- Thomas Teddiman
Thomas Teddiman (†
13 May 1668 Old Style ) was an Englishadmiral of the 17th century. His name was also written as "Teddeman" or "Teddyman".Neither the date of birth nor the early career of Thomas Teddiman is known; he was not a naval captain during the
First Anglo-Dutch War . He was the namesake of his father, who descended from a family of ship-owners inDover . His cousin was the naval captainHenry Teddiman .Teddiman, first serving the
English Commonwealth , commanded from 1659 till 1660 the "Tredagh" (after theEnglish Restoration renamed to "HMS Resolution") in the Mediterranean during the Anglo-Spanish War. From 31 May till 10 June 1660 he chased six Spanish vessels he encountered offAlgiers . In May 1661 he became captain of "HMS Fairfax" and in 1663 commanded "HMS Kent" on which he brought the English ambassador toRussia , the Earl of Carlisle, to Archangel in July. In May 1664 Teddiman was made commander of "HMS Revenge" and the same year promoted to captain of "HMS Swiftsure". In 1665, during theSecond Anglo-Dutch War , he distinguished himself asRear-Admiral of the Blue Squadron in theBattle of Lowestoft , with as flagship the new second rate "HMS Royal Katherine ", and was knighted on 30 June (Old Style).In August 1665 Teddiman was sent on the "Revenge" to
Bergen to capture a Dutch treasure fleet with a flotilla of frigates but was defeated in theBattle of Vågen byCommandeur Pieter de Bitter . Though this was a major disappointment toCharles II of England , Teddiman's career did not suffer much and he fought, again on the "Katherine", the next year asVice-Admiral of the Blue in theFour Days Battle and as Vice-Admiral of the White in theSt James's Day Battle . In 1667 Teddiman had no command, the main vessels of the English fleet having been laid up. In 1668 he commanded on "HMS Cambridge", but was the subject of an investigation byEnglish Parliament , trying to establish the causes of the lost war, by which he was much troubled. On 13 May he died from a fever caused by a thrush in the mouth.Literature
R.C. Anderson, 1964, "List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660"
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