Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/O'Brien, Donat Henchy
O'BRIEN, DONAT HENCHY (1785–1857), rear-admiral, was born in Ireland in March 1785, and entered the navy in 1796, on board the Overyssel of 64 guns, in which, notwithstanding his extreme youth, he was actively employed on boat service, and in 1799 was put in command of a hoy laden with stone, to be sunk at the entrance of Goree harbour so as to block in three of the enemy's line-of-battle ships. In a sudden squall the hoy sank in the wrong place at the wrong time, and O'Brien and his few men were with difficulty rescued. He passed his examination in February 1803, and a year later was master's mate of the Hussar frigate, when she was wrecked on the Saints (Ile de Sein), 8 Feb. 1804. O'Brien was sent as a prisoner of war to Verdun, where he remained for three years. He then commenced a series of attempts to escape. Two of these ended in failure, after he had sustained the most severe hardships from cold, wet, and hunger. A third attempt proved successful, and in November 1808 he, with two companions, reached Trieste, and finally got on board the Amphion, from which he was sent to Malta. There he joined the Ocean, the flagship of Lord Collingwood. The latter promoted him, 29 March 1809, to be lieutenant of the Warrior, in which he assisted at the reduction of the Ionian Islands. In March 1810 he was appointed to the Amphion, and was still in her in the action off Lissa on 13 March 1811 [see Hoste, Sir William]. In November 1811 he followed Hoste to the Bacchante, and, after repeatedly distinguishing himself in the arduous and dashing service of the frigates or their boats, was promoted to be commander, 22 Jan. 1813. From 1818 to 1821 he commanded the Slaney on the South-American station, which then included the West Coast. On 5 March 1821 he was promoted to post rank, though the news did not reach him for some months. In October he was relieved in the Slaney, and returned to England. He had no further service, but was promoted to be rear-admiral on the reserved list on 8 March 1852. He died on 13 May 1857. He had married in 1825 Hannah, youngest daughter of John Walmsley of Castle Mere in Lancashire, and by her had a large family.
In 1814 O'Brien published ‘The Narrative of Captain O'Brien, R.N., containing an Account of his Shipwreck, Captivity, and Escape from France;’ and, in 1839, ‘My Adventures during the late War, comprising a Narrative of Shipwreck, Captivity, Escapes from French Prisons, &c., from 1804 to 1827,’ 2 vols. 8vo, with an engraved portrait, which can scarcely have been flattering. In conjunction, to some extent, with the similar narratives by Edward Boys (1785–1866) [q. v.] and Henry Ashworth (1785–1811) [q. v.], it formed the groundwork of the celebrated episode in Marryat's ‘Peter Simple.’
[Marshall's Roy. Nav. Biogr. viii. (Suppl. pt. iv.) 231; O'Byrne's Nav. Biogr. Dict.; Gent. Mag. 1857, ii. 742.]