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Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Leake (4 July 1656 – 21 August 1720) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. He then distinguished himself when he led the convoy that broke the barricading boom at Culmore Fort thereby lifting the Siege of Derry during the Williamite War in Ireland. As a captain he saw action in some of the heaviest fighting (70 of his men were killed) at the Battle of Barfleur and was also involved in a successful attack on the French ships at the Battle of La Hogue during the Nine Years' War. Leake went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland and then, as a flag officer, served as Second-in-Command to Admiral George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltar and he commanded the vanguard in the Battle of Málaga during the War of the Spanish Succession. He later returned to Gibraltar with a combined English, Dutch and Portuguese force of 35 ships and defeated Baron de Pointis at the Battle of Cabrita Point. Leake also served under Sir Cloudesley Shovell and the Earl of Peterborough at the Siege of Barcelona and was present at the capitulation of the city by French and Spanish forces. A further siege took place between when a Franco-Spanish army led by Philip V of Spain laid siege to Barcelona in an attempt to recapture it. The Franco-Spanish army abandoned the siege when Leake arrived. Leake later captured Sardinia and landed the Earl of Stanhope with forces that took the well-fortified harbour of Port Mahon on Minorca. Leake served as Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1708 to 1715 and as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1710 to 1712. ==Early career== Born the son of Richard Leake, a master gunner, and Elizabeth Leake, Leake joined the Royal Navy in early 1673.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=John Leake )〕 He was assigned to the first-rate HMS ''Royal Prince'', flagship of Admiral Sir Edward Spragge, and saw action at the Battle of Texel in August 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. He left the Royal Navy when the War ended in 1674 and served in merchant vessels but rejoined in 1766 and became master gunner in the second-rate HMS ''Neptune'' in 1683. Promoted to commander on 24 September 1688, he was given command of the bomb vessel HMS ''Firedrake'' and saw action under Battle of Bantry Bay in May 1689 during the Nine Years' War.〔Campbell, p. 78〕 Promoted to captain on 3 May 1689, Leake was given command of the fifth-rate HMS ''Dartmouth''; he distinguished himself when he led the convoy that broke the barricading boom at Culmore Fort thereby lifting the Siege of Derry in July 1689 during the Williamite War in Ireland.〔 He transferred to the command of the fourth-rate HMS ''Oxford'' in the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1689 and to the command of the third-rate HMS ''Eagle'' in May 1690 and saw action in some of the heaviest fighting (70 of his men were killed) at the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692. Leake also commanded HMS ''Eagle'', by then flagship of Vice-Admiral George Rooke, in a successful attack on the French ships at the Battle of La Hogue later that month.〔Campbell, p. 80〕 He transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS ''Plymouth'' on convoy protection duties in December 1692 and to the command of the second-rate HMS ''Ossory'' in the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1693.〔Campbell, p. 81〕 Leake was given command of the third-rate HMS ''Kent'' on a mission to transport troops to Ireland in May 1699 and then transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS ''Berwick'' in January 1701.〔Campbell, p. 83〕 He took command of the first-rate HMS ''Britannia'', flagship of the Earl of Pembroke, on an expedition to Cádiz in January 1702, and then transferred to the command of the second-rate HMS ''Association'' in June 1702.〔Campbell, p. 84〕 Promoted to commodore on 24 June 1702, Leake became Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland, with his broad pennant in the fourth-rate HMS ''Exeter''.〔 He sailed with eight ships with orders to attack the French fishing harbours and their ships at sea at this early stage of the War of the Spanish Succession. In this expedition 51 enemy ships were taken or destroyed. While in Newfoundland Leake also reported on the failure of the local people to observe legislation prohibiting trade with New England.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=John Leake )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Leake」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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