A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hetherington, Richard
HETHERINGTON. (Lieutenant, 1810. f-p., 10; h-p., 34.)
Richard Hetherington entered the Navy, in 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Montagu 74, Capt. Robt. Waller Otway. During five years of servitude in that ship he assisted at the blockade of the enemy’s ports from Brest to the Dardanells; was present, 22 Aug. 1805, in Admiral Hon. Wm. Cornwallis’ attack on the French fleet close in with Brest harbour, on which occasion the Montagu exchanged fire with L’Alexandre of 80 guns; aided, in the winter of 1807, at the evacuation of Scylla, a fortified rock in the Faro of Messina, the garrison of which was embarked under a smart fire from the enemy on the Calabrian shore; and co-operated with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia. In 1808 he removed with Capt. Otway to the Malta 80, off Toulon; and in the course of 1809 we find him joining the Ville de Paris 110, and Neptune 98, flag-ships in the Mediterranean and West Indies of Lord Collingwood and Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane. On 8 Nov. 1810, nearly four months after he had been appointed to act as Lieutenant, Mr. Hetherington was confirmed to that rank in the Bellette 18, Capt. David Sloan, under whom he continued to serve, still in the West Indies, until 1 May, 1811, when, we believe, he was taken prisoner in a cutting-out affair. His subsequent appointments, it appears, were – 30 Oct. 1811, to the Princess Caroline 74, Capt. Hugh Downman, employed in cruizing among the Western Islands – 14 Sept. 1812, to the Arab sloop, Capts. John Wilson, Robt. Standley, and Geo. Elliott, from which vessel, successively stationed in the West Indies and off Passages, he invalided in March, 1813 – and 31 Jan. 1814, to the Martial 12, Capts. Edw. Collins and Henry Forbes, lying at Plymouth. He went on half-pay in the following Aug., and has not been since employed.