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Henry Inman (Royal Navy officer)
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Captain
Henry Inman (1762 – 15 July 1809) was a British Royal Navy
officer during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, serving in the American Revolutionary War
, the French Revolutionary Wars
and the Napoleonic Wars
. Inman's service in the American war was punctuated by three shipwreck
s: the burning of HMS Lark
off Rhode Island
in the face of a superior French squadron, the grounding of HMS Santa Monica on Tortola
and the foundering of Hector following an engagement with two French ships in the Mid-Atlantic
. After the war he was placed in reserve until the Spanish Armament of 1790, when he was given command of the 14-gun HMS Pygmy stationed off the Isle of Man
.
Inman's subsequent service career was principally in frigate
s: he was engaged at the Siege of Toulon
in HMS Aurore, in a raid at Dunkirk in HMS Andromeda and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen
as captain of HMS Désirée. He later served on the ship of the line
HMS Triumph
at the Battle of Cape Finisterre
and was subsequently called to give evidence at the court martial of Sir Robert Calder
. After the battle off Finisterre, Inman suffered from ill-health and remained on shore duty until 1809 when he was appointed as Admiralty commissioner for Madras. The lengthy sea journey to India
exacerbated his existing health problems and he died just ten days after his arrival.
village of Burrington
, Reverend George Inman. Educated by his father until the age of 14, Inman was sent to join the Royal Navy
in 1776, posted aboard the 90-gun second rate HMS Barfleur
. Barfleur' s captain was Sir Samuel Hood
, later to become Viscount Hood
, who formed a close personal and professional attachment to his subordinate that continued throughout Inman's military service. After two years on Barfleur, Inman was transferred to the frigate
HMS Lark
in 1778 for service off New England
. The American Revolutionary War
had broken out three years earlier, but Barfleur had been based in Britain and so there had been no opportunity for action aboard Hood's ship. His career in Lark was cut short on 5 August 1778, when Captain John Brisbane
, the senior officer off Rhode Island, ordered the frigate beached and burnt with four other ships when a French fleet under Vice-Admiral Comte d'Estaing
appeared off the harbour. Inman and the rest of the crew were transferred to shore duties and over the following week engaged D'Estaing's ships from fixed gun batteries as they bombarded the British positions.
Inman had lost all his personal possessions in the destruction of Lark and was forced to replace his uniform from his own wages when the Navy refused to provide compensation. Returning to Britain in the frigate HMS Pearl, Inman was promoted to lieutenant in 1780 and returned to the Americas in HMS Camel, transferred soon afterwards into HMS Santa Monica in the West Indies. Shortly after his arrival however, Inman was once again shipwrecked when Santa Monica grounded off Tortola
. Although the crew reached the shore in small boats, the ship broke up rapidly and once again Inman lost all of his possessions. Remaining on shore service in the West Indies for the next two years, Inman was again employed in the aftermath of the Battle of the Saintes
, appointed to the prize crew of the captured French vessel Hector for the journey to Britain. Hector' s masts and hull had been seriously damaged in the battle, requiring lighter spars to be fitted and 22 of her 74 guns removed to make her more seaworthy. As men could not be spared from the fleet, the 223-strong prize crew was made up of men pressed
in the Caribbean, principally invalids unfit for frontline service.
On 14 August 1782, Hector was separated from the rest of the prize ships in heavy weather and on 22 August encountered two large French frigates, Aigle of 40 guns and Gloire of 32 guns. Together these vessels significantly outclassed the leaky ship of the line in weight of shot, but Captain John Bourchier determined to resist the French attack, preparing Hector as the French approached. The French ships surrounded Hector at 02:00 and the engagement was furiously contested, with Bourchier wounded early on and many of his officers following him below with serious injuries. Within a short period, Inman was the only officer remaining on deck, but he was able to successfully drive the French away following a failed attempt to board, although Hector was left in a severely damaged state with 75 men killed or wounded. A hurricane that followed the battle inflicted further damage and the ship was badly flooded, seawater ruining the food supplies and threatening to sink the ship completely. Some of the crew were so ill and exhausted that they collapsed and died while manning the pumps, Inman only managing to prevent the remaining sailors from fleeing below decks by carrying loaded pistols and threatening men who refused his orders. Once the storm had abated it was clear that Hector was foundering, her rudder and masts torn away and the pumps unable to keep pace with the water leaking through the battered hull. For two weeks Inman made desperate efforts to keep the ship afloat, as food and water supplies ran low and the hull began to collapse in on itself. Fortunately for the men aboard Hector, the tiny snow
Hawke appeared and approached the ship of the line to render assistance. Throwing his cargo overboard, Captain John Hill worked with Inman to supervise the transfer of all of Hector' s remaining men, many of whom were wounded or sick, into Hawke as Hector rapidly sank. No men were lost in the operation and Inman was the last to leave the ship of the line, Hector disappearing ten minutes after the last boat reached Hawke. The snow set sail for St John's in Newfoundland, its crew and passengers subsisting on short rations and arriving off the port on the same day as the consumption of the last water supplies.
, but in the aftermath of the emergency Inman was given command of the 14-gun cutter HMS Pygmy, stationed on the Isle of Man
. He also married the daughter of Commander Thomas Dalby in 1791; the couple would have a son and a daughter. With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars
in 1793, Inman was transferred to Lord Hood's flagship HMS Victory
in the Mediterranean, receiving a promotion to commander on 11 September. Serving during the Siege of Toulon
, Inman assisted in the removal of captured French ships from Toulon
harbour and as a reward was promoted to post captain on 9 October and given command of the newly captured HMS Aurore. Stationed off Hyères
, Aurore was heavily engaged with French Republican gun batteries and expended 20,000 cannon balls in November and December.
When Toulon fell to the Republicans on 18 December 1793, Inman was initially sent to Corsica
and then tasked with carrying a large number of Republican prisoners of war to Malta
. With an understrength crew, Inman had difficulty in controlling the prisoners, who deliberately holed the bottom of the ship during the voyage. On arriving at Malta, Inman anchored his leaking ship in deep water under the guns of the port's defensive batteries and then removed his entire crew, leaving instructions with the prisoners that they could either pump out the water repair the damage or drown when the ship sank. The prisoners repaired the ship and were taken into captivity on Malta. Transferred from Aurore, Inman spent a brief period on the frigate HMS San Fiorenzo before returning to Britain in command of the fourth rate HMS Romney
.
Romney was paid off on arrival in Britain and Inman returned to the reserve until 1796, when he was made temporary captain of HMS Lion
and then took command of the frigate HMS Espion. Ordered to sail for the River Clyde
, Inman set sail with his family on board but Espion, an old ship in a poor state of repair, was struck by a gale in the English Channel
and was almost destroyed. Eventually reaching safety in Spithead
, Espion was reduced to the reserve until extensive repairs could be made and Inman was again placed on half-pay. He was reinstated in 1797 as temporary commander of the ship of the line HMS Belliqueux
in the immediate aftermath of the Nore Mutiny. Belliqueux had been heavily involved in the uprising: three members of the crew were under sentence of death and six others facing severe punishment for their part in the revolt. Inman was consequently afraid for his life and for the next six months slept with three loaded pistols beside him. Belliqueux was assigned to the blockade of the French Atlantic seaport of Brest
and Inman continued to perform this service after he was moved to HMS Ramillies
during 1798, in which he participated in the chase that eventually led to the capture of Hercule
. He was subsequently posted to the frigate HMS Andromeda in early 1799.
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On 2 August 1799, Inman seized the neutral merchant ship Vrienden carrying a cargo of hemp. Although the vessel's legal state was uncertain, no merchant claimed its cargo and in 1802 she was condemned and sold for over 247 l.
In November 1799, Andromeda was attached to the force that evacuated the Duke of York
's army following the failure of the Expedition to Holland
and he remained in the region, observing movements off the Elbe
. Andromeda also participated in the Raid on Dunkirk
on 7 July 1800, when four French frigates were attacked by a squadron of British ships in Dunkirk harbour. Although an assault with fireships failed, the French frigate Désirée was captured by HMS Dart, with Inman following in the cutter Vigilant, crewed by thirty volunteers from Andromeda. Under fire from all sides, Inman successfully boarded the French ship following her surrender and brought her out of the harbour, sending the crew ashore on parole
rather than detach men to guard them. Désirée was brought back to Britain and commissioned into the Royal Navy, Inman taking command of the new frigate.
In 1801, Désirée was attached to the fleet gathering at Yarmouth
under Sir Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson for service in the Baltic Sea
against the League of Armed Neutrality
. Sailing for Denmark
in March, the fleet anchored off Copenhagen
and on 1 April a squadron under Nelson closed with the Danish fleet, which was anchored in a line of battle
protecting the harbour. Désirée was ordered to operate at the Southern end of the Danish line, engaging shore batteries and nearby ships while their attention was focused on the main British battleline. When the battle began at 10:00 on 2 April, Inman engaged the Provesteen, which was firing on the 50-gun HMS Isis
. Désirée succeeded in inflicting considerable damage on the Danish ship and drew some fire away from the battered Isis. Once Provesteen had been abandoned by her Danish crew Désirée was engaged with a number of Danish shore batteries, but due to poor aim of the Danish gunners, who fired over the frigate throughout the engagement, she was not badly damaged and suffered only four men wounded in the battle. At 14:00 Danish fire slackened and shortly afterwards Nelson began to withdraw his ships out of range of the Danes. A number of his ships of the line grounded on the complicated shoals in the region and when Désirée came to the assistance of HMS Bellona
she too became stuck. Bellona was hauled off by Isis shortly afterwards, but Désirée was forced to remain on the sandbank for two days until boats from the squadron could be spared to drag her free.
in 1803, when he was given the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Utrecht. In 1804 he moved from Utrecht to the 74-gun HMS Triumph
and in February 1805 was attached to the fleet under Sir Robert Calder
stationed off Cape Finisterre
during the Trafalgar campaign
. At 11:00 on 22 July, Calder sighted the French and Spanish fleet under Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
emerging from the fog off Ferrol and attacked
, Triumph third in line behind HMS Hero
and HMS Ajax
. The battle lines tacked
and closed with one another, beginning a general action at 18:00, eventually separating at 21:30. Triumph was heavily engaged in the melee, in which two Spanish ships were captured, and suffered severe damage although light casualties of five killed and six wounded. On 26 July, Inman was briefly detached from the fleet to chase away the French frigate Didon before returning to her station in the battle line, but the action was not resumed, Calder ordering the fleet to return to Britain. In the aftermath of the battle, Calder faced a court martial for his failure to resume the engagement and Inman was called to give evidence: when questioned as to why he had not informed Calder about the damage to his ship, Inman replied "I did not think that a proper time to trouble the admiral with my complaints".
Inman's health had suffered during his long career at sea, and although he returned to sea in December 1805 aboard Triumph during the Atlantic campaign of 1806
as part of the squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, his ill-health forced his replacement by Sir Thomas Hardy in May. Returning to his family ashore, Inman was initially given command of the sea fencibles at King's Lynn
before he was made Admiralty commissioner at Madras by Lord Mulgrave in 1809. The journey to India
broke his health completely and he died on 15 July 1809, just ten days after arriving in Madras.
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
Henry Inman (1762 – 15 July 1809) was a British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, serving in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Inman's service in the American war was punctuated by three shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s: the burning of HMS Lark
HMS Lark (1762)
HMS Lark was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1762 and destroyed 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, in Narragansett Bay...
off Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in the face of a superior French squadron, the grounding of HMS Santa Monica on Tortola
Tortola
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...
and the foundering of Hector following an engagement with two French ships in the Mid-Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. After the war he was placed in reserve until the Spanish Armament of 1790, when he was given command of the 14-gun HMS Pygmy stationed off the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
.
Inman's subsequent service career was principally in frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s: he was engaged at the Siege of Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...
in HMS Aurore, in a raid at Dunkirk in HMS Andromeda and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
The Battle of Copenhagen was an engagement which saw a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker fight and strategically defeat a Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored just off Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack. He famously disobeyed Parker's...
as captain of HMS Désirée. He later served on the ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
HMS Triumph
HMS Triumph (1764)
HMS Triumph was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 March 1764 at Woolwich.In 1797, she took part in the Battle of Camperdown, and in 1805 Triumph was part of Admiral Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre....
at the Battle of Cape Finisterre
Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)
In the Battle of Cape Finisterre off Galicia, Spain, the British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder fought an indecisive naval battle against the Combined Franco-Spanish fleet which was returning from the West Indies...
and was subsequently called to give evidence at the court martial of Sir Robert Calder
Robert Calder
Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
. After the battle off Finisterre, Inman suffered from ill-health and remained on shore duty until 1809 when he was appointed as Admiralty commissioner for Madras. The lengthy sea journey to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
exacerbated his existing health problems and he died just ten days after his arrival.
Early life
Henry Inman was born in 1762, the son of the vicar of the SomersetSomerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
village of Burrington
Burrington, Somerset
Burrington is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated in the Unitary authority of North Somerset, north east of Axbridge and about east of Weston-super-Mare...
, Reverend George Inman. Educated by his father until the age of 14, Inman was sent to join the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in 1776, posted aboard the 90-gun second rate HMS Barfleur
HMS Barfleur (1768)
HMS Barfleur was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Thomas Slade on the lines of the 100-gun ship Royal William, and launched at Chatham Dockyard on 30 July 1768, at a cost of £49,222. In about 1780, she had another eight guns added to her quarterdeck, making...
. Barfleur
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...
, later to become Viscount Hood
Viscount Hood
Viscount Hood, of Whitley in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1796 for the famous naval commander Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Baron Hood...
, who formed a close personal and professional attachment to his subordinate that continued throughout Inman's military service. After two years on Barfleur, Inman was transferred to the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
HMS Lark
HMS Lark (1762)
HMS Lark was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1762 and destroyed 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, in Narragansett Bay...
in 1778 for service off New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. The American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
had broken out three years earlier, but Barfleur had been based in Britain and so there had been no opportunity for action aboard Hood's ship. His career in Lark was cut short on 5 August 1778, when Captain John Brisbane
John Brisbane
John Brisbane , was a Scottish physician.Brisbane graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1750, and was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians in 1766. He held the post of physician to the Middlesex Hospital from 1758 till 1773, when he was superseded for being absent without leave. His name...
, the senior officer off Rhode Island, ordered the frigate beached and burnt with four other ships when a French fleet under Vice-Admiral Comte d'Estaing
Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing
Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...
appeared off the harbour. Inman and the rest of the crew were transferred to shore duties and over the following week engaged D'Estaing's ships from fixed gun batteries as they bombarded the British positions.
Inman had lost all his personal possessions in the destruction of Lark and was forced to replace his uniform from his own wages when the Navy refused to provide compensation. Returning to Britain in the frigate HMS Pearl, Inman was promoted to lieutenant in 1780 and returned to the Americas in HMS Camel, transferred soon afterwards into HMS Santa Monica in the West Indies. Shortly after his arrival however, Inman was once again shipwrecked when Santa Monica grounded off Tortola
Tortola
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...
. Although the crew reached the shore in small boats, the ship broke up rapidly and once again Inman lost all of his possessions. Remaining on shore service in the West Indies for the next two years, Inman was again employed in the aftermath of the Battle of the Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
, appointed to the prize crew of the captured French vessel Hector for the journey to Britain. Hector
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
in the Caribbean, principally invalids unfit for frontline service.
On 14 August 1782, Hector was separated from the rest of the prize ships in heavy weather and on 22 August encountered two large French frigates, Aigle of 40 guns and Gloire of 32 guns. Together these vessels significantly outclassed the leaky ship of the line in weight of shot, but Captain John Bourchier determined to resist the French attack, preparing Hector as the French approached. The French ships surrounded Hector at 02:00 and the engagement was furiously contested, with Bourchier wounded early on and many of his officers following him below with serious injuries. Within a short period, Inman was the only officer remaining on deck, but he was able to successfully drive the French away following a failed attempt to board, although Hector was left in a severely damaged state with 75 men killed or wounded. A hurricane that followed the battle inflicted further damage and the ship was badly flooded, seawater ruining the food supplies and threatening to sink the ship completely. Some of the crew were so ill and exhausted that they collapsed and died while manning the pumps, Inman only managing to prevent the remaining sailors from fleeing below decks by carrying loaded pistols and threatening men who refused his orders. Once the storm had abated it was clear that Hector was foundering, her rudder and masts torn away and the pumps unable to keep pace with the water leaking through the battered hull. For two weeks Inman made desperate efforts to keep the ship afloat, as food and water supplies ran low and the hull began to collapse in on itself. Fortunately for the men aboard Hector, the tiny snow
Snow (ship)
A snow or snaw is a sailing vessel. A type of brig , snows were primarily used as merchant ships, but saw war service as well...
Hawke appeared and approached the ship of the line to render assistance. Throwing his cargo overboard, Captain John Hill worked with Inman to supervise the transfer of all of Hector
French Revolutionary Wars
With the Peace of Versailles in 1783, the war ended and Inman was placed on half-pay in reserve, suffering from poor health caused by his ordeal on Hector. Retiring to his father's house in Somerset, Inman was not employed again until 1790, when the Spanish Armament provoked a rapid expansion of the Navy. He was initially commissioned into the frigate HMS Latona under Captain Albemarle BertieSir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....
, but in the aftermath of the emergency Inman was given command of the 14-gun cutter HMS Pygmy, stationed on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. He also married the daughter of Commander Thomas Dalby in 1791; the couple would have a son and a daughter. With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
in 1793, Inman was transferred to Lord Hood's flagship HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
in the Mediterranean, receiving a promotion to commander on 11 September. Serving during the Siege of Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...
, Inman assisted in the removal of captured French ships from Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
harbour and as a reward was promoted to post captain on 9 October and given command of the newly captured HMS Aurore. Stationed off Hyères
Hyères
Hyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
, Aurore was heavily engaged with French Republican gun batteries and expended 20,000 cannon balls in November and December.
When Toulon fell to the Republicans on 18 December 1793, Inman was initially sent to Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and then tasked with carrying a large number of Republican prisoners of war to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. With an understrength crew, Inman had difficulty in controlling the prisoners, who deliberately holed the bottom of the ship during the voyage. On arriving at Malta, Inman anchored his leaking ship in deep water under the guns of the port's defensive batteries and then removed his entire crew, leaving instructions with the prisoners that they could either pump out the water repair the damage or drown when the ship sank. The prisoners repaired the ship and were taken into captivity on Malta. Transferred from Aurore, Inman spent a brief period on the frigate HMS San Fiorenzo before returning to Britain in command of the fourth rate HMS Romney
HMS Romney (1762)
HMS Romney was a 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned forty years....
.
Romney was paid off on arrival in Britain and Inman returned to the reserve until 1796, when he was made temporary captain of HMS Lion
HMS Lion (1777)
HMS Lion was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, of the Worcester class, launched on 3 September 1777 at Portsmouth Dockyard....
and then took command of the frigate HMS Espion. Ordered to sail for the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
, Inman set sail with his family on board but Espion, an old ship in a poor state of repair, was struck by a gale in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and was almost destroyed. Eventually reaching safety in Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
, Espion was reduced to the reserve until extensive repairs could be made and Inman was again placed on half-pay. He was reinstated in 1797 as temporary commander of the ship of the line HMS Belliqueux
HMS Belliqueux (1780)
HMS Belliqueux was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 5 June 1780 at Blackwall Yard, London. She was named after the French ship captured in 1758....
in the immediate aftermath of the Nore Mutiny. Belliqueux had been heavily involved in the uprising: three members of the crew were under sentence of death and six others facing severe punishment for their part in the revolt. Inman was consequently afraid for his life and for the next six months slept with three loaded pistols beside him. Belliqueux was assigned to the blockade of the French Atlantic seaport of Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
and Inman continued to perform this service after he was moved to HMS Ramillies
HMS Ramillies (1785)
HMS Ramillies was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 July 1785 at Rotherhithe.In 1801, she was part of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's reserve squadron at the Battle of Copenhagen, and so did not take an active part in the battle.In August 1812, Sir Thomas Masterman...
during 1798, in which he participated in the chase that eventually led to the capture of Hercule
French ship Hercule (1798)
The Hercule was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.During her maiden journey, on 21 April 1798, and just 24 hours out of port, she was captured by the British ship HMS Mars after a violent fight, off Île de Sein near Brest...
. He was subsequently posted to the frigate HMS Andromeda in early 1799.
Désirée and Copenhagen
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
In November 1799, Andromeda was attached to the force that evacuated the Duke of York
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...
's army following the failure of the Expedition to Holland
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...
and he remained in the region, observing movements off the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
. Andromeda also participated in the Raid on Dunkirk
Raid on Dunkirk (1800)
The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars...
on 7 July 1800, when four French frigates were attacked by a squadron of British ships in Dunkirk harbour. Although an assault with fireships failed, the French frigate Désirée was captured by HMS Dart, with Inman following in the cutter Vigilant, crewed by thirty volunteers from Andromeda. Under fire from all sides, Inman successfully boarded the French ship following her surrender and brought her out of the harbour, sending the crew ashore on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
rather than detach men to guard them. Désirée was brought back to Britain and commissioned into the Royal Navy, Inman taking command of the new frigate.
In 1801, Désirée was attached to the fleet gathering at Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
under Sir Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson for service in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
against the League of Armed Neutrality
Second League of Armed Neutrality
The Second League of Armed Neutrality or the League of the North was an alliance of the north European naval powers Denmark–Norway, Prussia, Sweden and Russia. It occurred between 1800 and 1801 during the War of the Second Coalition and was initiated by Paul I of Russia...
. Sailing for Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in March, the fleet anchored off Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and on 1 April a squadron under Nelson closed with the Danish fleet, which was anchored in a line of battle
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
protecting the harbour. Désirée was ordered to operate at the Southern end of the Danish line, engaging shore batteries and nearby ships while their attention was focused on the main British battleline. When the battle began at 10:00 on 2 April, Inman engaged the Provesteen, which was firing on the 50-gun HMS Isis
HMS Isis (1774)
HMS Isis was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate of the Royal Navy. She saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
. Désirée succeeded in inflicting considerable damage on the Danish ship and drew some fire away from the battered Isis. Once Provesteen had been abandoned by her Danish crew Désirée was engaged with a number of Danish shore batteries, but due to poor aim of the Danish gunners, who fired over the frigate throughout the engagement, she was not badly damaged and suffered only four men wounded in the battle. At 14:00 Danish fire slackened and shortly afterwards Nelson began to withdraw his ships out of range of the Danes. A number of his ships of the line grounded on the complicated shoals in the region and when Désirée came to the assistance of HMS Bellona
HMS Bellona (1760)
HMS Bellona was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the 18th century...
she too became stuck. Bellona was hauled off by Isis shortly afterwards, but Désirée was forced to remain on the sandbank for two days until boats from the squadron could be spared to drag her free.
Napoleonic Wars
At the Peace of Amiens, Désirée remained in service with orders to sail for the West Indies. Inman, whose health was beginning to suffer, resigned command and returned to his family on half-pay until the outbreak of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1803, when he was given the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Utrecht. In 1804 he moved from Utrecht to the 74-gun HMS Triumph
HMS Triumph (1764)
HMS Triumph was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 March 1764 at Woolwich.In 1797, she took part in the Battle of Camperdown, and in 1805 Triumph was part of Admiral Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre....
and in February 1805 was attached to the fleet under Sir Robert Calder
Robert Calder
Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
stationed off Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
during the Trafalgar campaign
Trafalgar Campaign
The Trafalgar Campaign was a long and complicated series of fleet manoeuvres carried out by the combined French and Spanish fleets; and the opposing moves of the Royal Navy during much of 1805. These were the culmination of French plans to force a passage through the English Channel, and so achieve...
. At 11:00 on 22 July, Calder sighted the French and Spanish fleet under Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve
Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar....
emerging from the fog off Ferrol and attacked
Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)
In the Battle of Cape Finisterre off Galicia, Spain, the British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder fought an indecisive naval battle against the Combined Franco-Spanish fleet which was returning from the West Indies...
, Triumph third in line behind HMS Hero
HMS Hero (1803)
HMS Hero was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 August 1803 at Blackwall Yard.She took part in Admiral Robert Calder's action at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805....
and HMS Ajax
HMS Ajax (1798)
HMS Ajax was an Ajax class 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Randall & Co of Rotherhithe and launched on the Thames on 3 March 1798...
. The battle lines tacked
Jibe
A jibe or gybe is a sailing maneuver where a sailing vessel turns its stern through the wind, such that the wind direction changes from one side of the boat to the other...
and closed with one another, beginning a general action at 18:00, eventually separating at 21:30. Triumph was heavily engaged in the melee, in which two Spanish ships were captured, and suffered severe damage although light casualties of five killed and six wounded. On 26 July, Inman was briefly detached from the fleet to chase away the French frigate Didon before returning to her station in the battle line, but the action was not resumed, Calder ordering the fleet to return to Britain. In the aftermath of the battle, Calder faced a court martial for his failure to resume the engagement and Inman was called to give evidence: when questioned as to why he had not informed Calder about the damage to his ship, Inman replied "I did not think that a proper time to trouble the admiral with my complaints".
Inman's health had suffered during his long career at sea, and although he returned to sea in December 1805 aboard Triumph during the Atlantic campaign of 1806
Atlantic campaign of 1806
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuveres and counter-manoeuveres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars...
as part of the squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, his ill-health forced his replacement by Sir Thomas Hardy in May. Returning to his family ashore, Inman was initially given command of the sea fencibles at King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
before he was made Admiralty commissioner at Madras by Lord Mulgrave in 1809. The journey to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
broke his health completely and he died on 15 July 1809, just ten days after arriving in Madras.