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Date Posted: 10:04:10 10/20/08 Mon
Author: Albert Parker
Subject: Re: The Battle of Marmara
In reply to: John Tredrea 's message, "The Battle of Marmara" on 22:07:03 10/19/08 Sun

>This little known and largely undocumented
>confrontation took place in the Sea of Marmara between
>the Turkish main battle fleet and an unknown number of
>British SOLs (all apparently 84s) and frigates under
>Sir John Duckworth, who had rushed from his victory at
>San Domingo to enter Turkish waters and attempt to
>destroy the Turkish navy before the British
>declaration of war against Turkey in 1807.

Well, he didn't really need to "rush." Duckworth won the Battle of Santo Domingo on February 3, 1806. He was formally a subordinate of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood, commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, having wound up in the Caribbean after chasing a French squadron all the way across the Atlantic. He would naturally have returned to his station for orders and further service. He could easily have been back at Gibraltar by the end of March. He doesn't appear in Clowes, James, or Mackesy again until early in 1807, when he got his orders for the 1807 expedition. What was he doing in the interval? Now we know. Lee Bienkowski, [British] Admirals in the Age of Nelson, 185, confirms that Duckworth returned to the Mediterranean "in April," but says that Collingwood sent him back to England. Bienkowski writes, "While Sir John was being lionized at home [for the Santo Domingo victory]," describes the events that were leading to the 1807 confrontation (omitting, of course, the secret 1806 expedition), and then says that Duckworth was off Cadiz with Collingwood on January 12, 1807. The business about being in England in the summer of 1806 is obviously a cover story for the 1806 intrusion into the Sea of Marmara.

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