John Jennings (Royal Navy officer)

Sir John Jennings
Admiral John Jennings (Godfrey Kneller, 1708-1709)
Born	1664
Died	23 December 1743
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS St Paul HMS Experiment HMS Victory HMS Mary HMS Chichester HMS Plymouth HMS Kent HMS St George Greenwich Hospital
Battles/wars	War of Spanish Succession

Admiral Sir John Jennings (1664 – 23 December 1743) was an officer in the English Royal Navy, a Lord of the Admiralty and Member of Parliament. He distinguished himself early through his service in the Royal Navy, and was regarded as one of the greatest seamen of his age, despite having few opportunities to distinguish himself in battle as a fleet commander.

Sir John Jennings was descended from a Shropshire family which had suffered for its adherence to the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. He was appointed a lieutenant on HMS Pearl in 1687, and served with the same rank in HMS St David and HMS Swallow, before being promoted to the command of the St Paul, a fireship.

In 1690 he was made captain of the newly launched HMS Experiment, of 32 guns, and employed in cruising off the coast of Ireland, where he intercepted a number of small vessels which were being used as transports by James II's forces. In 1693, Jennings was nominated captain of the Victory, flagship of Sir John Ashby; later the same year he was transferred to the 62-gun HMS Mary, in which he went to the Mediterranean with Admiral Russell. In 1696, he was removed to the Chichester, of 80 guns; and, in the following year, was entrusted with the command of the Plymouth, with which he captured a St Malo privateer. Shortly afterwards, together with the frigate HMS Rye, he fell in with three French ships: one quickly surrendered, and Jennings, leaving the Rye to look after their prize, pursued the other two and succeeded in compelling one to strike her flag after a vigorous defence. Having conducted their prizes to port, the Rye and the Plymouth fell in with the Severn, a British man-of-war, and the three ships steered together for the coast of France, where they took five vessels laden with wine from Bordeaux, and a small ship of war.