Richard Kempenfelt RN (1718 - 1782)

Born 1718 in Westminster, London, England

Ancestors

Died 29 Aug 1782 at about age 64 in HMS Royal George, Spithead

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Biography

Richard Kempenfelt RN is Notable.

Richard Kempenfelt was born in 1718 at Westminster, son of a Swedish officer in the British Army, Magnus Kempenfelt, and his English wife, Ann Hunt. ^[1] His father, lieutenant governor of Jersey in 1725 and 6 appears to have died in about 1727 leaving four young children, two sons, Richard and Gustavus Adolphus, ^[1] and two daughters, Anna and Mary. Richard joined the Royal Navy.

On the 26th of September 1780 he was promoted to Rear- Admiral of the Blue. ^[1] In April 1782 he hoisted his flag aboard the elderly "Royal George", cruising with the fleet that summer and arriving home at Spithead on the 15th of August with immediate orders to refit to sail for the relief of Gibraltar. It was a busy time but wives and families, merchants and ladies of the town swarmed aboard. On the 29th of August the ship, which needed work below the waterline on the starboard side, was heeled to port by the expedient of running out the port guns and moving the starboard guns centerboard. The stress is believed to have made old rotten timbers crack, causing water to flood in through the portside gun ports. Royal Oak went to the bottom in a mere 65 feet of water. Some 900 people were lost, including Richard who was unable to escape from his cabin. ^{[1] [2]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Dictionary of National Biography: Kempenfelt, Richard (DNB00)
2. ↑ Wikipedia: HMS Royal George (1756)

• Wikipedia: Richard Kempenfelt

• 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Kempenfelt, Richard