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Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin, (25 July 1773 – 25 October 1854) was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of fifth-rate HMS ''Fisgard'' he took part in a duel with the French ship ''Immortalité'' and captured her at the Battle of Tory Island during the French Revolutionary Wars. Then while in command of the third-rate HMS ''Implacable'' in the Baltic Sea and attached to the Swedish Navy he took part in the capture the Russian ship ''Sewolod'' (''Vsevolod'') during the Napoleonic Wars. During his many years of service as Controller of the Navy, Martin was credited with reducing the fleet from the enormous size deployed against the French to a much more streamlined service geared toward protecting merchant trade and the British Empire. He also focused heavily on employing highly trained dockyard staff capable of responding rapidly to any international emergency. Martin also sat in Parliament for 14 years and was an outspoken critic of government attempts to reduce the Navy budget which ultimately saw him dismissed in 1831 by his old friend King William IV. Martin died in October 1854, at the early stages of the Crimean War, planning the Baltic Campaign and investigating the possibilities of using poison gas weapons. ==Early life== Born the third son of Sir Henry Martin, 1st Baronet (later MP for Southampton) and his wife Eliza Anne Gillman (née Parker), Martin was educated at Freshford School, Southampton Grammar School and later the Royal Grammar School, Guildford.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Martin, Sir Thomas Byam )〕 During his education, he was also enrolled on the books of several Navy ships, a custom of the period to ensure that when he was old enough to go to sea he already would have the requisite "experience" to be considered for promotion early.〔 Martin joined the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth in August 1785 and went to sea for the first time as a captain's servant aboard the sixth-rate HMS ''Pegasus'', captained by Prince William Henry, on the North American Station in April 1786.〔Heathcote, p. 167〕 Promoted to midshipman, he transferred to fifth-rate HMS ''Andromeda'' in March 1788 and subsequently to the third-rate HMS ''Colossus'', the fifth-rate HMS ''Southampton'', the second-rate HMS ''Barfleur'' and then the first-rate HMS ''Royal George''.〔 Promoted to lieutenant on 22 October 1790, Martin served in the third-rate HMS ''Canada'' in the Channel Squadron and subsequently in the fifth-rate HMS ''Inconstant'' and the fifth-rate HMS ''Juno''.〔 He was promoted to commander on 22 May 1793 and given command of the fire ship HMS ''Tisiphone'' in the Mediterranean Fleet.〔 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「Thomas Byam Martin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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