Vice AdmiralVice admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It equates to the NATO rank code OF-8 and is immediately superior to rear admiral and is subordinate to the full admiral rank.The Royal Navy has had vice admirals since at least the 16th century...
George Murray (22 August 1741 – 17 October 1797) was a
Royal NavyThe 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...
officer and politician. He was the third son of the Jacobite general Lord George Murray.
Naval career
Murray joined the
Royal NavyThe 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...
in 1758 as a midshipman. In 1765 he became commander of the
sloopA sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
HMS Ferret. Promoted
CaptainCaptain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
he commanded HMS
Renown, HMS
Adventure,
HMS LevantHMS Levant was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.-References:* Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9....
and
HMS CleopatraHMS Cleopatra was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had a long career, seeing service during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During the latter wars she fought two notable engagements with larger French opponents...
. He commanded the
Cleopatra at the
Battle of Dogger BankThe naval Battle of the Dogger Bank took place on 5 August 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, part of the American War of Independence, in the North Sea...
in 1781. From 1782 he commanded
HMS IrresistibleHMS Irresistible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 December 1782 at Harwich.She fought at the Battle of Groix in 1795, and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797.Irresistible was broken up in 1806....
.
He was elected
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for
Perth burghsPerth Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1832, representing a seat for one Member of Parliament - Boundaries :The constituency covered five burghs:...
in 1790 but gave up his seat in 1796. Resuming his naval career he commanded
HMS DefenceHMS Defence was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 March 1763 at Plymouth Dockyard. She was one of the most famous ships of the period, taking part in several of the most important naval battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars...
from 1790. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief at
ChathamChatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
in 1792 and went on to command
HMS DukeHMS Duke was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 October 1777 at Plymouth.Duke was employed on harbour service from 1799, and was broken up in 1843....
and then
HMS GloryHMS Glory was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 5 July 1788 at Plymouth.Glory served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Stirling at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805....
. He was made Commander-in-Chief, North American Station in 1794. He almost completely cleared North American waters of French men-of-war and privateers. He returned to England in 1796 and died the following year.
Family
In 1784 he married Hon. Wilhelmina King, daughter of Thomas King, 5th Baron King; they had no children.