Thomas Byam Martin

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin, (25 July 1773 – 25 October 1854) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As captain of fifth-rate HMS Fisgard he took part in a duel with the French ship Immortalité and captured her at the Battle of Tory Island during the French Revolutionary Wars. Then while in command of the third-rate HMS Implacable in the Baltic Sea and attached to the Swedish Navy he took part in the capture the Russian ship Sewolod (Vsevolod) during the Napoleonic Wars. During the French invasion of Russia, Martin commanded British naval squadron supporting Russian defenders in the siege of Riga.

During his many years of service as Comptroller of the Navy, Martin was credited with reducing the fleet from the enormous size deployed against the French to a much more streamlined service geared toward protecting merchant trade and the British Empire. He also focused heavily on employing highly trained dockyard staff capable of responding rapidly to any international emergency. Martin also sat in Parliament for 14 years and was an outspoken critic of government attempts to reduce the Navy budget which ultimately saw him dismissed in 1831 by his old friend King William IV.

Martin died in October 1854, at the early stages of the Crimean War, planning the Baltic Campaign and investigating the possibilities of using poison gas weapons.

Early life Born the third son of Sir Henry Martin, 1st Baronet (later MP for Southampton) and his wife Eliza Anne Gillman (née Parker), Martin was educated at Freshford School, Southampton Grammar School and later the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. During his education, he was also enrolled on the books of several Navy ships, a custom of the period to ensure that when he was old enough to go to sea he already would have the requisite "experience" to be considered for promotion early. Promoted to midshipman, he transferred to fifth-rate HMS Andromeda in March 1788 and subsequently to the third-rate HMS Colossus, the fifth-rate HMS Southampton, the second-rate HMS Barfleur and then the first-rate HMS Royal George. Martin was despatched with a squadron to the Baltic Sea, with his flag in the third-rate HMS Aboukir, and assisted in the defence of Riga against the Grande Armée during the French invasion of Russia.

Martin became Deputy Comptroller of the Navy in January 1815, advancing to full Comptroller of the Navy in February 1816, a position he maintained until November 1831 he was the last comptroller to hold the post in its original function. In this role, Martin dominated naval strategy, reducing the fleet from the enormous size deployed against the French to a much more streamlined service geared toward protecting merchant trade and the British Empire. advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 3 March 1830 and promoted to full admiral on 22 July 1830.

Martin's strong pro-Tory political views eventually caused his downfall, when he used his position in Parliament as member for Plymouth, for which he had been elected in July 1818, to publicly criticise the new Whig government of Earl Grey in 1830. In his later years he lived at No. 53 Wimpole Street in London.

Martin was appointed Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom on 5 May 1847 and Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1847 before being promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 30 October 1849. As the Crimean War approached he returned to service at Portsmouth planning the Baltic Campaign and investigating the possibilities of using poison gas weapons. The Navy Records Society published the letters and papers of Admiral Sir Thomas Byam Martin in 3 volumes from 1898 to 1901.

Family Martin married Catherine Fanshawe, daughter of Captain Robert Fanshawe; they had three daughters and three sons (Admiral Sir William Martin, 4th Baronet, Admiral Sir Henry Byam Martin and Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Fanshawe Martin).