35-739: Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Leake (4 July 1656 – 21 August 1720) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War . He then distinguished himself when he led the convoy that broke the barricading boom at Culmore Fort thereby lifting the siege of Derry during the Williamite War in Ireland . As a captain he saw action in some of
70-521: A Marshal of the Royal Air Force . Apart from honorary appointments, no new admirals of the fleet have been named since 1995, and no honorary appointments have been made since 2014. The origins of the rank can be traced back to John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick , who was appointed ' Admiral of the King's Southern, Northern and Western Fleets ' on 18 July 1360. The appointment gave
105-518: A three-decker . It was also cheaper to operate. By the end of the 18th century, ships of the line were usually categorized directly by their number of guns, the numbers even being used as the name of the class, as in "a squadron of three 74s", but officially the rating system continued until the end of the Age of Sail , only undergoing a modification in 1817. Note that the use of terms like "third-rate" in literature can lead to confusion: The French Navy had
140-621: A Franco-Spanish army led by Philip V of Spain laid siege to Barcelona in an attempt to recapture it. The Franco-Spanish army abandoned the siege when Leake arrived in May 1706. On the way back, he supported operations to capture Cartagena in May 1706, Alicante in July 1706, Ibiza in September 1706 and Majorca later that month. Leake was promoted to full admiral , appointed Commander in Chief of
175-461: A Franco-Spanish army led by Philip V of Spain laid siege to Barcelona in an attempt to recapture it. The Franco-Spanish army abandoned the siege when Leake arrived. Leake later captured Sardinia and landed the Earl of Stanhope with forces that took the well-fortified harbour of Port Mahon on Minorca . Leake served as Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1708 to 1715 and as First Lord of
210-844: A political position in that role, and was re-appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Navy for expeditions in January 1711 (for trade protection in the Channel) and in April 1712 (for an attack on Dunkirk ). He stood down as First Lord of the Admiralty in September 1712 and reverted to his former role as First Naval Lord on the Admiralty Board. He was re-appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Navy for yet another expedition in March 1713 before resigning from
245-635: A second admiral of the fleet, to balance the Duke of Wellington ' s promotion as a second Field Marshal in the British Army. In 1830 King William IV increased the number of admirals of the fleet to three, though these additional lifetime postings subsequently lapsed. Between 1854 and 1857 there was no admiral of the fleet at all as the most senior naval officer of the time – Admiral of the Red Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin –
280-609: A successful attack on the French ships at the Battle of La Hogue later that month. He transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS Plymouth on convoy protection duties in December 1692 and to the command of the second-rate HMS Ossory in the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1693. Leake was given command of the third-rate HMS Kent on a mission to transport troops to Ireland in May 1699 and then transferred to
315-643: The London Gazette that "His Majesty [has] been pleased to order the Rank of Admirals of the Red to be restored" in His Majesty's Navy..." as a separate role. The same Gazette promoted 22 men to that rank. From the nineteenth century onward there were also occasional variations to the previous requirement that only one Admiral of Fleet could serve at one time. In 1821 George IV appointed Sir John Jervis as
350-559: The Battle of Cabrita Point in March 1705. The combined French and Spanish Fleet under Marshal Tessé gave up the siege as hopeless following an order from King Louis XIV of France in April 1705. Leake served under Sir Cloudesley Shovell and the Earl of Peterborough at the Siege of Barcelona and was present at the capitulation of the city by French and Spanish forces in October 1705. A further siege took place between in April 1706 when
385-574: The Battle of Málaga during the War of the Spanish Succession . He later returned to Gibraltar with a combined English, Dutch and Portuguese force of 35 ships and defeated Baron de Pointis at the Battle of Cabrita Point . Leake also served under Sir Cloudesley Shovell and the Earl of Peterborough at the siege of Barcelona and was present at the capitulation of the city by French and Spanish forces. A further siege took place between when
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#1732790846852420-465: The Battle of Málaga later in the month. In October 1704 Field Marshal Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt sent a message to Leake at Lisbon requesting his urgent assistance after the appearance of French ships in the Bay of Gibraltar . Leake set sail at once, bringing more supplies for the defenders who were caught in what became known as the twelfth siege of Gibraltar . Leake arrived with twenty ships and, in
455-733: The Board of Admiralty led by the Earl of Orford , as Senior Naval Lord , in November 1709. In Parliament he supported the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell in Spring 1710. Later that year he donated a new altarpiece, communion-table, rails and pavement for the chancel at St Mary's Church in Beddington where he owned a country house. Leake became First Lord of the Admiralty in the Harley Ministry in November 1710, but declined to take
490-758: The Mediterranean Fleet and given authority to fly the flag of an Admiral of the Fleet on 8 January 1708. Leake was appointed a member of the council of the Lord High Admiral (an office vested at that time in Prince George of Denmark ) in June 1708 and elected Member of Parliament for Member of Parliament for Harwich in May 1708 and Member of Parliament for Rochester in July 1708. He could not represent both seats and chose to represent
525-486: The rating system of the Royal Navy , a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker ). When the rating system was first established in the 1620s, the third rate was defined as those ships having at least 200 but not more than 300 men; previous to this, the type had been classified as "middling ships". By
560-508: The second-rate HMS Neptune in 1683. Promoted to commander on 24 September 1688, he was given command of the bomb vessel HMS Firedrake and saw action under Battle of Bantry Bay in May 1689 during the Nine Years' War . Promoted to captain on 3 May 1689, Leake was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Dartmouth ; he distinguished himself when he led the convoy that broke the barricading boom at Culmore Fort thereby lifting
595-453: The siege of Derry in July 1689 during the Williamite War in Ireland . He transferred to the command of the fourth-rate HMS Oxford in the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1689 and to the command of the third-rate HMS Eagle in May 1690 and saw action in some of the heaviest fighting (70 of his men were killed) at the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692. Leake also commanded HMS Eagle , by then flagship of Vice-Admiral George Rooke , in
630-430: The subsequent naval engagement , three French ships were captured and two others destroyed. With Gibraltar safe for the moment, Leake left for Lisbon in January 1705 with the sick and wounded members of the garrison aboard his ships. He became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in later that month and returned to Gibraltar with a combined English, Dutch and Portuguese force of 35 ships and defeated Baron de Pointis at
665-418: The 1660s, the means of classification had shifted from the number of men to the number of carriage-mounted guns, and third rates at that time mounted between 48 and 60 guns. By the turn of the century, the criterion boundaries had increased and third rate carried more than 60 guns, with second rates having between 90 and 98 guns, while first rates had 100 guns or more, and fourth rates between 48 and 60 guns. By
700-632: The Admiralty from 1710 to 1712. Born the son of Richard Leake , a master gunner, and Elizabeth Leake, Leake joined the Royal Navy in early 1673. He was assigned to the first-rate HMS Royal Prince , flagship of Admiral Sir Edward Spragge , and saw action at the Battle of Texel in August 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War . He left the Royal Navy when the War ended in 1674 and served in merchant vessels but rejoined in 1676 and became master gunner in
735-531: The Admiralty Board in October 1714. Knowing that he would be perceived as a Tory , following his active involvement in the Harley Ministry, he stood down from Parliament immediately prior to the general election in 1715. Leake died at his town house in Greenwich on 21 August 1720 and was buried at St Dunstan's, Stepney . John Campbell described him as a "virtuous, humane and gallant man, and one of
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#1732790846852770-524: The Fleet. Appointments were for life, remunerated via a £5 daily stipend and an annual allowance of £1,014 for the hiring and maintenance of servants. It was intended that only one officer would hold the rank at any time, with their presence aboard any naval vessel to be denoted by the flying of the Royal Standard from the main mast . The ranks of Admiral of the Fleet and Admiral of the Red were formally separated from 1805, with an announcement in
805-615: The Prince of Wales (now King Charles III ) became an honorary admiral of the fleet (as well as field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force ), in recognition of his support to Queen Elizabeth II in her role of as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. In 2014, Lord Boyce , a former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff, was also appointed an honorary admiral of the fleet. Third-rate In
840-486: The command of the English navy to one person for the first time; this evolved into the post of Admiral of the Fleet. In the days of sailing ships the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy included distinctions related to the fleet being divided into three divisions – red, white, or blue. Each division was assigned at least one admiral , who in turn commanded a number of vice-admirals and rear admirals . While
875-405: The command of the third-rate HMS Berwick in January 1701. He took command of the first-rate HMS Britannia , flagship of the Earl of Pembroke , on an expedition to Cádiz in January 1702, and then transferred to the command of the second-rate HMS Association in June 1702. Promoted to commodore on 24 June 1702, Leake became Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland , with his broad pennant in
910-516: The creation of the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, the five naval officers appointed to that position became admirals of the fleet. Recognizing the reduced post– Cold War size of the British Armed Forces, no further appointments were made to the rank after 1995 when Sir Benjamin Bathurst was appointed admiral of the fleet on his retirement as First Sea Lord. The rank was not abolished and in 2012
945-734: The fourth-rate HMS Exeter . He sailed with eight ships with orders to attack the French fishing harbours and their ships at sea at this early stage of the North American theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession . In this expedition 51 enemy ships were taken or destroyed. While in Newfoundland Leake also reported on the failure of the local people to observe legislation prohibiting trade with New England . Promoted to rear admiral on 9 December 1702, Leake became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in January 1703. Promoted to vice admiral in March 1703, he sailed, with his flag in
980-562: The full admirals were nominally equals, tradition gave precedence to the Admiral of the White who held the fleet rank in addition to his substantive role. The Restoration era brought a general reorganisation of naval ranks and structure, including formalisation of the admiral of the fleet role. In a break with tradition the rank was awarded to the most senior Admiral of the Red, who retained this substantive rank while also serving as Admiral of
1015-536: The greatest admirals of his time." In around 1681 Leake married Christiane Hill, daughter of Captain Richard Hill; they had one son. Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy) Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the Royal Navy , formally established in 1688. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10 , equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or
1050-457: The heaviest fighting (70 of his men were killed) at the Battle of Barfleur and was also involved in a successful attack on the French ships at the Battle of La Hogue during the Nine Years' War . Leake went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland and then, as a flag officer, served as Second-in-Command to Admiral George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltar and he commanded the vanguard in
1085-430: The latter half of the 18th century, they carried between 500 and 720 men. This designation became especially common because it included the seventy-four gun ship , which eventually came to be the most popular size of large ship for navies of several different nations. It was an easier ship to handle than a first- or second-rate ship, but still possessed enough firepower to potentially destroy any single opponent other than
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1120-541: The latter. Meanwhile, back in the Mediterranean, Leake captured Sardinia in August 1708 and landed the Earl of Stanhope with forces that took the well-fortified harbour of Port Mahon on Minorca in September 1708. He was re-appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Navy for an expedition to the Baltic Sea in December 1708 and, after being appointed Rear-Admiral of Great Britain on 24 May 1709, went on to join
1155-466: The second-rate HMS Prince George , in a fleet dispatched under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell to take troops to Lisbon in Spring 1703. Although his ship was caught in the great storm of December 1703, it suffered no serious damage. Knighted in February 1704, Leake served as Second-in-Command to Admiral George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltar in August 1704 and he commanded the vanguard in
1190-552: The two World Wars a number of serving officers held active commissions as admirals of the fleet, as well as the First Sea Lord—e.g. Sir John Tovey . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was created an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1954, following the coronation of his wife Elizabeth II as Queen. This promotion was to a New Zealand rank, separate from the Royal Navy rank. Following
1225-493: Was mentally ill and had not served at sea for forty-five years. In deference to Gosselin's seniority the position was instead left vacant until his death in 1857, whereupon it was filled by Admiral Charles Ogle . The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, though the rank of admiral of the fleet was maintained. The title of First Naval Lord was renamed First Sea Lord in 1904. During
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