| Jamaica Station | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Active | 1650-1830 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Type | Naval Station |
| Part of | Department of Admiralty |
| HQ | Port Royal Dockyard |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | West Indies Station |
The Jamaica Station and later known as the West Indies Station was a naval station of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy based at Port Royal in Jamaica from 1655 to 1830. The station consisted of its main naval force the Jamaica Squadron and Port Royal Dockyard.
1) History
The station was formed, following the capture of Jamaica, by assembing about a dozen frigates in 1655. The first "Admiral and General-at-Sea" was Sir William Penn. Its main objectives in the early years were to defend Jamaica and to harass Spanish ports and shipping. In the late 1720s three successive commanders of the station lost their lives to tropical diseases while undertaking a Blockade of Porto Bello during the Anglo-Spanish War. The general ill-health associated with the station continued throughout the century. An assessment of Navy strength at the Jamaica station in 1742 found around 3,000 men were fit to serve out of a total Navy complement of 6,620. A Navy hospital was constructed in 1745 but its location was poor and many patients brought in for shipboard diseases developed additional tropical illnesses while in the hospital itself. A report to the Admiralty in 1749 found that the Hospital was "rather a hurt to the [Navy] Service than a Relief." In 1830 it was renamed the West Indies Station.
2) Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station
- Vice-admiral Sir William Penn (1655)
- Vice-Admiral William Goodsonn (1655–57)
- Vice Admiral Christopher Myngs (1657; 1662–63)
- Sir Thomas Whetstone (1663)
- Vice-Admiral Henry Morgan (1669)
- Commodore Ralph Wrenn (1692)
- Rear-Admiral Francis Wheler (1692)
- Vice-Admiral John Benbow (1702)
- Commodore William Whetstone (1702–03)
- Vice-Admiral John Graydon (1703)
- Rear-Admiral Sir William Whetstone (1705–06)
- Commodore William Kerr (1706)
- Rear-Admiral Sir John Jennings (1706)
- Rear Admiral Charles Wager (1707–09)
- Commodore James Littleton (1710–12)
- Rear-Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker (1712)
- Commodore Edward Vernon (1720)
- Vice-Admiral Francis Hosier (1726–27)
- Commodore Edward St. Lo (1727)
- Vice Admiral Edward Hopson (1728)
- Rear-Admiral Edward St. Lo (1728–29)
- Commodore William Smith (1729)
- Rear-Admiral Charles Stewart (1730–32)
- Commodore Richard Lestock (1732)
- Commodore Sir Chaloner Ogle (1732–36)
- Captain Digby Dent (1736–37)
- Commodore Sir Chaloner Ogle (1737–39)
- Admiral Edward Vernon (1739–42)
- Rear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1742–44)
- Vice-Admiral Thomas Davers (1744–46)
- Captain Cornelius Mitchell (1746)
- Captain Digby Dent (1747)
- Rear-Admiral Charles Knowles (1747–49)
- Commodore George Townshend (1749–52)
- Rear-Admiral George Townshend (1755–57)
- Rear-Admiral Thomas Cotes (1757–60)
- Rear-Admiral Charles Holmes (1760–61)
- Commodore Sir James Douglas (1762)
- Rear-Admiral Augustus Keppel (1762–64)
- Rear-Admiral William Burnaby (1764–66)
- Rear-Admiral William Parry (1766–69)
- Commodore Arthur Forrest (1769–70)
- Rear-Admiral George Rodney (1771–74)
- Vice-Admiral Clark Gayton (1774–78)
- Vice-Admiral Peter Parker (1778–82)
- Vice-Admiral Joshua Rowley (1782–83)
- Vice-Admiral James Gambier (1783–84)
- Captain John Pakenham (1785)
- Captain Alan Gardner (1785)
- Rear-Admiral Alexander Innes (1786)
- Commodore Alan Gardner (1786–89)
- Rear-Admiral Philip Affleck (1790–1793)
- Commodore John Ford (1793–95)
- Rear-Admiral William Parker (1796)
- Commodore Richard Rodney Bligh (1796)
- Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker (1796–1800)
- Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (1800–01)
- Rear-Admiral Robert Montague (1802)
- Vice-Admiral Sir John Duckworth (1803–04)
- Vice-Admiral James Richard Dacres (1804–08)
- Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Rowley (1809–11)
- Vice-Admiral Charles Stirling (1811–12)
- Vice-Admiral James Vashon (1812)
- Rear-Admiral William Brown (1813–14)
- Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane (1814–15) (also C-in-C of the North American Station during the latter part of the War of 1812)
- Rear-Admiral John Erskine Douglas (1816–17)
- Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham (1817–20)
- Rear-Admiral of the Blue: Sir Charles Rowley (1820–23)