Admiral of the White Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 1745 – 31 August 1818) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career he was regarded as a dependable officer, and spent several years as Captain of the Fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis. However, he is chiefly remembered for his controversial actions following the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 which resulted in his court-martial. Though he was removed from his sea command, he was retained in the Navy and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the base at Plymouth.
Robert Calder was born in Elgin, Scotland on 2 July 1745, second son to Sir James Calder and Alice Hughes, daughter of Rear-Admiral Robert Hughes. His father was the 3rd Baronet Calder of Muirton, who had been appointed Gentleman Usher of the Privy chamber to the queen by Lord Bute in 1761. His elder brother, who succeeded to his father's baronetcy, was Major General Sir Henry Calder. Calder was educated in Maidstone, before joining the Royal Navy in December 1758 at the age of thirteen.
Calder initially served aboard his cousin's ship, the 70-gun Nassau, in the American theatre of the Seven Years' War. En route to England, in September 1759, Nassau was dismasted in a storm and arrived at her destination with nine foot of water in her hold. As a midshipman, Calder received £1,800 in prize money for his part in the capture of the Spanish treasure ship Hermione on 21 May 1762 (an exceptionally large prize), and was subsequently promoted to lieutenant. At that rank, he served aboard HMS Essex, under Captain the Hon. George Faulkner, in the Caribbean. In 1780 he attained the rank of master and commander, later post-captain. He commanded the frigate HMS Diana of the Channel fleet at Spithead under Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, and acquitted himself honourably in the various services to which he was called, but for a long time had no opportunity of distinguishing himself.
In 1794 he commanded the 74-gun ship HMS Theseus, which formed part of Lord Howe's fleet. He was appointed in 1796 Captain of the Fleet to Admiral John Jervis aboard HMS Victory, and saw action at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on 14 February 1797. After the battle, he was selected by Jervis to carry the dispatches announcing the victory back to Britain, and was knighted by George III on 3 March 1797 for his services. He also received the thanks of Parliament, and was created 1st Baronet Calder of Southwick on 22 August 1798. Parliament voted to award him an annum of £1,200, which he declined. He continued in his service as Captain of the Fleet to Jervis, now Earl of St. Vincent, when the latter hoisted his flag in HMS Ville de Paris as Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet.
In 1799, he was promoted to rear-admiral; and in 1804, now a vice-admiral, was despatched with a small squadron in pursuit of a French force under Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume, conveying supplies to the French army in Egypt. In this he was unsuccessful, and returning home at the peace he struck his flag. He had at this time become regarded as one of the Royal Navy's foremost experts on manoeuvring by signal-flag and in administering a large fleet. In 1801 he quarrelled with Admiral Sir John Duckworth over the payment of prize money. A court ruled in Calder's favour.
During the War of the Third Coalition, Calder was in command of the squadrons blockading the ports of Rochefort, France and Ferrol, Spain, in which (among others) ships were being prepared for Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. Calder held his position with a force greatly inferior to that of the enemy, and refused to be enticed out to sea. On it becoming known that Napoleon intended to break the blockade of Ferrol as a prelude to his invasion, the British Admiralty ordered Rear-admiral Charles Stirling to join Calder and intercept the Franco-Spanish fleet on their passage to Brest, France. The approach of the enemy was concealed by fog.
Finally, on 22 July 1805, the fleets came into sight. The allies outnumbered the British, but Calder ordered his fleet into action. In the ensuing Battle of Cape Finisterre, fifteen British ships engaged twenty French and Spanish ships and captured two. The British losses were 39 officers and men killed and 159 wounded; the allies lost 158 dead and 320 wounded. After four hours, as night fell, Calder gave orders to discontinue the action. Over the following two days, the fleets remained close to one another, but did not re-engage. Calder focused on protecting his newly won prizes, while the French Vice-admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve declined to force another engagement.
Villeneuve left on 24 July, sailing to Ferrol, and eventually Cádiz, instead of resuming his course to Brest. Villeneuve had failed in all his objectives: he had landed no troops in Ireland, and the plan of linking with the fleet at Brest, driving off the British Channel squadrons, and supporting Napoleon's planned invasion came to nothing: the invasion army waited at Boulogne as before. In the judgment of Napoleon, his scheme of invasion was baffled by this day's action; but much indignation was felt in England at the failure of Calder to win a complete victory. However, Calder's superior, Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, Commander of the Channel Fleet, found no complaint with his performance: Calder was shortly thereafter given command of a 20-ship fleet to continue in the effort to bring the Franco-Spanish fleet to battle. These twenty ships would later form the nucleus of the British fleet at Trafalgar, when they were absorbed into the smaller squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral of the White Horatio Nelson.
Court-martial and later career
One of the primary reasons for the public outcry against Calder was the fact that his reports to Cornwallis were only partially printed for public consumption – making it thus seem as though Calder had not followed through on his own boasts. In consequence of the strong feeling against him, Calder demanded a court-martial. Nelson, who had now taken command of Calder's twenty ship fleet in addition to the force Nelson had brought back from the West Indies in his pursuit of Villeneuve, was ordered to send Calder home. Calder left in early October 1805, missing the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson wrote privately: "I should have fought the enemy, and so did my friend Calder; but who can say that he will be more successful than another?" Nelson – to whom Calder had never been close – entreated him to remain until the battle had been fought, attesting that Calder had an opportunity to vindicate any earlier conduct and silence his critics. Calder could not be dissuaded, however, and sailed to England. At Calder's request (a fact which would later negatively affect opinion against him), Nelson allowed him to return in his own 98-gun ship, the Prince of Wales, even though battle was imminent.
The court-martial was held on 23 December 1805, being judged by, among others Admiral George Montague (serving as President of the court-martial) and future-Rear Admiral James Bisset. Calder's defence rested primarily on that the consequences of a defeat would have outweighed the fruits of a victory: despite his tactical success on 22 July, he was still outnumbered, and by concentrating his fleet to meet Villeneuve, he had of necessity been forced to abandon his blockade; thus if the French ships at Rochefort and Ferrol had sailed he would have found himself between two superior foes. This defence was undermined by the fact that Calder took no steps to verify the damage inflicted on Villeneuve's fleet and that contrary winds prevented the forces at Ferrol, Rochefort and Coruna from sailing (the latter a fact that Calder could not have been aware of at the time but certainly could have been when he made his defence some months later). Nelson wrote to the Second Naval Lord that, while he was sympathetic to Calder, "He appears to have had the ships at Ferrol more in his head than the ones in sight...he lays stress upon other considerations than fighting the enemy's squadron, if he could have done it, which he denies to be possible. I have ventured to recommend to Calder to keep to that; prove it, and his character is retrieved". Ultimately, Calder's defence rested on the discretion of a commander in battle, rather than in the physical impossibility of rejoining battle, contrary to Nelson's suggestions.