Search the Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815 on Familyrelatives.com

The list was conceived and compiled by David Bonner Smith an Admiralty Librarian. The immense task filled 13 large notebooks and the records were transcribed from the following sources;

Pepys's Flag Officer List 1660 - 1688
Pepys's Sea Officer List 1660 - 1688
House of Commons Journal, 2 Feb. 1698/9
Admiralty List 1700
Sea Officers List 1717-1815
Chamberlayne's Present State of Great Britain 1726 - 1748
Rear Admiral Hardy's List 1783
Steel's Lists 1780 - 1815
Official Navy Lists 1814, 1815

The list includes the name of the Officer, rank and year they were commissioned, and includes well known names and figures of maritime history including Lieutenant Robert Maynard (who later became Captain) who defeated the infamous and notorious English pirate Blackbeard in battle. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy as well as Admiral Sir John Balchin, Captain William Bligh of the Bounty and many other Sea Officers of the Royal Navy are listed.

HMS Victory wreck found with a vast haul of gold treasure

Admiral Sir John Balchin who came out of retirement to command HMS Victory which sank in 1744 when it was thought that due to poor navigation had floundered on the Casquets a group of rocks near Alderney. However the wreck was recently discovered - which may contain a vast treasure of gold - 62 miles from the rocks which exonerated the Admiral. The most likely cause for the loss with all hands were the atrocious storms and weather conditions in the English Channel.

A few years later a new ship was commissioned and named the Victory which became Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. The oldest naval ship still in commission now sits in dry dock in Portsmouth, England as a museum ship.

Please see the "Abbreviations" for the Officers Rank, Posts or Appointments and the "Note on Dates" for information on ranks.

For further information please see the "History of the List".