Thomas Byam Martin

Infobox Military Person
name= Sir Thomas Byam Martin
lived= 25 July, 1773 – 25 October, 1854
placeofbirth= Ashtead House, Surrey
placeofdeath= Portsmouth, Hampshire


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears= 1786 to 1854
rank= Royal Navy Admiral
branch=
commands=
unit=
battles= French Revolutionary Wars • Capture of "Tamise" • Capture of "Immortalité" Napoleonic Wars Capture of "Sewolod" • Siege of Riga
awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
laterwork= MP for Plymouth

Sir Thomas Byam Martin, GCB (25 July, 1773 – 25 October, 1854) was a highly influential British Royal Navy officer who served at sea during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and then as a naval administator until his death in 1854. 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.

During his many years of service, Martin is credited with reforming and modernising the Royal Navy and being its most effective administrator for over fifty years after his death. Despite his entrenched conservative views, Martin was open to new technologies and worked closely with administrators, shipbuilders and serving officers to convert the fleet from the huge battlefleets of the Napoleonic era to and effective force for colonial and commercial expeditions and defence. He died in 1854 during the Crimean War, still working as a staff officer at Portsmouth.

Early Life

Martin was born in 1773, the third son of Henry Martin, later MP for Southampton and a baronet and his wife Eliza Anne Gillman, "née" Parker. Henry Martin was for many years naval commissioner at Portsmouth and Comptroller of the Navy. Thomas was educated privaetly at Fresford, before attending Southampton Grammar School and later the Royal Grammar School in 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.

In 1785, Martin joined the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth and the following year went to sea for the first time as a captain's servant aboard HMS "Pegasus", the captained by Prince William Henry, later King William IV. Martin remained with the Prince when he transferred to HMS "Andromeda" in 1788 and in 1790 was briefly aboard HMS "Southampton" before becoming a lieutenant on HMS "Canada". In the next two years he saw brief service on both HMS "Inconstant" and HMS "Juno" before becoming commander in HMS "Tisiphone" in the Mediterranean at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars.

War Service

In November 1793, Martin moved to HMS "Modeste", a frigate recently captured from the French, as a Post captain. Two year later, Martin was transferred to the Channel Fleet and stationed off Ireland in HMS "Santa Margarita", in which he captured the French frigate "Tamise" on 8 June 1796. In the engagement, "Tamise" was badly damaged and suffered heavy casualties while "Santa Margarita"'s losses were only two killed and three wounded.

During most of 1797, Martin was in the West Indies as captain of HMS "Tamar" in which he captured nine privateers and late in the year he commanded the return journey of HMS "Dictator" before taking over the newly captured HMS "Fisgard". In October 1798, "Fisgard" was among those ships deployed to prevent the planned French invasion of Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 which was defeated at the Battle of Tory Island. "Fisgard" was not present at the battle, being stationed off Brest to intercept returning French ships. On 20 October the "Immortalité" was sighted pursued and captured in a sharp action in which both ships suffered heavy casualties.

In 1798, Martin married Catherine Fanshawe, daughter of Captain Robert Fanshawe, commissioner at Plymouth. The couple had six children and all three of their sons later served in the armed forces, two of whom; William and Henry, later became admirals. The third, Robert, died as a British Army Lieutenant colonel in 1846. Following his marriage, Martin returned to naval service and was actively employed under Sir John Borlase Warren off the French coast, capturing merchant vessels, privateers and warships.

During the Peace of Amiens, Martin was given command of HMS "Impetueux", a ship of the line, and in her was instrumental in rescuing survivors from the wreck of HMS "Venerable" in 1804. In 1807 he moved to command the second rate HMS "Prince of Wales" in the Channel Fleet and in 1808 HMS "Implacable" in the Baltic Sea. In "Implacable", Martin was attached to the Swedish Navy and participated in the capture and destruction of the Russian ship of the line "Sewolod", for which he was awarded the Cross of the Order of the Sword by the Swedish King Gustaf IV Adolf. In 1810 he briefly served in the Mediterranean as Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood's replacement but he returned to the Baltic in 1811, when as a rear-admiral he assisted in the defence of Riga against La Grande Armée during the French invasion of Russia.

Later service

Between 1812 and 1814, Martin was flag officer at Plymouth, and in 1813 he visited the Duke of Wellington's headquarters in Spain to co-ordinate army and navy supply requirements and operations. In 1815 at the war's end, Martin was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and deputy comptroller of the navy, advancing to full comptroller the following year, a position he maintained until 1831. 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. He also focused heavily on retaining well-stocked and highly trained dockyards capable of responding reapidly to any international emergency.

Martin's strong pro-Tory political views eventually caused his downfall, when he used his position in the navy and his parliamentary seat for Plymouth to publicly criticise the Whig government of Earl Grey. Infuriated, Grey and Sir James Graham approached Martin's old friend King William IV for a solution, resulting in Martin's dismissal for insubordination.

Martin, who in the intervening years had become a full admiral and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath entered semi-retirement to care for his frequently ill wife. He was made Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom in 1847 and in 1849 became an Admiral of the Fleet. In the approach to the Crimean War he returned to service at Portsmouth planning the Baltic Campaign and investigating the possibilities of poison gas weapons. He died in this service at the admiral superintendent's house on 21 October 1854. His death was widely mourned and it has been said that his career as naval comptroller "forms a high point in the history of British naval administration". [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18214 Martin, Sir Thomas Byam] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", J. K. Laughton, Retrieved 10 July 2008]

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Martin, Thomas Byam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Royal Navy admiral and administrator
DATE OF BIRTH=25 July, 1773
PLACE OF BIRTH=Unknown
DATE OF DEATH=21 October, 1854
PLACE OF DEATH=Portsmouth, Hampshire