James Lind (Royal Navy officer)

James Lind
Born	fl. 1 August 1765
Died	12 June 1823 Southampton
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain  United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1765 – 1823
Rank	Captain
Commands held	HMS Wilhelmina HMS Sheerness HMS Centurion
Battles/wars	Battle of Vizagapatam
Awards	Knighthood Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Sir James Lind KCB (fl. 1 August 1765 – 12 June 1823) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The son of James Lind, a distinguished naval physician, Lind also embarked on a career at sea, but served in a more front line role. After serving on a number of different ships he finally received his own command in 1800, but his first chance to show his ability came only in 1803 when in command of HMS Sheerness. Here he captured a French privateer after his imitation of a merchant ship encouraged the privateer to actually attack his heavily armed frigate. He then revealed the true nature of his ship and the hapless privateer had no choice but to swiftly surrender. Promoted to command the 50-gun HMS Centurion Lind had another opportunity to distinguish himself, when the convoy under his protection was attacked in the harbour of Vizagapatnam by a heavily armed French squadron under Rear-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois. Despite being on shore at the time Lind hurried back to take command and supervise operations to resist the French, who though were able to capture one of the merchants, decided not to risk pressing the attack on the Centurion and withdrew. The survival of the Centurion in the face of overwhelming forces was hailed as a great achievement back home in Britain, with Lind being knighted for his efforts.

Lind was the son of Dr James Lind, who was at that time the physician of the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar and a pioneer into the use of lemon juice as a treatment for scurvy. His mother was Isabel Lind, née Dickie. He embarked on a naval career, joining Captain Samuel Thompson's 54-gun HMS Rippon on 1 August 1765. Lind spent the first part of his career serving in North American waters, but returned to British waters with his transfer on 20 September 1769 to Captain Michael Clements's 70-gun HMS Dorsetshire. His advancement to midshipman occurred during this time, and by early 1770 he was aboard the 28-gun HMS Carysfort. His service on the Carysfort only lasted a few months, and was followed by a transfer to the 20-gun HMS Dolphin under Captain Digby Dent. Dent was succeeded by Captain Henry Lloyd, who took the Dolphin to the East Indies with Lind still aboard her. Lind transferred again on 10 March 1772, joining the 68-gun HMS Northumberland, which at that time was the flagship of Admiral Sir Robert Harland.

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