McBride, John (Admiral)

John McBride was born in Scotland around 1735, the second son of Presbyterian priest Robert McBride. ^[1] The family moved to Ireland shortly after the birth of John, when Robert received the arrival of Ballymoney, in County Antrim . John's brother, David McBride, has emerged as the author of medical texts. ^[2] John McBride first went to sea on a merchant ship in 1751 and entered the Royal Navy as a sailor three years later, in 1754 . ^{[2] [3]} He served for several years at the 24-gun HMS Garland in the West Indies , then returned to British waters, and served for several months aboard HMS Norfolk , the flagship of Downs . ^{[2] [3]}

McBride passed the test for lieutenant on October 6, 1758 , and on October 27 received an officer's patent. ^{[2] [3]} He was transferred to the Grace hired cutter , with whom, in August 1761, he discovered the French corsair in the Dunkirk raid. ^[3] McBride contacted the frigate HMS Maidsone and requested four armed lifeboats with people from his captain. Captain Maidsone readily agreed, and at 10 o'clock in the evening the boats, muffling the oars with rags , moved away from the British ships and became close to the corsair. They came to a pistol shot and hailed a French ship, and without receiving an answer, they went to board the ship. The British attacked from both sides, and took a corsair, losing two people wounded. McBride shot a French lieutenant himself when he set the cannon on the boats. All French casualties were two killed and five wounded. Having seized the ship, the British brought it into the sea under the guns of the French battery.

McBryde's good service brought him promotion to the rank of master and commander on April 7, 1762 , and an appointment to command the HMS Grampus brander . ^[4] On 27 May 1763, he switched to HMS Cruizer , the sloop , still with the rank of commander. ^{[2] [5]} After spending some time in his waters, on June 20, 1765, Mac-Bride was promoted to full captain, and took command of the 30-gun HMS Renown . ^[6] This was followed in August 1765 by the command of the 32-gun HMS Jason , and the task of founding a colony on the Falkland Islands. ^{[3] [7]}

McBride arrived on the islands with HMS Jason , HMS Carcass and the HMS Experiment supply transport in January 1766 , with orders to provide accommodation, as well as inform all existing residents that the islands are British ownership. The British built Port Egmont , made several trips to the waters around the island, and in December came across a French settlement. In a friendly conversation, Mac-Bride informed the French Governor Monsieur de Neville ( Fr. de Neville ) of British claims, which the French politely rejected. Unbeknownst to both de Neville and Mac Bride, Louis Antoine de Bougainville , who founded the French settlement, agreed to sell a colony of Spain . As a result, tensions between the Spanish and British authorities in 1770 nearly led to war , but by then Mac Bride returned home, reporting on the situation to the government. Later, probably in 1770 , he published a 13-page monograph entitled "Wind and Weather Journal ... on the Falkland Islands from February 1, 1766 to January 19, 1767." ^[3]

After returning to England, McBride in August 1767 was given command of a 22-gun HMS Seaford with the task of cruising in the English Channel . ^[8] He spent several years at Seaford , then was transferred and in March 1771 took command of the 32-gun HMS Arethusa , and in August of the same year the 32-gun HMS Southampton . ^[9] Commanded until May 1772 , when he received the order to command a small squadron, with instructions to deliver Caroline Matilda , the former Queen of Denmark and Norway and sister of King George III , from Elsinore to Stadt. ^{[3] The} squadron consisted of Southampton and two past ships McBride, Seaford and Cruizer . In April 1773, he took command of HMS Orpheus . ^[9]

With the beginning of the war with the American colonies , McBride on November 6, 1776 was appointed to command the 64-gun HMS Bienfaisant . ^[9] He was present in the admiral division at the island of Uessan on July 28, 1778 , but did not seriously participate in the confused situation. ^[3] In the subsequent disputes over the outcome of the battle, McBride testified in favor of Admiral Keppell , which was an important factor in justifying that on the field court . ^[3] Sir Hugh Palliser ( born Hugh Palliser ) Mac Bride supported less. ^[3] He continued to command Bienfaisant , and in December joined the fleet of Sir George Rodney , to supply Gibraltar . ^[10] At the crossing, the British fleet stumbled upon a Spanish convoy that was delivering sea supplies from San Sebastian to Cadiz , and forced it into battle. ^[3] The British managed to capture the convoy , McBride proved himself in a duel with the Spanish flagship Guipuscoana , which he surrendered to. ^[3]

On January 16, the fleet again discovered Spanish ships, this time at Cape St. Vincent . The Spanish fleet, under the command of Admiral Juan de Langar, was forced to fight , and again McBride was in the thick of it. ^[9] He led his ship against Santo Domingo , with the Bienfaisant barely escaping serious damage when his opponent exploded. Then continued the search and captured the flagship de Langar, in the 80-gun Fenix . ^{[3] [9]} McBride sent Lieutenant Thomas Louis ( English Thomas Louis ) to seize the prize, but since there was a smallpox outbreak on Bienfaisant , McBride did not take the usual step in such cases and did not transfer part of the prisoners to his board. ^[3] Instead, he entered into an agreement with de Langar that if he met with the French or the Spaniards, he would not stop Fenix ​​from defending himself. ^[11] If Bienfaisant leaves and Fenix is recaptured, de Langar and his people consider themselves to be prisoners of war and do not fight against Britain, but if Fenix runs and Bienfaisant is taken, then de Langar and his people are released. ^[11] In fact, both ships reached Gibraltar without incident, after which Mac-Bride was honored to deliver Rodney's reports back to England. He set off immediately, but was delayed by unfavorable winds. Accordingly, his dispatches arrived a few days after the same reports reached London with captain Edward Thompson ( Eng. Edward Thomson ), who left Rodney later Mac Bride, but got faster.

Rodney's fleet returned to Britain in March, and McBride returned to Bienfaisant . In early August, a major French privateer, 64-gun Comte d'Artois , reportedly left Brest for a cruise to the southern coast of Ireland . McBride received an order to go along with the 44-gun HMS Charon to intercept. After a few days of searching, early in the morning of August 13 , an unknown sail finally appeared, chasing several ships of the convoy leaving Cork . McBride got close and stood up against an unidentified ship that raised the English flag. The ships came to a pistol shot, and only exchanging hails with the enemy, Mac-Bride could satisfactorily name his affiliation. At this time, the ships were so close ( Bienfaisant on the nose from Comte d'Artois ) that none could use the main armament. Instead, both fired from the muskets until Mac-Bride maneuvered to the side and a general battle ensued. After 1 hour and 10 minutes, the French ship surrendered, with 21 dead and 35 wounded, while on the Bienfaisant there were three wounded and 20 wounded. Charon entered the battle only at the end, and had one wounded. After this episode, Mac-Bride became the first and most eloquent supporter of the new weapon, carronade , in the Royal Navy. In this battle, six 12-pound carronades on the poop of his own Bienfaisant did a lot to put down musket fire - traditionally the strength of the French. ^[12] The seizure had an unusual sequel, when a little more than a year later, and with another captain, Bienfaisant seized another privatir, this time named after the Countess Sophia d'Artois.

By another coincidence, in January 1781 Mac-Bride took command of a 40-gun HMS Artois , a former French ship, captured in 1780 by HMS Romney . ^[13] McBride served in the North Sea with Sir Hede-Parker’s fleet, and fought against the Dutch at Dogger Bank on August 5, 1781 . ^[3] After the battle, Parker temporarily transferred Mac Bride to the 80-gun HMS Princess Amelia , whose captain, John MacCartney ( John MacCartney ), was killed in battle. ^[9] McBride returned to Artois command after returning the fleet to the port and continued cruising in the North Sea. ^[3] On December 3, he entered the battle and captured two large 24-gun Dutch proprietors, Hercules and Mars . On Mars, 9 people were killed and 15 injured, and on Hercules 13 were killed and 20 injured. ^[11] On Artois, one person was killed and six injured. ^[eleven]

At the beginning of 1782, the MacBride acted in the Canal, and in April was as a patrol ahead of the main forces under the command of Admiral Samuel Barrington , aimed at intercepting the French squadron that had left Brest for the East Indies . He spotted an adversary on April 20 and warned Barrington. On this day, the British went to intercept, and the next captured more than half of the French . After this success, Mac Bride was assigned to the Irish station in June, where he worked as a press on the shore, while Artois cruised under the command of first lieutenant. ^{[3] [9]}

At the end of the war with America, Mac Bride left Artois command, but in June he managed to get a 32-gun HMS Druid . He commanded until the end of the year, after which a temporary break came at his service at sea. McBride took the opportunity to go into politics, and in 1784 he was elected to Plymouth Parliament. Kept mandate until 1790. He made several speeches on naval issues, and sat on the Duke of Richmond Commission for the Defense of Portsmouth and Plymouth between 1785 and 1786 . He opposed the plan to strengthen the naval shipyards, both on the commission and in Parliament. In 1788 he returned to active service, although not at sea; took the ship in Plymouth, the 74-gun HMS Cumberland . In 1790 , in connection with the threat of the so-called Spanish Armament, McBride led Cumberland to Torbay to join the Lord Howe fleet assembled there.

McBride was promoted to rear admirals on February 1, 1793 , in the order of the general increase of officers with the start of the war. He became a commander in Downs , commanding a frigate squadron, held a flag on Cumberland , then transferred it to a 32-gun HMS Quebec . It took possession of Ostend after the French retreat in early 1793, and in October transported reinforcements under the command of General Sir Charles Gray to help in the defense of Dunkirk . At the end of the year he took command of the 36-gun HMS Flora and left Portsmouth on December 1 . He delivered an army under the command of Earl Moira to support French royalists in Brittany and Normandy .

After this campaign, he took command of a small squadron on the Western approaches , held the flag on several ships, including the sloop HMS Echo , 74-gun HMS Minotaur and 64-gun HMS Scepter . The squadron did not achieve significant success, and McBride had the misfortune to break his leg, sitting on a horse, which forced him to temporarily give up his duties. He was promoted to Rear Admirals of the Red Squadron on April 11 , and on July 4, to Vice Admirals of Blue. Becoming the vice-admiral of the white squadron on June 1, 1795 , Mac-Bride commanded a squadron in the North Sea, assigned to monitor the Dutch fleet in Texel, held a flag on the 74-gun HMS Russell . He resigned at the end of 1795 , and did not go to sea anymore. However, on February 14, 1799, he was promoted to admiral of the blue squadron. Admiral John McBride died on February 17, 1800 from a paralysis attack at the Spring Garden coffee shop in London .

McBride got married at the beginning of his career, but no details of this remained, except that his wife was the daughter of a naval officer. She allegedly died since July 14, 1774, Mac-Bride married Ursula Folks ( English Folkes ), the eldest daughter of William Folks from Hillington Hall, Norfolk . ^{[3] [9]} Their son, John David McBride, became director of Magdalen Hall, Oxford . Mack-Bride's daughter, Charlotte, in 1795, married Admiral Thomas Willoughby Lake. ^[14]

• Cape Bride Head in the Falkland Islands is named after him.
• In Plymouth on the Barbican, the traditional English tavern Admiral McBride, founded in the 1790s, has been preserved. ^[15]

• Admiral McBride - Barbican, Plymouth
• BIENFAISANT (64)

• Colledge, JJ, Warlow, Ben. Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed. [1969]). London: Chatham, 2006. ISBN 1-86176-281-8
• MacBride, John (d. 1800): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . 34. Oxford University Press. 1893.
• Navies and the American Revolution, 1775−1783 / Robert Gardiner, ed. - Chatham Publishing, 1997. - ISBN 1-55750-623-X .
• Tracy, Nicholas. Whos who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes . London: Chatham, 2006. ISBN 1-86176-244-5
• Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates . London-St.Paul: Seaforth, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6