Phillips Cosby

{{Short description|Royal Navy admiral (1729–1808)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}

{{Infobox military person

| name = Phillips Cosby

| birth_date = {{circa}}{{birth date text|1729}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1808|01|10|1729||df=y}}

| birth_place = Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

| death_place = Bath

| placeofburial = Bath Abbey

| image = PhillipsCosby (cropped).jpg

| caption =

| nickname =

| allegiance = Kingdom of Great Britain

| serviceyears = 1747–1801

| rank = Admiral

| commands = {{ubl|HMS Laurel|HMS Beaver|HMS Hind|HMS Isis|HMS Montreal|HMS Centaur|HMS Robust|HMS Trusty|Mediterranean Fleet|Cork Station|Plymouth Command|Irish Impress Service}}

| branch = Royal Navy

| unit =

| battles = {{Tree list}}

{{tree list/end}}

| awards =

| laterwork =

}}

Admiral Phillips Cosby (c. 1729 – 10 January 1808) was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Naval career

Cosby joined the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman in 1747.[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6370 Phillips Cosby at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] He was given command of a schooner at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and was present at the capture of Quebec in 1759.

Promoted to Post Captain in 1761, he commanded HMS Hind and HMS Isis. In 1766 he was appointed to HMS Montreal.

He was receiver general (treasurer) of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts from 1771 to 1778, a lucrative post which he resigned on the outbreak of the Anglo-French War.{{sfn|Stewart|2009|p=76}} In command of HMS Centaur in 1778, he took part in the Battle of Ushant and in command of HMS Robust in 1779, he took part in the Siege of Charleston in 1780. He also took part in the Battle of Cape Henry in 1781.{{cite book|last=Mahan|first=Alfred Thayer|year=1898|url=https://archive.org/details/majoroperationso00maha|page=[https://archive.org/details/majoroperationso00maha/page/492 492]|quote=arbuthnot.|title=Major operations of the royal navy, 1762-1783: Being chapter XXXI in The royal navy. A history|publisher=Little, Brown|location=Boston|oclc=46778589}}

He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1785, Commander-in-Chief at Cork in 1790, and Port Admiral at Plymouth in 1792.

Family

In 1792 he married Eliza Hurst, née Gunthorpe.

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

{{cite book|last=Stewart|first=William|title=Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFeQBQAAQBAJ|year=2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-3809-9}}

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{{succession box|title=Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet|before=John Lindsay|after=Joseph Peyton|years=1785–1789}}

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{{succession box | title=Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth | years=1792–1793 | before=Sir Richard Bickerton| after=Rowland Cotton}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosby, Phillips}}

Category:1720s births

Category:1808 deaths

Category:Royal Navy vice admirals

Category:Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War