Thomas Griffin

Notes on Officer

Griffin served in the Baltic Fleet, 1716 to 1717, in the Weymouth and then in the Panther. He became a lieutenant in 1718 and was in the Barfleur and Orford, Mediterranean Station, until 1720; from 1727 to 1730 he served in the Gibraltar, the Princess Louisa and the Falmouth on the same station. He was promoted to captain in 1731, served in the West Indies in the Shoreham from 1731 to 1733 and on the Channel Station under Sir John Norris (ca. 1670-1749) from 1735 until 1740 in the Blenheim, Oxford and Princess Caroline. It was in the latter ship that he sailed to join Admiral Vernon's fleet in the West Indies in October 1740. During the abortive attack on Cartagena in 1741 he commanded the Burford. Griffin was then at Portsmouth until 1743 in the St George . It was during his service in the Captain, 1744 to 1745, that he was accused of an error of judgement, court-martialled but acquitted. He was made rear-admiral, in 1747, when he hoisted his flag in the Princess Mary and went to the East Indies. In the following year he was promoted to vice-admiral and, on his arrival back in England, found himself the object of criticism over an alleged failure to attack eight French ships: he requested a court martial, was found guilty of negligence and suspended from his rank. Although reinstated in 1752, he had no further active employment