RICHARD

See also:

• RICHARD KEMPENFELT (1718-1782)

KEMPENFELT (1718-1782)  , British rear-admiral, was born at Westminster in 1718 . His father, a Swede, is said to have been in the service of James II., and subsequently to have entered the British army . Richard Kempenfelt went into the navy, and saw his first service in the West Indies, taking part in the capture of Portobello . In 1746 he returned to England, and from that date to 1780, when he was made rear-admiral, saw active service in the East Indies with Sir George Pocock and in various quarters of the world . In 1781 he gained, with a vastly inferior force, a brilliant victory, fifty leagues south-west of Ushant, over the French fleet under De Guichen, capturing twenty prizes . In 1782 he hoisted his flag on the " Royal George," which formed part of the fleet under Lord Howe . In August this fleet was ordered to refit at top speed at Portsmouth, and proceed to the relief of Gibraltar . A leak having been located below the waterline of the " Royal George," the vessel was careened to allow of the defect being repaired . According to the version of the disaster favoured by the Admiralty, she was over-turned by a breeze . But the general opinion of the navy was that the shifting of her weights was more than the old and rotten timbers of the " Royal George " could stand . A large piece of her bottom fell out, and she went down at once . It is estimated that not fewer than 800 persons went down with her, for besides the crew there were a large number of tradesmen, women and children on board .

Kempenfelt, who was in his

cabin, perished with the rest . Cowper's poem, the " Loss of the Royal George," commemorates this disaster . Kempenfelt effected radical alterations and improvements in the signalling system then existing in the British navy . A painting of the loss of the " Royal George " is in the Royal United Service Institution, London . See Charnock's Biog . Nay., vi . 246, and Ralfe's Naval Biographies, i . 215 .