Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet (1721–1811) was a British naval officer.

Naval career

Peter Parker was born probably in Ireland. He became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1743 and captain in 1747. In 1761, he took command of HMS Buckingham and helped cover operations on Belle Île. For 10 years he was out of the service on account of the reduction of the navy.

He was knighted in 1772

During the American Revolution, he was sent to provide naval support for an expedition reinforcing Loyalists in the Southern Colonies. Parker hoisted his flag aboard HMS Bristol, and on June 28, 1776, led a naval attack against the fortifications on Sullivan's Island (later called Fort Moultrie after their commander), protecting Charleston, South Carolina. After a long and hard-fought battle, Parker was forced to call off the attack, having sustained heavy casualties, including the loss of HMS Actaeon, grounded and abandoned. Lord William Campbell, the last British Governor of the Province of South Carolina, was mortally wounded aboard the Bristol. Commodore Parker was himself wounded by a flying splinter which injured his leg and tore off his breeches, an incident which occasioned much mirth in the newspapers.<ref...
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