Robert Calder

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Admiral Robert Calder (* 1745 , † 1. September 1818 ) was a British naval officer during the Seven Years' War , the American Revolution , the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars .

Admiral Robert Calder

Life

Calder assisted Admiral John Jervis as fleet admiral during the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797. In the Third Coalition War , Calder commanded the blockade fleet in front of the ports of Rochefort and Ferrol .

On July 22nd, 1805, he met a French-Spanish fleet of 20 ships commanded by Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve . The resulting naval battle of Cape Finisterre was a serious defeat for the French. 15 British ships fought against 20 Franco-Spanish ships. Ultimately, two Spanish ships were hijacked. The British losses amounted to 39 officers and men killed and 159 wounded. 476 sailors were killed or wounded on the Allied side.

Much more important, however, was that Admiral Villeneuve could not carry out his plan. He was unable to land troops in Ireland and his plan to merge his fleet with the one anchored in the port of Brest failed .

This association was to serve to evict the British canal patrols and thus support Napoleon's invasion of Britain. So the Armée d'Angleterre was still condemned to wait uselessly in Boulogne for their embarkation. The British public and the Admiralty saw the outcome of the battle in a different light. Because Calder had failed to follow the French fleet on July 23rd and 24th and involved them in further fighting, he was removed from his command, tried before the court-martial and sentenced. He never got a command at sea again.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Calder, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British admiral
DATE OF BIRTH 1745
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1818