James Robert Mosse

Captain James Robert Mosse (1745–1801) was a British naval officer and military hero killed during his command at the Battle of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars.

He was born from a long line of naval commanders. He was baptised at Little Missenden in Buckinghamshire, on 5 December 1745.

At the age of 11 years at 8 months, on 6 August 1757, he took on the role of Captain’s Servant (then a standard route into a commissioned rank) on the newly built HMS Burford, where he served until October 1758.

In November 1758 he joined HMS Lizard as a Master’s Mate where he remained until May 1763, serving in the Americas and West Indies. During this period Mosse was captured by the Americans and held prisoner for some time.

From 1763 until 1771 he served on the English Channel on several ships: Hussar, Tweed, Yarmouth and Bellona.

In 1771 he was promoted to Midshipman under the overall command of Sir Robert Harland, and served on HMS Northumberland in the East Indies. In October 1771 he was promoted to lieutenant, and served on Swallow, Orford and Buckingham before returning to England in 1775.

After a brief respite, presumably in the company of his family he returned to active duties in March 1776, stationed in what was then the critical location of North America, under Lord Howe. Here he served on HMS Juno until her scuttling at Rhode Island in 1778 to evade capture. He was then posted to the relatively new HMS Eagle.

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