James Wishart

Admiral of the White Sir James Wishart (1659 – 30 May 1723) was a British naval officer and politician. Wishart served at the Battle of Cadiz and the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702 and at the Capture of Gibraltar. His elder brother George became a baronet and a lieutenant colonel whilst his brother William Wishart became the Principal of Edinburgh University. Wishart returned to Great Britain with William of Orange and he was rewarded, as he became a captain of HMS Pearl in 1689 and later he moved to HMS Mary Galley. Rooke's protest resulted in Wishart also being promoted to rear-admiral of the blue and it was backdated to the same date as his competitor was promoted. Wishart was always suspected of being of a Jacobite persuasion. When George I of Great Britain became king, Wishart lost his line management role and he died childless on 30 May 1723 at the rank of Admiral of the White.

Private life He married Cordelia Raper of Bedale, North Yorkshire and lived at 53 High Street, Portsmouth. They had no children and his legacy of £20,000 went first to his wife.

Legacy He had his portrait painted by Michael Dahl.

The Royal Navy has named one ship, the destroyer , after James Wishart; she was in commission from 1920 to 1945. Lord Louis Mountbatten was her commanding officer for a time, and when he was trying to inspire their crew he joked that the ship had the best name in the navy making the pun, "Our Father Wishart in Heaven..."