Charles Napier (Royal Navy officer)
| Sir Charles Napier | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
6 March 1786 Falkirk, Scotland |
| Died | 6 November 1860 (aged 74) Hampshire, England |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom Kingdom of Portugal (1833–1839)
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| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy Portuguese Navy
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| Years of service | 1799–1853 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Battles/wars |
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| Awards | |
Admiral Sir Charles John Napier KCB GOTE RN (6 March 1786 – 6 November 1860) was a British naval officer whose sixty years in the Royal Navy included service in the War of 1812 (with the United States), the Napoleonic Wars, Syrian War and the Crimean War (with the Russians), and a period commanding the Portuguese navy in the Liberal Wars. An innovator concerned with the development of iron ships, and an advocate of humane reform in the Royal Navy, he was also active in politics as a Liberal Member of Parliament and was probably the naval officer most widely known to the public in the early Victorian Era.
Napier was the second son of an also famous father, Captain Charles Napier, R.N., and grandson of Francis, 6th Lord Napier; he was thus a direct descendant of the great mathematician John Napier. He was born at Merchiston Hall, near Falkirk, on 6 March 1786, and educated at the Royal High School, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He became a midshipman in 1799 aboard the 16-gun sloop HMS Martin, but left her in May 1800 before she was lost with all hands. He next served aboard Renown, flagship of Sir John Borlase Warren. After this, in November 1802, he transferred to the frigate Greyhound under Captain William Hoste. The following year, he moved to Égyptienne for a voyage to St Helena escorting a convoy of ships and then in the English Channel and off the coast of France. (In later years, feeling he had been badly treated as a Midshipman by her captain, Charles Fleeming, Napier challenged that officer to a duel, though they were eventually reconciled by their seconds.) In 1804–5 he served briefly on Mediator before moving to HMS Renommée off Boulogne. He was promoted lieutenant on 30 November 1805. He was appointed to Courageux, and was present in her in the West Indies at the action in which the squadron under Admiral Warren took the French Marengo (80 guns) and Belle Poule (40 guns), on 13 March 1806. After returning home with Warren, he returned to the West Indies in HMS St George and having been promoted to commander on 30 November 1807, he was appointed acting commander of the brig Pultusk of 16 guns, formerly the French privateer Austerlitz. In August 1808 he became captain of the brig-sloop HMS Recruit (18 guns), and in her fought a hot action off Antigua with the French sloop Diligente (18 guns), in which his thigh was smashed by a cannonball.
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