Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington

Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington ( 1647 - April 13, 1716 ) was an English admiral and politician.

family

He came from the old aristocratic Herbert family and was one of the sons of Sir Edward Herbert, who had been Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during the exile of Charles II . He was married twice but had no children.

Life

He joined the Royal Navy in 1663 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1666. He served in the wars against the Netherlands. He was also an officer in the time of Charles II and in the fight against the barbarians . In 1672 he commanded the second HMS Dreadnought in the naval battle of Solebay . He was wounded in the sea battle off Texel in 1673. In 1678 he was appointed Rear Admiral. He lost an eye when a large Algerian ship was hijacked in 1678. With the ships under his command, he played an active role in Tangier in 1680 .

He was appointed Vice Admiral in 1680 and one of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral in 1684 . In 1683 he was the first to receive the honorary title of Rear Admiral of England and the title of Master of the Robes. He was also a member of the House of Commons for the Dover and Plymouth constituencies . In 1688, at the time of James II , he was dismissed from the navy because he refused to serve under Catholic superiors. He joined the opposition. Disguised as a simple seaman, he went to The Hague to see Wilhelm III. to bring the invitation to England with the aim of overthrowing James II. As a thank you, he commanded the invasion fleet for Wilhelm during the Glorious Revolution in 1688 . In 1689 he was appointed Lord High Admiral and a short time later became First Lord of the Admiralty .

He commanded the English fleet in the battle of Bantry Bay during the War of the Great Alliance on May 11, 1689 . Despite the French victory, he was made Earl of Torrington. On July 10, 1690, he commanded the allied English and Dutch fleets in the Battle of Beachy Head . His tactical considerations didn't work out. Above all, he was accused of not having led the main power into battle. He was then charged and temporarily detained in the Tower of London . He defended his behavior in terms of strategic defense and fleet-in-being . Although he was acquitted and was able to take his seat in the House of Lords again, he was later never used again in the military and remained in disgrace at court.

literature

John Keegan, Andrew Wheatcroft: Who's Who in Military History. From 1453 to the Present Day. Routledge, London 1996, ISBN 0-415-12722-X , p. 292.
William LR Cates: A Dictionary of General Biography. Longman Green & Co., London 1867, p. 1135.

Individual evidence

^ Christian Rödel: Warriors, thinkers, amateurs. Alfred von Tirpitz and the naval war picture before the First World War. Steiner, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08360-X , p. 151.

predecessor	Office	successor
Daniel Finch	First Lord of the Admiralty 1689–1690	Thomas Herbert

personal data
SURNAME	Herbert, Arthur, 1st Earl of Torrington
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English admiral and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	1647
DATE OF DEATH	April 13, 1716

[1] Christian Rödel: Warriors, thinkers, amateurs. Alfred von Tirpitz and the naval war picture before the First World War. Steiner, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08360-X , p. 151.