Charles Saunders (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, KB (Template:CircaTemplate:Snd7 December 1775) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He commanded the fourth-rate Template:HMS and at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. After serving as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, English Channel, in charge of the Western Squadron between October 1758 and May 1759.

Saunders took command of the fleet tasked with carrying James Wolfe to Quebec in January 1759 and consolidated the dead general's victory after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759 by devoting great energy to keeping the British Army, now under the command of Colonel George Townshend, well supplied during the Seven Years' War. He later became Senior Naval Lord and then First Lord of the Admiralty.

Early career

Portrait of Saunders as an admiral by Richard Brompton

Born the son of James Saunders of Bridgwater, Somerset, Saunders joined the Royal Navy in October 1727.<ref name=dcb>Template:Cite dictionary</ref> He initially served as a midshipman on the sixth-rate Template:HMS and then transferred to the fourth-rate Template:HMS in March 1731.<ref name=decks>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Promoted to lieutenant on 8 November 1734, he was posted to the fourth-rate Template:HMS in July 1738 and then transferred to the third-rate Template:HMS in June 1739, to the fourth-rate Template:HMS in August 1739 and to the fourth-rate Template:HMS in November 1742.<ref name=decks/>

Promoted to post-captain in June 1743 (with an effective date of 26 September 1741), Saunders was given command of the fourth-rate Template:HMS in December 1743, the fifth-rate Template:HMS in December 1744 and the fourth-rate Template:HMS in 1745.<ref name=decks/> He went on to take command of the fourth-rate Template:HMS in 1747 and led her in action at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession.<ref name=decks/> After that he became captain of the third-rate Template:HMS later that year and of the fourth-rate Template:HMS in 1749.<ref name=decks/>

Saunders was appointed Commodore in charge of the squadron at Newfoundland with his broad pennant in the fifth-rate Template:HMS in February 1752.<ref name=dcb/> He went on to be treasurer of Greenwich Hospital in February 1754 and Comptroller of the Navy in December 1755.<ref name=dcb/> Saunders was Member of Parliament for Plymouth from 1750 to 1754 and then represented the Yorkshire borough of Hedon from 1754 until his death.<ref name=dcb/>

Seven Years' War

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Drawing by a soldier of Wolfe's army depicting the fleet, under Saunders' command, disembarking Wolfe's soldiers

Promoted to rear-admiral on 7 January 1756, Saunders was sent to Gibraltar as Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet.<ref name=dcb/> In January 1757 he was advanced to Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, remaining in post until May 1757.<ref name=dcb/> In October 1758 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, English Channel, a post he held till May 1759. He took command of the fleet tasked with carrying James Wolfe to Quebec in January 1759 and, having been promoted to vice admiral on 14 February 1759, he consolidated the dead general's victory after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759 by devoting great energy to keeping the British Army, now under the command of Colonel George Towshend, well supplied.<ref name=dcb/> Saunders and Towshend were joint signatories for Great Britain after the French garrison capitulated.<ref name=dcb/> In April 1760 he resumed his role as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, and blockaded Cádiz preventing the French and Spanish fleets from sailing.<ref name=dcb/> He was installed as Knight of the Bath in May 1761<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and, in the action of 31 May 1762, his fleet chased down and captured the Spanish treasure ship Hermione off Cape St Mary.<ref name=dcb/> He acquired estates at Gunton in Suffolk and at Fishley in Norfolk in 1762.<ref>Kirby, p. 230.</ref>

Later career

French Firerafts Attacking the British Fleet off Quebec by Samuel Scott

Saunders joined the Board of Admiralty as Senior Naval Lord in the First Rockingham ministry in July 1765<ref>Rodger, pp. 51–52.</ref> and was advanced to First Lord of the Admiralty in the Chatham ministry in September 1766; after a disagreement with Lord Chatham, he stood down from the Admiralty Board in December 1766.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Promoted to full admiral on 18 October 1770, he died at his home at Spring Gardens in London on 7 December 1775<ref>Salmon, p. 228.</ref> and was buried in Westminster Abbey.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Family

Saunders married a Miss Buck, the daughter of a London banker, in September 1751.<ref name=decks/>

Legacy

Cape Saunders, on the Otago coast of New Zealand, was named in his honour by Captain James Cook, who had served under Saunders in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sources

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