A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Foote, John (a)
FOOTE. (Captain, 1827. f-p., 22; h-p., 28.)
John Foote entered the Navy, in Nov. 1797, Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Seahorse, of 46 guns and 292 men, Capt. Edw. Jas. Foote; under whom, off the island of Pantellaria, in the Mediterranean, he assisted at the capture, 27 June, 1798, after a close, action of eight minutes, a loss to the British of 2 men killed and 16 wounded, and to the enemy of 18 killed and 37 wounded, of the French frigate La Sensible, of 36 guns and 300 men. On his return from a voyage to the East Indies, in 1802, Mr. Foote successively joined the Juno 32, Capt. H. Richardson, Spartiate 74, Capts. Murray and Manley,and Ville de Paris 110, flag-ship of Hon. Wm. Cornwallis. As a Lieutenant, which rank he attained 10 May, 1804, he was afterwards appointed, we find, to the Désirée and Resistance frigates, Capts. Whitby and Adam, and, latterly as Signal-Lieutenant, to the Royal George, Caledonia, Boyne, and Royal William, flag-ships, in the Mediterranean and Channel, of Sir John Thos. Duckworth, Lord Gambier, Sir Harry Burrard Neale, and Sir Rich. Hussey Bickerton. During that period, while in command, on 25 Oct. 1806, of the Hannah gunboat, Mr. Foote, who had been detached from the Royal George for the purpose of affording protection to a convoy passing through the Gut of Gibraltar, was wounded and taken prisoner by a powerful Spanish privateer, after a highly honourable defence in which the British lost 8 men killed and 11 wounded.[1] He was promoted to the command, 29 Sept. 1813, of the Rapid sloop, on the Home station, whence, on his removal, 9 Oct. 1814, to the Goldfinch 10, he sailed for the West Indies. The latter being paid off in Dec. 1815, he next joined, 12 May, 1827, as Second-Captain, the Britannia 120, flag-ship of the Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth. He attained Post-rank 29 Sept. 1827, and was subsequently appointed to the command, 18 Aug. 1841, of the Madagascar 44, on the coast of Africa. Since his return to England in 1844 he has not been afloat.
Capt. Foote, in consideration of the wound we have above noticed, received at the time a pecuniary reward from the Patriotic Fund. He is married and has issue.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1806, p. 1522.