Royal Naval Biography/Philpot, Robert
ROBERT PHILPOT, Esq
[Post-Captain of 1800.]
This officer was made a Lieutenant in 1790, and obtained the rank of Commander Jan. 3, 1799. On the 14th Oct. following, being on a cruise off Porto Rico in the Echo sloop of war, he chased a French letter of marque mounting 12 four-pounders, with a complement of 30 men, into Aguadilla bay; and the following day his boats captured a Spanish brig of 2 guns and 20 men, laden with cocoa and indigo. On the 16th in the evening, the Echo’s pinnace and jolly-boat, containing 15 men, under the command of Lieutenant Napier, pulled into the bay and succeeded in carrying the letter of marque, which was brought off in triumph, notwithstanding a heavy fire from 2 field-pieces, one 18-pounder, and several smaller guns, all placed on the beach for her protection. In the execution of this service the pinnace was sunk, but not a man hurt. The prize had on board a valuable cargo, and was bound to Curaçoa.
Captain Philpot was posted into the Prompte, a 20-gun ship, July 1, 1800; and convoyed a fleet of merchantmen from Jamaica to England in the spring of 1801. He subsequently commanded the Brighton district of Sea Fencibles, and regulated the impress service at Deal.
Agent.– Messrs. Atkins and Son.