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Understanding the Rank of Captain in the Royal Navy

This quiz tests knowledge on the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy, including its position in the military ranking system and its equivalence in other branches of the armed forces.

#Royal Navy #military ranks #Captain #NATO ranking #armed forces

1 It ranks above ________ and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5.

2 Captain (Capt) is a senior officer rank of the ________.

3 The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the ________ or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • after Captain George Blagdon Westcott was killed at the Battle of the Nile, Horatio Nelson gave his own medal from the battle to Westcott's family.
  • after Captain Hugh Pigot was killed in a mutiny, Captain Edward Hamilton led the force (pictured) that recaptured his ship HMS Hermione.
  • after his ship was torpedoed, Captain Maurice Swynfen Fitzmaurice was picked up from the water, apparently with his monocle still firmly in place.
  • John Lawford was the only captain who fought at Copenhagen in 1801 to receive an honorary reward specifically for his actions during the battle.
  • Britain's Dacres family produced an Admiral and First Naval Lord, Sydney, three vice-admirals, James Richard (pictured), Richard and James Richard, a naval Captain, Barrington, and a field marshal, Richard James.
  • Horatio Nelson described Captain George Elliot as one of the best officers in the navy.
  • Royal Navy Admiral Lawrence Halsted was the son of a naval captain, married the daughter of an admiral, and was the father of a vice-admiral.
  • after failing to engage two French warships, Captain Savage Mostyn demanded that he be tried by court-martial.
  • after his acquittal at a court martial for the loss of HMS Greenwich, Captain Robert Roddam (pictured) had the minutes printed, but was told they would have sold better had he been 'condemned to be shot'.
  • when Captain Robert Corbet suggested that captains be allowed to flog lieutenants, Rear-Admiral Edward Buller (pictured) declared that admirals should therefore flog captains.
  • when refused leave to go to London with the order that he could only travel as far on land as he could get in his barge, Captain Henry Paulet put the barge on a cart and went anyway.
  • while Captain Horatio Nelson was initially enthusiastic about his new command HMS Albemarle, his more experienced uncle, Maurice Suckling, expressed doubts.
  • the successful escape from the multi-ship mutiny at the Nore by Royal Navy Captain Charles Cunningham in 1797 led to that mutiny's failure.
  • during the mutiny at the Nore, Captain William Hotham and Admiral Adam Duncan had to imitate an entire British fleet with just two ships.
  • after his ship was captured by the French, Captain Thomas Thompson complained that his captors stole his surgeon's instruments whilst he was trying to operate on the wounded.
  • after serving in a number of battles of the American and French Revolutionary Wars, Captain Ralph Willett Miller was killed in an accidental explosion aboard his ship HMS Theseus.
  • Horatio Nelson called the captains who fought with him at the Battle of the Nile his "Band of Brothers".
  • King Charles II rewarded Captain Richard Haddock for his actions in the Battle of Solebay by giving him a hat.
  • Captain George Murray led Nelson's fleet at the attack on Copenhagen using knowledge he had gained from surveying the area a decade earlier.
  • Captain James Lind was knighted after the Battle of Vizagapatam (pictured), despite losing both merchants he was escorting.
  • Captain James Young's capture of a Spanish frigate in 1799 (illustrated) brought each of his seamen the equivalent of ten years' pay in prize money.
  • Captain George Eyre narrowly escaped death in 1810, when he was hit in the head by a musket ball and three others passed through his clothes.
  • Captain Charles Powell Hamilton was present at both the loss of HMS Alexander in the Action of 6 November 1794, and her recapture at the Battle of Groix.
  • Captain Anthony Molloy's court martial and disgrace following the Glorious First of June was attributed by some to a curse from a woman he had dishonored.
  • Captain Charles Lydiard died in the wreck of his ship (pictured) when he became exhausted after trying to ensure that as many of his crew as possible were saved.
  • Captain John Maitland's decisive quashing of an attempted mutiny was termed 'Doctor Maitland's recipe' by Admiral John Jervis.
  • Captain Philip Beaver (pictured) once read the entire Encyclopædia Britannica during one of his cruises.
  • Captain Thomas Dundas's ship, HMS Naiad, towed the crippled HMS Belleisle through a gale to safety after the Battle of Trafalgar.
  • Captain William Mounsey, in command of the much smaller HMS Bonne Citoyenne, captured a frigate and later commanded her as HMS Furieuse.
  • Captain Thomas Baker played a significant role in bringing about three battles during the Napoleonic Wars: Copenhagen, Trafalgar, and Cape Ortegal.
  • Captain Isaac Coffin rescued a man from drowning while commanding HMS Alligator, but injured himself in doing so.
  • Captain Ralph Kerr, briefly commander of the Royal Navy's largest warship HMS Hood, had previously only commanded destroyers.
  • Captain Richard Bowen (pictured), commanding the 32-gun HMS Terpsichore, attacked the largest warship in the world at the time, the 136-gun Santísima Trinidad.
  • intercepted by a larger French force on 6 November 1794, Captain Richard Bligh of HMS Alexander chose to stay and fight, allowing his companion ship, HMS Canada, to safely retreat.
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