Gordon Thomas Falcon

Gordon Thomas Falcon (died 11 January 1854) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He first went to sea in 1794 as an able seaman on board . Quickly promoted to midshipman, Falcon transferred to and then , Admiral Adam Duncan's flagship, in which he served at the Battle of Camperdown.

As a lieutenant, Falcon was aboard when she fired on the , causing an international incident. He was promoted to post-captain on 29 October 1813, and soon after was assigned to the newly built . Falcon was in command of the 22-gun when she and the 20-gun engaged the American 44-gun super frigate, near Madeira on 20 February 1815. Outgunned, both ships were captured and Falcon was made a prisoner of war. After hostilities, Falcon was released and stood trial for the loss of his ship at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was honourably acquitted.

Towards the end of his career, Falcon served aboard as flag captain to William Hargood, the Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth. He was there in August 1833, during the royal visit of Princess Victoria and her mother, the Duchess of Kent and assisted in their rescue when the royal yacht collided with a hulked ship. On 17 February 1845, Falcon accepted his last position, that of Superintendent at Pembroke Dock and Captain of the yacht. He attained flag-rank on 1 August 1848, when he was promoted to rear-admiral, at which point, he retired. He died at his home in London on 11 January 1854.

Early service The Battle of Camperdown, where Falcon served as a midshipman aboard HMS Venerable. Gordon Thomas Falcon joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman in 1794. He first served under William George Fairfax, on board the fifth-rate frigate, , Rear-admiral Henry Harvey's flagship, in the English Channel. Falcon was quickly promoted to midshipman and followed Fairfax, first into , and then , Admiral Adam Duncan's flagship. Falcon was on board the latter when she fought at the Battle of Camperdown shortly after which, in 1798, he transferred to the newly constructed . That year, he also spent three months as Acting-Lieutenant, aboard the 20-gun .

In 1799, still serving in home waters, Falcon was twice more acting-lieutenant; first in the 18-gun HMS Busy, then later in the frigate. He was confirmed as lieutenant on 15 May 1800 and transferred to the armed ship, Wright. He was part of the force that seized Danish and Swedish possessions in the West Indies in retaliation for their part in the League of Armed Neutrality. He later followed Mitchell into and while aboard, on 23 February 1805, assisted in the capture of the 46-gun, French frigate, Ville de Milan, and the simultaneous re-capture of her prize, the 32-gun .

Chesapeakes officers offering their swords to Leopards officers. Falcon was one of the British officers that boarded.

In 1806, Falcon joined and was still a member of the crew on 22 June 1807 when the Chesapeake–Leopard affair occurred. While anchored off Cape Henry, Chesapeake was spotted putting to sea. Using the ruse of having dispatches, an officer from Leopard boarded the Chesapeake. When the true purpose of the visit was revealed, the American captain pretended not to know of any such men and refused to allow a search of his ship.

Command On 8 March 1811, Falcon was given command of the troopship . He had been acting-captain of the 38-gun HMS Macedonian. Promoted to post-captain on 29 October 1813, he was soon after assigned to the newly constructed heavy frigate.

Falcon took command of the 22-gun on 14 March 1814 and was captured following an enemy action on 20 February 1815. Falcon seeing the enemy ship off the starboard quarter, correctly identified her and made signals to Levant which hauled up. Although they knew they were outgunned, the British decided to fight in the hope of disabling Constitution sufficiently to save two valuable convoys they had escorted from Gibraltar a few days earlier and that were, at that time, only to the south.

A running battle proving impossible, and knowing they would soon be overhauled by the much faster ship, the two sloops bore up to engage. When Constitution opened fire on Cyane, twenty minutes later, she was within point-blank range for her long guns but still out of reach of Cyane's carronades.

Both Royal Navy vessels were captured and their crews taken prisoner. Released after the war, Falcon and Douglas stood trial for the loss of their ships on board HMS Akbar on 28 June, at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The court martial honourably acquitted them both.

On 24 June 1817, Falcon commissioned , a sixth-rate of 26-guns in which he served in American waters. In October 1820, he returned to England laden with £700,000 of silver specie. Falcon's next ship was the 50-gun super frigate , which he was assigned to on 1 March 1823. On 23 June, he returned to South American waters aboard the 74-gun , flagship of Rear-Admiral George Eyre. He transferred with Eyre to on 21 August 1825.

Falcon moved to the 110-gun on 1 May 1833 and then, on 5 September 1835, to the 104-gun at Plymouth where she was serving as flagship to Admiral William Hargood, the Commander-in-Chief there. On arriving between St Nicholas Island and the Citadel, a welcoming committee including Falcon, Harwood and the lieutenant-governor of the city, John Cameron went aboard to greet the royal party and provide an escort to the dockyard at Devonport. The yacht's mast was put under enormous strain when it became entangled with the hulk's cathead and, fearing it might snap, Falcon, on Hargood's advice, ordered the admiral's barge alongside so that the royal visitors might be evacuated. While the barge was making preparations, Falcon took the added precaution of inviting the princess to stand before the mast so that if it fell she would be in the least danger.

Personal life On 7 October 1834, Falcon married Louisa, the widow of a Captain Cursham, and daughter of the deceased Richard Meyrick of Runkton, Sussex. They later had children.