Mariners-L Archives

Archiver > Mariners > 2004-04 > 1081016989


From: Dave Hills <>
Subject: [Mar] Family connections
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 18:29:49 +0000


Hi Paul,

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 Paul Harding wrote:
>Searching information on the following whom all related
> Capt Nathaniel Portlock.....

There was an article on Nathaniel Portlock in the newsletter of the South West Maritime History Society, Issue 44 February 1999. The following extracts give an outline of the main points.

Nathaniel Portlock was an American colonial who served some thirty years in the Royal Navy, spanning the American War of lndependence!

Born in 1747 in Norfolk Virginia, he was orphaned at 12 years of age and was sent to sea aboard a merchant ship trading to Liverpool. The ship was stopped and boarded by HMS St Albans. He was given a choice - either he could 'volunteer' or he could be pressed. Being no fool he went quietly and was listed AB. He was soon made up to Midshipman, despite being a colonial and an enemy.

Later he was appointed Master's Mate to one of Captain Cook's three ships.

By 1780 he had become a Lieutenant commanding a fire-ship, the aptly named HMS Firebrand on the Channel station.

The war ended in 1783 and he was left to languish on half pay. The King George Sound Company offered him command of a three-ship expedition to the Pacific coast of northwest America and Canada to hunt seals, prospect for minerals and to chart the area.

In 1791 he was given command of vessel to act as escort for for one of Captain Bligh's voyages.

By 1793 Nathaniel he was rated Commander, then in 1799 and at war again he is given command of one of a pair of experimental sloops, HMS Arrow. In company with another sloop of war he pursued a Dutch frigate and a sloop along the shallow coastal waters of Friesland. [As described in Paul Benyon's posting of 2nd April].

Having been seriously wounded, he was rated Post Captain as a reward for gallantry and given a shore job as Commander of Sea Fencibles for the Torbay-Plymouth area. The Sea Fencibles had a role in coastal defence, and were available to render aid to ships in distress. Captain Nathaniel Portlock took his new job seriously and took up residence in Salcombe which was a central position in his area.

The Danish merchant ship "Den Lille Catherina", homeward bound from the West Indies was a 300 ton barque, with a cargo of 20,000 estimated value. Trapped in Bigbury Bay by a westerly gale, with her anchors dragging she was seen from the shore and word was sent at once to Portlock in Salcombe.

Arriving at the scene, Portlock knew there was only 2 hours at most before her keel would start hammering on the rocks but he rigged a spring from the anchor cable to the stern and brought the ship onto a course which allowed her to sail clear by the narrowest of margins.

In recognition of his efforts he was presented with a silver goblet inscribed as follows:
"The owners of the ship Den Lille Catherina of Copenhagen request Captain NATHANIEL PORTLOCK of the Royal Navy to accept this piece of plate as a small token of respect and gratitude for his Voluntary, Indefatigable and Judicious exertions in extracting the ship from her perilous Situation in Bigbury Bay on the 20 January 1805"

Dave Hills
Dorchester Dorset UK



This thread: