John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton
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Biography
He was the second son of John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of StrattonJohn Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton was an English royalist soldier. From 1648 he was closely associated with James, Duke of York, and rose to prominence, fortune and fame.-First English Civil War:...
, and succeeded to the title on March 6, 1681, by the death of his elder brother Charles, a captain in the navy.
On December 14, 1688 he was nominated rear-admiral of the fleet, under the command of Lord Dartmouth. In the following summer he was vice-admiral of the red squadron under Admiral Herbert
Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington
Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington was a British admiral and politician of the late 17th and early 18th century. Cashiered as a rear-admiral by James II of England in 1688 for refusing to vote to repeal the Test Act, which prevented Catholics from holding offices, he brought the Invitation to...
, and fought with him in the Battle of Bantry Bay
Battle of Bantry Bay
The Battle of Bantry Bay was a naval engagement fought on 11 May 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The Allied fleet was commanded by Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington; the French fleet by François Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Châteaurenault...
(May 11, 1689). On the death of Sir John Ashby
John Ashby (admiral)
Sir John Ashby was an officer of the Royal Navy, who rose to the rank of Admiral. Ashby was the fourth son of Robert Ashby and his wife Alice, who was a sister of Sir Thomas Allin. He grew up in Suffolk where his father was involved in business.-Early career:After Ashby entered the navy he was...
, July 12, 1693, he was appointed admiral of the Blue in the fleet under the joint admirals Killigrew, Delavall, and Shovell.
On June 8, 1694, Lord Berkeley was detached by Admiral Russell
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, PC was the First Lord of the Admiralty under King William III.-Naval career:...
in command of a large division intended to cover the Attack on Brest
Attack on Brest
The Battle of Camaret was an amphibious landing at Camaret Bay on 18 June 1694 by the English and Dutch in an attempt to seize the French port of Brest and destroy part of the French fleet stationed there, as part of the Nine Years' War...
by the land forces under General Talmash. Several concurring accounts had warned the French of the object of this expedition, and when the attempt was made in Camaret Bay
Camaret Bay
Camaret Bay is a small bay on the north coast of Brittany, France.In 1694 it was the site of the battle of Camaret, a naval action between French and English forces, which culminated in a disastrous amphibious landing by the English as part of an attempt to seize the nearby port of Brest.-See...
, it was repulsed with very severe loss.
After his return from this expedition, Berkeley continued in command of the fleet, and a few days later, was again sent out to bombard Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
and Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. On 27 August Lord Berkeley resigned the command to Sir Clowdisley Shovell, and went to London for the winter.
The next summer, 1695, Berkeley renewed the attacks on the French coast, and on July 4, joined by a Dutch squadron under Admiral Philips van Almonde
Philips van Almonde
Philips van Almonde was a Dutch Lieutenant Admiral, who served in his nation’s maritime conflicts of the 17th and early 18th centuries.Philips was the son of Pieter Jansz van Almonde, a wealthy burgher...
, he appeared in front of St. Malo and shelled the city during almost two days under the immediate command of Captain John Benbow
John Benbow
John Benbow was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon he returned to the Royal Navy and was commissioned.Benbow...
. In August, Berkeley attacked Dunkirk and Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, without success.
The next year, he sailed into the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
and the isle Groix and the smaller islands, Houet and Hoedic, were ravaged, and St. Martin's (isle of Ré) was bombarded. Such achievements could not lead to any result and to make things worst , one night there was an intrusion into the fleet by the French privateer René Duguay-Trouin
René Duguay-Trouin
René Trouin, Sieur du Gué, usually called René Duguay-Trouin, was a famous French corsair of Saint-Malo. He had a brilliant privateering and naval career and eventually became "Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King" , and a Commander in the Order of Saint-Louis...
, who overpowered one of the frigates in full view of Admiral Berkeley. By the end of July the fleet returned to Spithead, and no further operations during that summer being intended, Berkeley went on leave, still preserving the command. However, he never resumed it, being attacked by a pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
, of which he died February 27, 1697.
He had married Jane, daughter of Sir John Temple of East Sheen in Surrey, by whom he had but one daughter, who died in infancy.