A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Patton, Hugh
PATTON. (Captain, 1819. f-p., 18; h-p., 25.)
Hugh Patton is son of the late Colonel Patton, Governor of the island of St. Helena; nephew of the late Philip Patton, Esq., Admiral of the Red;[1] first-cousin of the present Capt. Robt. Patton, R.N.; and brother-in-law of the late Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B.
This officer entered the Navy, in Oct. 1804, as Fst.-cl. Boy, on board the Puissant 74, Capt. John Irwin, lying at Portsmouth. Becoming attached, shortly afterwards, to the Bellerophon 74, Capts. John Loring, John Cooke, and Edw. Rotheram, he fought as Midshipman of that ship in the action off Cape Trafalgar 21 Oct. 1805. At the commencement of 1806 he joined the Niobe 40, Capt. John Wentworth Loring, in time, we believe, to assist at the capture of Le Néarque corvette of 16 guns. After a servitude of 12 months on the Jamaica station in the Polyphemus 64, Capt. Wm. Pryce Cumby, he wag nominated, 25 Oct. 1810, Acting-Lieutenant of the Thalia 36, Capt. Jas. Giles Vashon; to which ship the Admiralty confirmed him 1 Feb. 1811. Invaliding home in the ensuing Oct., he was next in succession appointed – 16 March, 1812, to the Sybille 44, Capt. Clotworthy Upton, on the Irish station – in the early part of 1813, to the Aboukir and Gladiator, as Flag-Lieutenant to Rear-Admiral Edw. Jas. Foote at Portsmouth – and, 24 Aug. in the same year, to the Astrea 36, Capt. John Eveleigh. In the latter ship he shared, we understand, in a yard-arm-and-yard-arm conflict of upwards of an hour with the French 40-gun frigate Etoile, which terminated in a drawn battle, wherein the British lost 9, including their Captain, killed, and 37 wounded, and the enemy 20 killed and 30 wounded. On leaving the Astrea in Sept. 1814 he took up a Commander’s commission bearing date 6 Dec. 1813. He subsequently, from 6 Sept. 1815 until 22 Oct. 1818, commanded the Alban 12, on the Plymouth station, and on 12 Aug. 1819 was advanced to the rank of Captain. His last appointments were – 28 Nov. 1823, to the Rattlesnake 28, fitting for the West Indies – and, 16 Sept. 1825, to the Isis 50, bearing the flag of Sir Lawrence Wm. Halsted at Jamaica, whence he returned in 1827. He accepted the Retirement 1 Oct. 1846. Agents – Pettet and Newton.
- ↑ Admiral Patton was an officer highly esteemed and justly respected. His last employment afloat was as Commander-in-Chief in the Downs. When Lord Barham presided over naval affairs, he filled a seat at the Board of Admiralty. He was the author of a work entitled ‘The Natural Defence of an Insular Empire earnestly recommended.’ He died 31 Dec. 1816, at Fareham, Hants, aged 76.