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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