vastation, the Cambrian was struck on the quarter by the Isis, which threw her up in the wind, and caused her to pay off on the opposite tack to that on which it was necessary she should have done. This accident, in a narrow channel, proved fatal; for, from having no way through the water, she could not again be tacked, and in a few minutes she fell broadside to on a reef of rocks, at a moment when a considerable swell was setting into the harbour. A court-martial held at Malta to enquire into the occasion of her loss, determined that Captain Hamilton, his officers, and crew, were fully exonerated of all blame: in conveying the sentence of acquittal, the court expressed their commendation, in the highest terms, of the exertions and good conduct of every one on board at the time of the unfortunate accident, and the commander-in-chief subsequently assured the whole of the ship’s company, that the recommendations he had sent home to the Lord High Admiral were such that the circumstance of their having been in the Cambrian, would ever operate to their advantage. Captain Hamilton, on having his sword returned to him, was addressed by the president, in the following terms:–
“Captain Hamilton, it is with much and sincere pleasure, that I have to return you your sword, one that has always heen used with true credit, and to the good service of your country. I cannot at the same time refrain from expressing to you the regret which this court experiences at the melancholy wind-up of your long and arduous exertions in the Archipelago, performed so ably and with such advantage to the country; and I am sure that there is not an officer or man in the squadron who does not join in this feeling.”
After the court-martial Captain Hamilton was charged with despatches for the Lord High Admiral; but his health not allowing him to travel with the requisite celerity, he sent them forward from Genoa, under the care of his first lieutenant. He is at present on half-pay.
Captain Hamilton was nominated a C.B. June 4, 1815. He married, in 1817, Katharine, daughter of Lieutenant-General Cockburn, of Shunagaugh, Ireland. His brother, Mr. Frederick Hamilton Rowan, midshipman, R.N. was killed at Palamos, in 1810.
