ . Whetstone continued to persist though , and in 1706 , he and Governor Handyside attempted to persuade the Spanish colonies at Cuba and Cartagena to declare in favour of Charles . Whetstone was relieved later that year by a squadron under William Kerr , and returned to England in December 1706 . Final actions and fall from grace . Whetstone was given command of a squadron in May 1707 , and ordered to operate off Dunkirk against Claude de Forbin , a dangerous corsair . In June he was ordered to escort a convoy of nineteen ships of the Muscovy Company as far as the Shetland Islands . He sailed with them until they were well past Shetland , before returning home . The convoy was later intercepted by Forbin , who was able to capture fifteen of the merchants . Though the orders were at fault for being insufficient in their scope , and Whetstone had fulfilled them in full , the Muscovy Company was outraged . A trial was held at which Whetstone was accused of leaving the ships to be attacked . The Admiralty defended him , but eventually Whetstone was made the scapegoat . He was dismissed from his command and received no further employment . He died in 1711 , and was buried with at St Michael ' s , Bristol on 3 April 1711 . He had been remarried by this time to Mary ( or Maria ) , with whom he had a daughter , named Mary . At the time of his death , Whetstone was owed the substantial sum of £2500 by various debtors .