Thomas Fortescue Kennedy

Thomas Fortescue Kennedy (9 November 1774 – 15 May 1846) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Kennedy was born into a family with a history of military service, and entered the navy shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. After some service on frigates during the various armament crises, in which Kennedy saw service on foreign stations, he was actively involved in the Siege of Toulon, and afterwards was promoted to lieutenant. He spent some time in the East Indies, distinguishing himself in action, before returning to British waters and serving under a number of prominent naval officers aboard ships of the line. One such officer was Eliab Harvey, who later asked for him to become first-lieutenant on his ship, the 98-gun .

Aboard Temeraire Kennedy fought at Trafalgar and played a key role in the capture of the French Fougueux. Promoted to commander for his services, Kennedy captained a ship during the Walcheren Campaign, before being promoted to post-captain shortly before the end of the Napoleonic Wars. His last posting was in 1834, as Captain-Superintendent at Sheerness Dockyard. For the last two years of his commission he commanded his old ship, HMS Temeraire, which was at Sheerness, serving as a guardship. He was required to arrange and oversee the sale and disposal of the Trafalgar veteran in 1838, one of his last duties before his own commission ended later that year. Kennedy subsequently went into retirement and died in 1846.

Family and early life Kennedy was born on 9 November 1774, the son of Dr Kennedy, the Inspector-General of Army Hospitals and physician to the Prince of Wales. One of several brothers, Thomas was not alone in choosing a military career. At least two brothers joined the army, one became a captain in the 19th Foot and died in Ceylon in 1801. Another, Sir Robert Hugh Kennedy, served as head of the Army Commissariat under the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War. The French tried to defend the decks port by port, but were steadily overwhelmed. Fougueuxs captain, Louis Alexis Baudoin, had suffered a fatal wound earlier in the fighting, leaving Commander Francois Bazin in charge. On learning that nearly all of the officers were dead or wounded and that most of the guns were out of action, Bazin surrendered the ship to Kennedy.

Commander Following the decisive victory at Trafalgar, a round of promotions were made to a number of the officers and men who had fought in the battle. Most of the first-lieutenants present at the battle were promoted to commander, and Kennedy duly received his promotion, dated 24 December 1805. He commissioned her for service in the North Sea and in 1809 served in the Walcheren Campaign. While in command he took part in the capture of three privateers and a number of merchantmen, and later commanded a squadron of eight brigs tasked with blockading two 40-gun French frigates at Dunkirk. For the last two years of her service, from 1836 to 1838 she was under the nominal command of Captain Kennedy, in his post as Captain-Superintendent of Sheerness. Kennedy was now commander of the ship he had been first-lieutenant of at Trafalgar, and would be her last commander before her sale and disposal. alt=Oil painting of a tug towing a sailing ship towards the viewer as the sun sets in the right hand side. The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838, oil on canvas by J. M. W. Turner, 1838. Turner's depiction of the final voyage of the Temeraire was voted Britain's favourite painting in 2005. Kennedy received orders from the Admiralty in June 1838 to have Temeraire valued in preparation for her sale out of the service, and work began on dismantling her on 4 July. Kennedy's commission did not long outlive Temeraires. He left his post at Sheerness in 1838 and went into retirement, dying on 15 May 1846.

Kennedy married twice. His first marriage took place on 2 October 1806 to Louisa Adlam. The marriage produced two sons who survived him, both of whom entered the military and became officers: George Kennedy served in the Royal Artillery, and his brother Hugh Kennedy served in the Royal Marines. Kennedy remarried on 2 October 1834 to Hannah Kennedy, the widow of a Dr Kennedy, but no children are reported.