John Conn

Infobox Person
name= John Conn


birth_date=1764
birth_place= Devon, England
death_date= death date|1810|5|4|df=y
death_place= Off the coast of Bermuda
death_cause = Drown
nationality = flagicon|ENG English
occupation = Royal Navy OfficerCaptain John Conn R.N. (August 1764 - 4 May 1810) was a senior captain in the Royal Navy, whose shining career included service at the battles of the Saintes, the Glorious First of June, Copenhagen and Trafalgar ended tragically in a shipboard accident before he could reap the rewards of his long service. Conn could also claim membership of Nelson's "Band of Brothers", a clique of dashing naval officers who participated in Nelson's campaigns during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as a close friendship with the admiral himself, who once said: "A better or more zealous officer than Captain Conn is not in His Majesty's service".

Born to a Royal Navy warrant officer of Irish extraction in Devon on 1764, Conn gained first hand experience of the sea at twelve on his father's ship HMS "Weazel", before securing a place on HMS "Arrogant" as a midshipman on board which he saw action at the battle of the Saintes in 1782. In 1788 he was made a lieutenant but had to wait five years before being given a good position [ 1 June 1793 ] , using the intervening time to get married to Margaret, a vicar's daughter. Serving aboard the flagship HMS "Royal Sovereign" at the Glorious FIrst of June, he came to the attention of Admiral Lord Howe and further distinguished himself in 1798 in HMS "Foudroyant" at the battle of Donegal which resulted in the destruction of a French invasion fleet headed for Ireland. In 1801 As a commander [ 11 August 1800 ] at the first battle of Copenhagen, his expertise with bomb vessels caused terrible damage to the Danish fleet, and he participated in Nelson's disastrous attack on the French invasion force in Boulogne shortly afterwards, gaining his commanding officers attention and respect.

Promoted to Post Captain in 1802 [ 29 August 1802 ] , Conn commanded the veteran ship HMS "Culloden" accompanied by his nine year old son Henry, before transferring to the French prize ship HMS "Canopus" and being specially requested by Nelson in the Mediterranean. In 1805 he was given temporary command of the first rate flagship HMS "Victory" and his old ship HMS "Royal Sovereign" whilst their commanders were on leave and further contributed to his reputation as a reliable and steady officer. On the 10 October he returned the "Royal Sovereign" to Admiral Collingwood and was given the fast new second rate HMS "Dreadnought" to command.

Eleven days later Conn and his crew where thrown into battle as the Franco-Spanish fleet attempted to break out of Cadiz. Situated halfway down Collongwood's division, Conn struggled to reach the action, only getting there around the time Nelson was mortally wounded in the northern division. Making up for the delay, "Dreadnought" tangled with the "San Juan Nepomuceno", rescuing the battered HMS "Bellerophon", killing the Spanish captain Cosmé Damián Churruca and forcing his ship to surrender. Charging on from this victory, the "Dreadnought" engaged the Spanish flagship "Principe de Asturias", mortally wounding the Spanish admiral, but being unable to defeat the enemy, which succeeded in escaping back to Cadiz. Conn even managed to rescue his prize, the "San Juan Nepomuceno" being one of only four captured enemy ships to survive the storm.

Following the battle, in which "Dreadnought" suffered 33 casualties, Conn continued in service taking over the massive 112 gun HMS "San Josef" and then the 120 gun HMS "Hibernia" as flag captain before moving as a commodore to the West Indies in HMS "Swiftsure" in 1810. Admirals' rank and the honours which came with it were surely not far away when tagedy struck on the 4 May when during the chase of a small French ship near Bermuda, Conn became overeager, slipped and fell overboard. "Swiftsure" was halted and a search was conducted but Conn had drowned before help arrived. His passing was mourned in Britain and especially in the Navy where he was a popular and respected figure. Sir John Borlase Warren, an old commander and friend, expressed regret at the death of "so deserving an officer as Captain Conn".

Further reading

*"The Trafalgar Captains", Colin White and the 1805 Club, Chatham Publishing, London, 2005, ISBN 1-86176-247-X

References

External links

* [http://www.nelson-society.org.uk/html/body_john_conn.htm John Conn bio]
* [http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?flashy=et1740z&flash=true Animation of the Battle of Trafalgar]