Thomas Dilkes

Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Dilkes ( – 12 December 1707) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Early life

Thomas Dilkes was born in around 1667 to a junior branch of the Dilke family of Maxstoke Castle in Warwickshire. He was also related to Sir William Coventry. He joined the Royal Navy in 1683, and served as a Volunteer-per-order until 1686.

Captain In 1692 he achieved post rank with command of the fourth-rate , and commanded this vessel in the battles of Barfleur and La Hogue. In October of that year he captured two privateers in combination with the , then captured a large privateer on his own in December. In July of that year he led his fleet in an operation described by William Laird Clowes as "one of the most brilliant of the early part of the war." Sailing from Spithead on 22 July, he learned of a large number of merchantmen heading for Granville. Arriving outside that town on , he found forty-five merchant vessels guarded by three small men-of-war. Though the French withdrew to waters too shallow for the larger English ships to follow, Dilkes attacked vigorously with his ships' boats and shallower draft vessels. In the three days that followed he captured one man-at-war, destroying the other two. He also captured fifteen merchantmen and burned or sunk twenty-six, leaving just four survivors of the original flotilla. As a result, Queen Anne ordered gold medals to be struck and presented to Dilkes and his captains. On , Sir Cloudesley Shovell arrived in Lisbon with reinforcements, and Dilkes remained through the summer with this grand fleet under the joint command of Shovell and Lord Peterborough. He took part in the successful siege of Barcelona before returning to England with Shovell in November. The French completed the job themselves, seeking to avoid their capture or destruction, they scuttled their entire fleet.

Shovell left for England immediately after the siege was raised, though he would perish en route in the Scilly naval disaster. Dilkes was left in command of the Mediterranean fleet and went to Barcelona to confer with Archduke Charles, the Habsburg claimant to the Spanish throne. These rumours have been dismissed as groundless.

Family He married Mary, daughter of Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin and widow of Henry Boyle of Castlemartyr. Together they had one son: Michael O'Brien Dilkes who died a lieutenant-general in 1774.