William Prowse

Rear-Admiral William Prowse CB (1752 – 23 March 1826) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Rising from humble origins and joining the navy as an able seaman, he had a highly active career, serving under some of the most famous naval commanders of the Age of Sail, and participating in some of their greatest victories. He was at Grenada and Martinique under Byron and Rodney, the Glorious First of June under Howe; and commanded ships at Cape St Vincent under Jervis, Cape Finisterre under Calder and Trafalgar under Nelson. He finished his career by serving with distinction in the Mediterranean, and died with the rank of rear-admiral.

Family and early life Prowse appears to have been of very humble origins, little is known about his birth or childhood, but he appears to have been born to a working-class Devon family of Cornish origin in 1752. He probably went to sea aboard merchant ships initially, but is first recorded in the Navy on 13 November 1771 as an able seaman aboard the Hamoaze guardship, the 74-gun . Jean-François Hue's depiction of the Battle of Grenada, one of Prowse's earliest experiences of fleet engagements. The Albion was paid off on 21 December 1781 and having passed his examination for lieutenancy on 17 January 1782 and by 6 December 1782 he had received his commission and was on 22 December 1782 appointed to the 90-gun second rate under Captain George Vandeput. He followed both Collingwood and Bowyer when they moved aboard Prowse's old ship the Barfleur on 28 December 1793, Prowse becoming the sixth lieutenant.

by Robert Cleveley. Prowse narrowly avoided being engaged by several Spanish ships of the line. He was invalided ashore, but recovered quickly and returned to service aboard Robert Calder's 74-gun as his first lieutenant. Calder and Prowse transferred aboard the 32-gun fifth rate and sailed to the Mediterranean to join Sir John Jervis aboard his flagship . Prowse closed on the Siréne, intending to cut her off and board her, but Villeneuve ordered his ships to wear in succession and reverse their course to meet Calder's advancing fleet. Thus Prowse began the process that would lead to the interception of the combined fleet two days later. An hour later at 7 a.m. Sirius ran up three flags to signal code number 370, 'Enemy ships are coming out of port or getting under sail'. The signal was repeated down the line, reaching Nelson 48 miles away aboard HMS Victory at 9.30 a.m.

During the battle Sirius maintained her station out of the immediate battle, and suffered no casualties. After its end, she moved in and took the Victory under tow, but as the weather worsened she handed over to the larger 64-gun . The week after the battle Prowse was sent into Cadiz with a note from Collingwood to the Marquis de Solana, requesting the use of the town's facilities for the Spanish prisoners.

Continued service and later years

Prowse remained aboard the Sirius in the Mediterranean serving under Vice-Admiral Collingwood. On 17 April 1806 he engaged a French flotilla near Civitavecchia off the mouth of the River Tiber. The flotilla consisted of the 18-gun corvette Bergère, three armed brigs, a bomb vessel, a cutter and three gunboats. The Bergère held off the Sirius until Prowse forced her surrender. He commanded her in the North Sea until 23 December 1813, after which he went onshore and saw no further active service. He was promoted to rear-admiral on 19 July 1821 and died on 23 March 1826 in St Pancras, London at the age of 72.