John Knight (Royal Navy officer)

Sir John Knight
Born	bap. 21 February 1747 Dundee, Scotland
Died	16 June 1831 Soberton, Hampshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1758–1815
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War • Raid on Cherbourg American Revolutionary War • Battle of Fort Royal • Battle of the Chesapeake • Battle of St. Kitts • Battle of the Saintes French Revolutionary Wars • Battle of Camperdown Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Sir John Knight, KCB (bap. 21 February 1747 – 16 June 1831) was a senior British Royal Navy officer during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries most noted for his activities as a post captain during the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Serving with the Caribbean Fleet during the American war, Knight fought a several significant battles and was commended for his service and made tutor of the young Prince William. During the French wars he served with the North Sea fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and was engaged at the Battle of Camperdown against the Dutch. During the Napoleonic Wars that followed he held a senior administrative role at Gibraltar and retired in 1815 to his home and eight children. Although Knight was respected professionally, he was not popular with his men and fellow officers and was criticised for his ability to maintain discipline and for his close relationship with his family which some suggested had a negative impact on his performance as an officer.

John Knight was born in Dundee in February 1747, the son of Rear-Admiral John Knight and his wife Jean Hay. In 1758, aged 11, he followed his father into service with the Royal Navy aboard HMS Tartar, participating in the Raid on Cherbourg that year during the Seven Years' War. Knight remained with his father for five more years, until moving at the end of the war in 1763 to HMS Romney on the North American station. Off North America, Knight participated in surveying operations and although he returned to Europe some years later, he went back to North America in 1775 at the start of the American Revolutionary War.

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