Roger Curtis

Sir Roger Curtis, Bt
Sir Roger Curtis, ca. 1800
Born	4 June 1746 Downton, Wiltshire
Died	14 November 1816 (1816-11-15) (aged 70)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1762 to 1816
Rank	Royal Navy Admiral
Commands held	Portsmouth Command Cape of Good Hope Station
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War • Great Siege of Gibraltar French Revolutionary Wars • Glorious First of June Napoleonic Wars
Awards	Knight Bachelor Baronetcy Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, 1st Baronet, GCB (4 June 1746 – 14 November 1816) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who saw action in several battles during an extensive career that was punctuated by a number of highly controversial incidents. Curtis served during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars and was highly praised in the former conflict for his bravery under fire at the Great Siege of Gibraltar, where he saved several hundred Spanish lives at great risk to his own. His career suffered however in the aftermath of the Glorious First of June, when he was heavily criticised for his conduct by several influential figures, including Cuthbert Collingwood. His popularity fell further due to his involvement in two highly controversial courts-martial, those of Anthony Molloy in 1795 and James Gambier in 1810.

Ultimately Curtis' career stalled as more popular and successful officers secured active positions; during the Napoleonic Wars, Curtis was relegated to staff duties ashore and did not see action. He died in 1816, his baronetcy inherited by his second son Lucius who later became an Admiral of the Fleet. Modern historians have viewed Curtis as an over-cautious officer in a period when dashing, attacking tactics were admired. Contemporary opinion was more divided, with some influential officers expressing admiration of Curtis and others contempt.

Roger Curtis was born in 1746 to a gentleman farmer of Wiltshire, also named Roger Curtis, and his wife Christabella Blachford. In 1762 at 16, Curtis travelled to Portsmouth and joined the Royal Navy, becoming a midshipman aboard HMS Royal Sovereign in the final year of the Seven Years' War. Curtis did not see any action before the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and was soon transferred aboard HMS Assistance for service off West Africa. Over the next six years, Curtis moved from Assistance to the guardship HMS Augusta at Portsmouth and then to the sloop HMS Gibraltar in Newfoundland. In 1769, Curtis joined the frigate HMS Venus under Samuel Barrington before moving to the ship of the line HMS Albion in which he was promoted to lieutenant.