Thomas Collingwood

Thomas Collingwood (c.1730 – 1780) was a British Royal Navy commander, who served on , , and , among others. Collingwood played an important role in the Battle of Grenada and the Battle of Martinique.

Life and career Thomas Collingwood was promoted to lieutenant on 28 October 1750.

On 9 September 1756 he was assigned command of the ship , a vessel used to transmit Vice Admiral Sir Edward Hawke's messages from Minorca to Barcelona. Collingwood used the Fortune to capture a French xebec in the port of Marseilles, in addition to messenger services. He was promoted to captain two months later and given command of the frigate .

The Siren was stationed in the Mediterranean around Sardinia and chased the French man-of-war "La Nymphe" from Sardinia to the Barbary Coast in February 1757 but was unable to catch her or engage in combat. On 25 March 1757 she travelled to Cagliari to assist in escort duties: despite six French men-of-war patrolling the seas, they were able to transport 20 commercial ships from Cagliari to Gibraltar through Leghorn with no casualties.

From February 1770 until November 1771 he was on shore leave again before taking command of , which was deployed to monitor the west coast of Africa until 1774, when she was paid off. After another four years on shore leave, he was assigned command of in January 1778. However, command was transferred to Captain William Cumming before to Monmouth's participation in the Battle of Grenada. Collingwood was appointed command of in February 1779. Collingwood consequently took part in the Battle of Grenada on Fame rather than Monmouth on 6 July. Collingwood was transferred aboard eight days after the engagement, most likely owing to Fame damage. Grafton was involved in the same conflict but appears to have escaped unharmed. Her great nephew Sir Thomas Collingwood Hughes (1800-1889) the 8th baronet of her father's line, was named in Collingwood's honour.