Adam Mackenzie
Encyclopedia
Adam Mackenzie was an officer of the Royal Navy
. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 March 1790, to Commander on 22 June 1796, and to Captain on 2 September 1799. He died on 13 November 1823.
, attacked the ex British gun-brig HMS Crash
, moored between the island of Schiermonnikoog
and Groningen
. In the attack, which resulted in the surrender of the Crash, Pylades lost one man killed and two wounded. The Crash had a crew of 60 men and was armed with 12 carronade
s. The boats of the squadron then attacked the 6-gun Dutch schooner Vengeance and a battery on Schiermonnikoog. The British were able to burn the schooner and spike the guns of the battery. Following these actions, Mackenzie was promoted to rank Post captain.
.
In 1806, as captain of the frigate HMS Magicienne, he was present at the Battle of San Domingo
. Earlier, on 25 January, he had captured the packet El Carmen, armed with two guns and with a crew of 18 men, after a 12-hour chase.
At the Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
he was Second Captain on Prince of Wales
, a 98-gun first-rate
and flagship for Admiral
James Gambier. The First Captain was Sir Home Riggs Popham
. Mackenzie had been appointed to Prince of Wales in June-July of that year.
In 1808-9, Mackenzie commanded the 38-gun fifth rate frigate HMS President
while off Brazil.
, a 74-gun fourth rate. On 22 November, Armada was in the company of the 74-gun HMS Northumberland
when she captured the 14-gun French privateer ketch
La Glaneuse.
In 1820 he was captain of the 74-gun third-rate, HMS Superb
as part of a squadron the Admiralty maintained off South America to counter possible interventions by the United States. In July 1821, i.e., during winter, he brought Superb around Cape Horn
to Peru where he protected British vessels and property threatened by the fighting as San Martín
liberated Peru
. One of his tasks was to limit the activities of Admiral Thomas Cochrane
, then serving as commander of the Chilean Navy
.
, his funeral attended by over 300 sailors and Royal Marines
. The event was controversial, as after his death a woman had emerged claiming to be Mackenzie's secret wife and laying claim to his inheritance. The local vicar, Mr. Ley, carried out an investigation and determined that the woman had once been a mistress of Captain Mackenzie. Upon the end of their relationship she had conducted a marriage with a shipwright named George Condy, who had posed as Captain Mackenzie. Condy was confronted about the accusations and committed suicide, while the woman was arrested for attempting to fraudulently lay claim to Mackenzie's military pension.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 March 1790, to Commander on 22 June 1796, and to Captain on 2 September 1799. He died on 13 November 1823.
HMS Pylades
In 1799 he was captain of HMS Pylades, a 16-gun sloop. On 11 August, Pylades, accompanied by the 16-gun brig-sloop HMS Espiegle and the Hired cutter CourierHired armed cutter Courier
The Hired armed cutter Courier appears twice in the records of the Royal Navy. The size and armament suggests that both contracts may represent the same vessel...
, attacked the ex British gun-brig HMS Crash
HMS Crash (1797)
HMS Crash was a 12-gun . She was launched in April 1797 as GB No. 15 and received the name Crash in August. She served against the French and Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars, though after her capture in 1798 she spent a year in the service of the Batavian republic before the British recaptured her...
, moored between the island of Schiermonnikoog
Schiermonnikoog
Schiermonnikoog is an island, a municipality, and a national park in the northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland....
and Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
. In the attack, which resulted in the surrender of the Crash, Pylades lost one man killed and two wounded. The Crash had a crew of 60 men and was armed with 12 carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s. The boats of the squadron then attacked the 6-gun Dutch schooner Vengeance and a battery on Schiermonnikoog. The British were able to burn the schooner and spike the guns of the battery. Following these actions, Mackenzie was promoted to rank Post captain.
Frigate captain
In October 1801 to October 1803 he sailed in the Dutch West Indies as captain of the 28-gun sixth rate frigate HMS BrilliantHMS Brilliant (1779)
HMS Brilliant was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Brilliant was first commissioned in July 1779 under the command of Captain John Ford....
.
Battle of San Domingo
The Battle of San Domingo, in 1806, was a naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars. French and British squadrons of ships of the line met off the southern coast of the French-occupied Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean...
. Earlier, on 25 January, he had captured the packet El Carmen, armed with two guns and with a crew of 18 men, after a 12-hour chase.
At the Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...
he was Second Captain on Prince of Wales
HMS Prince of Wales (1794)
HMS Prince of Wales was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 June 1794 at Portsmouth.She was present at the Battle of Groix in 1795, and served as the flagship of Admiral Robert Calder at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805. Prince of Wales was not present at...
, a 98-gun first-rate
First-rate
First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...
and flagship for Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
James Gambier. The First Captain was Sir Home Riggs Popham
Home Riggs Popham
Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham KCB was a British Royal Naval Commander who saw service during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
. Mackenzie had been appointed to Prince of Wales in June-July of that year.
In 1808-9, Mackenzie commanded the 38-gun fifth rate frigate HMS President
French frigate Président
The Président was a 40-gun frigate of the Gloire Class in the French Navy, built to a 1802 design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. She served with the French Navy from her completion in 1804 until late 1806 when the Royal Navy captured her...
while off Brazil.
Ship of the line
In 1810, he took command of the newly commissioned HMS ArmadaHMS Armada (1810)
HMS Armada was a Royal Navy 74-gun third-rate ship of the line. She was launched on 23 March 1810 by Mrs Pridham, the wife of the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr Joseph Pridham. After a relatively undistinguished career, Armada was sold out of the Navy in 1863 and broken up at Marshall's ship breaking yard...
, a 74-gun fourth rate. On 22 November, Armada was in the company of the 74-gun HMS Northumberland
HMS Northumberland (1798)
HMS Northumberland was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at the yards of Barnard, Deptford and launched on 2 February 1798....
when she captured the 14-gun French privateer ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
La Glaneuse.
In 1820 he was captain of the 74-gun third-rate, HMS Superb
HMS Superb (1798)
HMS Superb was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and the fourth vessel to bear the name. She was launched on 19 March 1798 from Northfleet, and was eventually broken up in 1826. Superb is mostly associated with Richard Goodwin Keats who commanded her as captain from 1801 until...
as part of a squadron the Admiralty maintained off South America to counter possible interventions by the United States. In July 1821, i.e., during winter, he brought Superb around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to Peru where he protected British vessels and property threatened by the fighting as San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
liberated Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. One of his tasks was to limit the activities of Admiral Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
, then serving as commander of the Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
.
Fate
Adam Mackenzie died in 1823 and was buried at StokeStoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, his funeral attended by over 300 sailors and Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
. The event was controversial, as after his death a woman had emerged claiming to be Mackenzie's secret wife and laying claim to his inheritance. The local vicar, Mr. Ley, carried out an investigation and determined that the woman had once been a mistress of Captain Mackenzie. Upon the end of their relationship she had conducted a marriage with a shipwright named George Condy, who had posed as Captain Mackenzie. Condy was confronted about the accusations and committed suicide, while the woman was arrested for attempting to fraudulently lay claim to Mackenzie's military pension.