HOWE, Richard, Earl, an English naval commander of distinguished eminence, was born in the year 1725, being the second son of Lord Viscount Howe, by the daughter of Baron Kilmansegg. From his early attachment to the life of a mariner, he quitted the school of Eton at the age of fourteen, and went on board the Severn, commanded by the Honourable Captain Legge, and destined for the South Seas under Commodore Anson. Mr Howe next appeared in the Burford, Captain Lushington commander, who being killed in an expedition against the Caraccas, Commodore Knowles made Mr Howe an acting lieutenant. At the age of twenty he was promoted to the rank of commander in the Baltimore sloop of war, and joined a squadron at that time cruising off the coast of Scotland, where he met with an opportunity of displaying his undaunted courage and intrepidity, by engaging and beating off two French frigates of thirty guns each, with the assistance of another armed ship, notwithstanding that he was severely wounded in the head during the action. This service was immediately and justly rewarded with [7:11:715]the rank of post-captain. He was soon afterwards appointed to the rank of captain on board Commodore Knowles’s own ship of eighty guns, with which he returned to England in the year 1748. When hostilities again commenced,*he commanded the Dunkirk of sixty guns, in North America; a ship which constituted part of the squadron under Admiral Boscawen, and with which he captured a French man of war of superior metal, off the coast of Newfoundland, namely, the Alcide of sixty-four guns. In order to annoy the coast of France, he received in the year 1758 the command of a small squadron, with which he effected the destruction, at St Maio, of a number of magazines and ships. When he served on board the Essex, Prince Edward, afterwards Duke of York, sailed with him, at which time he powerfully contributed to the reduction of the town of Cherbourg. In 1758 his elder brother fell in North America, in the service of his king and country; upon which occasion the young commodore succeeded to the family title and estate. In the following year he had a share in the victory gained by Sir Edward Hawke over the French fleet under Admiral Conflans. He afterwards served in the Channel, and was captain of the Amelia, the ship of admiral the Duke of York. On the restoration of peace, he was nominated one of the lords of the admiralty, and some time afterwards treasurer of the navy. He was in the year 1770 raised to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue, and chosen commander-in-chief on the Mediterranean station. In 1775 he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the white. In reference to his rapid promotion, Lord Hawke said in the House of Peers, “I advised his majesty to make the promotion. I have tried my Lord Howe on important occasions; he never asked me how he was to execute any service, but always went and performed it.”

In the summer of 1776, Lord Howe appeared off Massachusetts, as commander-in-chief of his Britannic majesty’s fleet acting in North America, and in the capacity of commissioner for restoring the blessings of an amicable reconciliation. All the provincial governors were made acquainted with his arrival by means of circular letters expressive of the full extent of the authority with which he and his fellow commissioners were invested; but as congress did not deem the conditions which these letters contained to be at all satisfactory, they were ordered to be inserted in all the gazettes for the examination of the people. His powers being thus circumscribed at the very commencement, he could only act in the capacity of naval commander, in which he aided the operations of the land forces with uncommon skill. It was not to be imagined, however, that much glory could redound to his lordship from such an unequal contest, till the junction of France with Americaplaced the contending parties more upon a level. On the arrival of Admiral d’Estaing, in the month of July 1778, off Sandy Hook, Lord Howe was certainly in a very critical situation; but, in consequence of an effort of uncommon skill and dexterity, the French commander deemed it prudent to retire, when he was pursued by Lord Howe to Rhode Island, after obtaining a reinforcement under Admiral Byron. The intentions of the enemy were completely counteracted, and the campaign was finally terminated with honour. Here he resigned his command, and returned to England; but in 1782 he was promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue, made a viscount of Great Britain, and chosen commander of the fleet which was sent for the relief of Gibraltar. The combined fleets of France and Spain were about a third superior to that under Lord Howe, who, with thirty-four sail of the line, appeared off Gibraltar in the month of October, being driven into the Mediterranean by contrary winds. Although he was pursued by the combined fleet, he found means to supply the fortress with provisions. He checked the enemy by a partial action, and notwithstanding he offered to give them battle, it was declined on their part; and he had the satisfaction to execute his commission prior to his return home, in spite of the numerous difficulties which he had to encounter.

On the termination of the war he was nominated first lord of the admiralty, which he both resigned and resumed with the different changes of administration. In the year 1787 he was appointed admiral of the white, and in the following year created an earl of Great Britain. When hostilities were renewed with France in 1793, his lordship, at the express desire of his majesty, accepted the command of the Channel fleet; but he had it not in his power to effect any thing decisive till the summer of 1794. On the memorable first of June, with a fleet consisting of twenty-five sail of the line, he gave battle to a French fleet of twenty-six, and gained a most signal victory over the enemy, capturing seven of their ships, one of which was so shattered as to go to the bottom, whilst several others were very much crippled. His lordship had the good fortune not to lose a ship, and comparatively but few men, considering the great loss sustained by the enemy. The gratitude of the nation was suitable to the importance of this naval victory, and it is more than probable that the first of June will never be forgotten. In 1795 he was made general of marines; but the infirmities which are the usual concomitants of age induced him to resign his naval command in the year 1797, and on his final retreat he was presented with the badge of the Garter. His influence as an officer contributed greatly to stifle a spirit of mutiny and discontent which at this time exhibited alarming symptoms amongst the seamen of his majesty’s fleets. He terminated his brilliant and honourable career on the 5th of August 1799, in the seventy-third year of his age, leaving none but female issue behind him. His lordship’s valour, always cool and steady, was of that nature which enables a commander to make the most of his situation; his judgment was sound and penetrating, which prevented him from being easily imposed upon by external appearances; and his seamanship was of the most consummate and masterly kind.

Howe’s Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, discovered by Captain Wallis in 1767. It is about sixty miles long and four broad, and was found by Captain Cook in 1774 to consist of several smaller islands almost joined together by reefs, and to have no inhabitants. Long. 154. 7. W. Lat. 16. 46. S.