The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Coffin, Isaac

COFFIN, Sir Isaac, an English admiral, born in Boston, Mass., May 16, 1759, died at Cheltenham, Eng., July 23, 1839. He was educated at the public schools in Boston, and having entered the British navy as midshipman in 1773, under the patronage of Admiral Montagu, served in various ships on the American station, being finally attached to the Romney, flag ship of his patron, off Newfoundland. In 1778 he was appointed lieutenant, and in 1781 commander. On March 16, 1781, he acted as signal lieutenant to Admiral Arbuthnot in the action off Cape Henry, and in 1782 was present as a volunteer under Admiral Hood in the engagement between Rodney and De Grasse. In 1788, irritated at having been deprived of his commission for an informality then common in the service, he went to Brabant and gave his aid to the patriots. The sentence against him was soon reversed, and he reentered the British navy with his former rank. In attempting to save the life of a sailor who fell overboard he received an injury which incapacitated him from active duty, and was placed in charge of the depot at Leith; thence was sent commissioner to Corsica; thence to Elba; subsequently to Lisbon as head of the naval establishment there; and in 1798, when Minorca fell into the hands of the English, he was appointed superintendent of the arsenal at Port Mahon. In 1804 he was advanced to the rank of rear admiral of the blue; next year was made a baronet; in 1808 vice admiral, and in 1814 admiral. In 1818 he was elected member of parliament for Ilchester, and retained his seat till the dissolution in 1826. His speeches were chiefly on naval affairs, and distinguished for blunt, sailor-like honesty, with a strong vein of facetiousness. He always retained a warm affection for his native city, and visited it many times. In 1826 he founded a school in Nantucket, still called by his name.