Thomas Byam Martin

Sir Thomas Byam Martin
Sir Thomas Byam Martin
Born	(1773-07-25)25 July 1773 Ashtead House, Surrey, England
Died	25 October 1854(1854-10-25) (aged 81) Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Buried at	Kensal Green Cemetery, London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1786–1854
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	HMS Tisiphone HMS Modeste HMS Artois HMS Santa Margarita HMS Tamar HMS Dictator HMS Fisgard HMS Impetueux HMS Prince of Wales HMS Implacable Controller of the Navy
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars • Capture of Tamise • Capture of Immortalité Napoleonic Wars • Capture of Sewolod • Siege of Riga
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword
Other work	MP for Plymouth

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin, GCB (25 July 1773 – 25 October 1854) was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of fifth-rate HMS Fisgard he took part in a duel with the French ship Immortalité and captured her at the Battle of Tory Island during the French Revolutionary Wars. Then while in command of the third-rate HMS Implacable in the Baltic Sea and attached to the Swedish Navy he took part in the capture the Russian ship Sewolod (Vsevolod) during the Napoleonic Wars.

During his many years of service as Controller of the Navy, Martin was credited with reducing the fleet from the enormous size deployed against the French to a much more streamlined service geared toward protecting merchant trade and the British Empire. He also focused heavily on employing highly trained dockyard staff capable of responding rapidly to any international emergency. Martin also sat in Parliament for 14 years and was an outspoken critic of government attempts to reduce the Navy budget which ultimately saw him dismissed in 1831 by his old friend King William IV.

Martin died in October 1854, at the early stages of the Crimean War, planning the Baltic Campaign and investigating the possibilities of using poison gas weapons.