Samuel Pechell

Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell, 3rd Baronet CB, KCH, FRS (1 September 1785 – 3 November 1849) was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century. Although he served in several celebrated naval actions of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars his most important achievements were made while serving as a Lord of the Admiralty, pioneering the science and instruction of rapid and accurate gunnery in the Royal Navy through training facilities and manuals. In addition to his work at the Admiralty, Pechell served in the House of Commons for two constituencies and was on good terms with King William IV, who supported his efforts to improve standards of gunnery and returned him to the Admiralty in 1839 after a five-year absence caused by his support for the Whig government. In 1826 he inherited the Pechell Baronetcy from his father, but died childless and the title passed to his brother George. Life Pechell was born in Ireland in 1785, the son of Sir Thomas Brooke Pechell and his wife Charlotte. Pechell was well connected in military circles: his father was a senior army officer, as were both his grandfathers, Sir Paul Pechell and Sir John Clavering. His uncle was John Borlase Warren, later to become a senior Royal Navy officer. His younger brother, George Pechell would also become a prominent naval officer. Aged 11, Pechell joined the Royal Navy under the guidance of his uncle, joining HMS Pomone in 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The following year he moved to HMS Phoebe, commanded by Captain Robert Barlow and there remained for the next four years. Under Barlow, Pechell was involved in two significant frigate actions, when Phoebe captured the French frigate Néréide at the action of 21 December 1797 and then the Africaine at the action of 19 February 1801. For his actions in these engagements, Pechell was highly praised and promoted, following Barlow into HMS Triumph in the aftermath of the Africaine action and then moving to HMS Active during the Peace of Amiens in 1803 as a lieutenant. In January 1806, Pechell joined his uncle's flagship HMS Foudroyant and was present at the defeat of the French squadron under Admiral Charles Linois at the action of 13 March 1806. In April 1807, Pechell was given his first independent command, in charge of the brig HMS Ferret operating from Jamaica.