British Royal Navy Rear Admiral, 1st Baronet of Carr A distinguished British naval officer who served for 49 years, he is particularly remembered for his part in the Battle of the Saintes (April 9-12, 1782) during the American War of Independence where he helped pioneer the tactic of "breaking the line". Born in Carr, Perthshire, Scotland, he joined the Royal Navy at the age of twelve and spent some time in the Dutch service before resuming his career with the British. He was a midshipman at the Siege of Louisbourg (1745), promoted to Lieutenant in 1753 and to Commander in 1759. By the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, he was captain of HMS Syren. While commanding the Syren, Sir Charles reported the attack on St. John's and took part in recapturing Newfoundland. Following the war, he went to St. Petersburg to help re-organize the Russian navy for Catherine the Great in 1764 to 1765. In May 1770 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for carrying out a series of curious experiments to determine the different degrees of cold at different depths in the sea. After the American War of Independence broke out in the British Colonies in 1775, he was given command of a squadron to relieve Quebec from the enemy siege. When he arrived at the Gulf of St. Lawrence, he decided to ram the ice and successfully made his way up the river, surprising the Americans and putting them on the run. He was also in charge of creating a navy from scratch to fight on Lake Champlain, and that small fleet routed the Americans under Benedict Arnold. In 1777, he was made a baronet for his service in Quebec. As captain of HMS Stirling Castle, he took part in the Battle of Ushant (1778). In 1781 he became Captain-of-the-Fleet for George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, and was with Rodney on his flagship, HMS Formidable, at the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica, where on 12 April 1782, they defeated the Comte de Grasse by breaking the French line. In 1783 he was made the Commander-in-Chief of North America at the Halifax, Nova Scotia Station, but resigned due to a conflict. In 1787 he became a rear-admiral, and in 1789 was once again made commander of the Nova Scotia station, but died of apoplexy before taking his post.