Sir James Lucas Yeo KCB Kt KBA |
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Sir James Lucas Yeo
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Born |
Southampton, England |
7 October 1782
Died | 21 August 1818 At sea, off the coast of Africa |
(aged 35)
Allegiance |
Great Britain United Kingdom |
Service/branch | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1792-1818 |
Rank | Captain |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath 1815 Knight Bachelor 1810 Knight Commander of the Royal Portuguese Military Order of St. Bento d'Avis 1809 |
Sir James Lucas Yeo, KCB, Kt, KBA (7 October 1782 – 21 August 1818) was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812.
Yeo was born in Southampton on 7 October 1782, and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 10. He first saw action as a lieutenant aboard a brig in the Adriatic Sea. He distinguished himself during the siege of Cesenatico in 1800, when thirteen merchant vessels were burned or sunk.
In 1805, as first lieutenant of HMS Loire, he captured a fort and a privateer at Muros Bay in Spain. As a reward, he was promoted to commander and given the command of the privateer he had captured, the 18-gun sloop Confiance. He sailed her to Brazil, where he took command of a small force consisting of Confiance, two Portuguese brigs, and four hundred soldiers. With them he captured Cayenne, a fortified position of two hundred guns, and took a thousand prisoners. He participated in several sea battles during the Napoleonic Wars so successfully that he was made a post captain at the age of 25.