Vice Admiral John Benbow - Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Hampshire - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

"The figurehead is of the bust of Vice Admiral John Benbow, the commander-in-chief of the West Indies during the War of Spanish Succession, who died of wounds sustained in a battle with a French squadron in 1702. He wears a brown curly wig and white cravat as shown in contemporary portraits. The figure wears armour and the lower part is draped in red cloth.

The armour on the figurehead was originally painted black and then in the 1950’s it was painted metallic silver and at some point was returned its original colour.

Vessel history -

The ship, a 3rd rate, 72 gun vessel, was built at John Brent of Rotherhithe’s private yard and was launched from the same location in 1813. HMS 'Benbow' took part in the Syria Campaign in 1840 as part of an Anglo-Austrian-Turkish fleet. In 1848 the ship became a marine barrack vessel, then later in 1854 accommodation for Russian war prisoners and finally in 1859 a coal hulk at Sheerness. She was broken up by the Castles of Woolwich in 1895."

SOURCE - (visit link)

"John Benbow (10 March 1653 – 4 November 1702) was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon he returned to the Royal Navy and was commissioned.

Benbow fought against France during the Nine Years War (1688–97), serving on and later commanding several English vessels and taking part in the battles of Beachy Head, Barfleur and La Hogue in 1690 and 1692. He went on to achieve fame during campaigns against Salé and Moor pirates; laying siege to Saint-Malo; and fighting in the West Indies against France during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714).

Benbow's fame and success earned him both public notoriety and a promotion to admiral. He was then involved in an incident during the Action of August 1702, where a number of his captains refused to support him while commanding a squadron of ships. Benbow instigated the trial and later imprisonment or execution of a number of the captains involved, though he did not live to see these results. These events contributed to his notoriety, and led to several references to him in subsequent popular culture."

SOURCE & further reading - (visit link)

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/02/2019 Lynx Humble visited it 06/23/2017 reelcutter visited it

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