Edward Riou

61
Edward Riou bigraphy, stories - Royal Navy officer during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary Wars. Killed in action at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)

Edward Riou : biography

20 November 1762 – 2 April 1801

Edward Riou FRS (20 November 1762 – 2 April 1801) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars under several of the most distinguished naval officers of his age and won fame and honour for two incidents in particular.

Riou entered the navy at 12 years of age, and after a period spent in British and North American waters, served as a midshipman on Captain James Cook’s third and final voyage of discovery. Rising through the ranks, he saw service on a number of the navy’s stations, but also endured periods of unemployment. He received his first command in 1789, the former frigate , which was being used to transport stores and convicts to Australia. He had the misfortune to run his ship onto an iceberg, which nearly caused his ship to sink outright. After several attempts to stop the flooding into the damaged hull, most of the crew abandoned ship. Despite fully anticipating his death, Riou refused to leave his ship, and he and a few others were left to attempt the nearly impossible task of navigating the sinking ship several hundred leagues to land. After nine weeks at sea, and with continued labour and endurance, Riou successfully navigated his half-sunk ship back to port, saving the lives of those who had elected to remain with him.

His feat earned him promotions and finally commands, but a period of ill-health forced his temporary retirement from active service. Recovering quickly, he was given command of the new 38-gun , and was assigned in 1801 to Sir Hyde Parker’s expedition to the Baltic. Riou worked closely with Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson during the approach to the Battle of Copenhagen, earning Nelson’s trust and admiration. Nelson appointed Riou to command his frigate squadron during the battle, but when the engagement began badly for the British, Riou used his initiative to attack the Danish forts, despite being heavily outgunned. When Parker sent the signal to withdraw, Nelson ignored it and Riou felt he had no choice but to obey his commanding officer, despite his despair at what Nelson would think of retreat. As the Amazon swung away, she exposed her vulnerable stern to the Danish batteries. Riou was encouraging his men to the end when he was cut down by a round shot. Nelson, on learning of Riou’s death, called the loss ‘irreparable’. A monument was erected to his memory in St Paul’s Cathedral, while a poem commemorated the loss of the ‘gallant, good Riou’.

Memorials

Nelson, who had not known him before this expedition, had conceived a great affection for Riou, and wrote ‘In poor dear Riou the country has sustained an irreparable loss.’ The naval historian Sir Jahleel Brenton declared that he had all the qualities of a perfect officer. Parliament commemorated his memory with a memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral. The poet Thomas Campbell wrote The Battle of the Baltic, with the lines

Command of the Guardian

The Guardian was a former two-decked 44-gun frigate, but had been armed en flûte and loaded with stores to be taken to the British colony at Botany Bay. In addition to these stores, consisting of seeds, plants, farm machinery and livestock with a total value of some £70,000, the Guardian was also to transport a number of convicts and their overseers. Aboard the Guardian was a young midshipman named Thomas Pitt, the son of politician Thomas Pitt, and nephew of Prime Minister William Pitt. With over 300 people aboard his ship, Riou left Spithead on 8 September 1789, and had an uneventful voyage to the Cape of Good Hope where he loaded more livestock and plants. While at the Cape, Riou met Lieutenant William Bligh, who had sailed with Riou on Cook’s third voyage during which Bligh had been the sailing master of Resolution. Bligh had arrived at the Cape from Timor, where he had landed after a 3,618 mile voyage in an open boat following a mutiny aboard his ship, . After completing his re-provisioning, Riou sailed from the Cape in mid-December, and picking up the Westerlies, began the second leg of his voyage to New South Wales. On Christmas Eve, twelve days after his departure from the Cape, a large iceberg was spotted, and Riou decided to use the ice to replenish his stocks of fresh water that were quickly being depleted by the need to supply the plants and animals he was transporting.