where he became Master’s Mate, in Aug. 1796, of the Monarch 74, flag-ship of Sir Geo. Keith Elphinstone, and where, from the following Sept. until his return to England in 1802, he officiated as Acting- Lieutenant and Lieutenant (commission dated 21 May, 1799) in the Sceptre 74, Capts. Thos. Alexander and Valentine Edwards, Rattlesnake 16 and Jupiter 50, both commanded by Capt. Wm. Granger, Lancaster 64, flag-ship of Sir Roger Curtis, and Star sloop, Capt. Gardner. He was present, in Aug. 1796, at the surrender of the Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay. In the course of 1803-4 he was appointed in succession to the Malta 80, Capt. Edw. Buller, Galatea 32, Capt. Henry Heathcote, Inspector, Capt. Henry Budd, Euryalus 36, Capt. Hon. Henry Blackwood, and Circe frigate, Capt. Jonas Rose. In the ship last mentioned (the others were employed on the Home station) he proceeded to the West Indies; where he was made Commander, 22 Jan. 1806, into L’Epervier sloop. Attaining Post-rank 23 March, 1807, he was appointed, 1 Sept. following, to the Dover 38, and ordered to the East Indies. Towards the close of 1809, being still on that station, he was intrusted by the Commander-in-Chief, Rear-Admiral Wm. O’Brien Drury, with the charge of an expedition,[1] having for its object an attack upon the Moluccas. Soon after his arrival on the coast of Java he made prize, with his own ship and her boats, of two brigs, two sloops, one war-junk, and 15 proas, carrying altogether 50 guns, 4 six-inch swivels, and 380 men; and on 6 Feb. 1810 he took, at the end of a chase of five hours, and in spite of some opposition, the Dutch brigs-of-war Rembang of 18 long six-pounders and 100 men, and Hope of 10 guns and 68 men. On 17 of the same month the whole of the important island of Amboyna surrendered to the force under Capt. Tucker, although defended by numerous strong batteries, mounting in the whole between 200 and 300 pieces of cannon, and by 130 European and upwards of 1000 Javanese and Madurese troops, exclusive of the Dutch inhabitants and burghers, and of 220 officers and seamen, many of them Europeans, lately belonging to three vessels which had been sunk in the harbour.[2] The forts and batteries were nevertheless captured, and the colony, as stated, subdued by a comparative handful of men landed from the three ships, amounting in all to not more than 401 troops, seamen, and marines, under the personal direction of Capt.-Major Henry Court, of the E.I.Co.’s service.[3] The success of the British against Amboyna led to the almost immediate surrender, without resistance or bloodshed, of the valuable islands of Saparoua, Harouka, Nasso Laut, Bouro, and Manippa. About the same period Capt. Tucker captured two large ships, a brig, and a ketch, from Souroubaya, richly laden with supplies of every kind for the governments of Amboyna, Banda, and Ternate. His squadron, between 5 March and 29 April following, took, further, one ship, six brigs, and four sloops, all armed, and laden with supplies for Ternate, Bandon, &c. Capt. Spencer, also, of the Samarang, made a successful attack upon the fort of Pulo-Ay, whence he removed the garrison, ordnance, and public property. Having sent the prisoners taken at Amboyna and the other islands to Java, Capt. Tucker proceeded to Gorontello, on the north-east part of Celebes, where he induced the Sultan and his two sons, in whose hands the whole settlements had been invested for the Dutch East India Company, to haul down the Batavian and substitute the British flag. On arriving next at Manado he sent a summons to the Governor of Fort Amsterdam, who, although he possessed defences which mounted 3 12-pounders, 5 8-pounders, 10 6’s, and 32 pieces of smaller calibre, instantly accepted the terms proposed to him – 102 Dutch officers and soldiers and 11 seamen laying down their arms. With Manado fell its dependencies, the ports of Kemar, Le Copang, Amerang, and Tawangwoo. At these places were found supplies on the eve of being shipped off for Banda – a circumstance which rendered their capture the more important.[4] Capt. Tucker continued to hold the conquests he had made, notwithstanding the slender force at his command, until the arrival, some months afterwards, of reinforcements from India. He then returned to Madras, without having sustained a single loss from sickness, and with his ship in so complete a state that he immediately volunteered to accompany the expedition then about to proceed to Batavia. Circumstances, however, prevented his doing so. He left the Dover in April, 1811 (she was wrecked 2 May following, while under the temporary command of Lieut. Chas. Jefferis); and he was afterwards appointed – 13 Oct. 1812, to the Surveillante 38, on the north coast of Spain – and in the early part of 1813, to the Cornwall 74 and Inconstant 36. In the latter ship, which he paid off in Aug. 1815, he made a voyage to Buenos Ayres. He was Knighted for his services 6 May, 1813, and nominated a K.C.B. 2 Jan. 1815. His promotion to Flag-rank took place 23 Nov. 1841.
He married, in Feb. 1817, a sister of the present Capt. Sir Henry John Leeke, R.N., Kt., K.H. Agents – Messrs. Ommanney.
TUCKER. (Captain, 1838. f-p., 18; h-p., 14.)
John Jervis Tucker is second son of the late Benj. Tucker, Esq., of Trematon Castle, Cornwall.
This officer entered the Navy, 19 Aug. 1815, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the St. George 98, Capt. Nash, bearing the flag of Sir John Thos. Duckworth at Plymouth, where he removed in the following month to the Superb 74, Capt. Chas. Ekins. He served next, from March, 1816, until Aug. 1817, in the Pactolus 38, Capt. Wm. Hugh Dobbie, on the coast of North America; he then joined in succession, for a brief period, the Prince Regent and Royal George yachts, Capts. Sir Edw. Hamilton and Hon. Chas. Paget; and he was afterwards, between Oct. 1817 and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant 12 Sept. 1822, employed in the Favorite 26, Capt. Hercules Robinson, Glasgow 50, Capts. Hon. Anthony Maitland and Bentinck Cavendish Doyle, Camelion 10, Capt. Wm. Jas. Mingaye, and Apollo and Royal George yachts, both commanded by his former Captain, Paget. The Favorite was stationed for three years at St. Helena, in South America, and at Newfoundland; the Glasgow, for eight months, in the Mediterranean and at Portsmouth; and the Camelion and Apollo also at Portsmouth. In the Royal George Mr. Tucker accompanied George IV. on his visit to Scotland. Being appointed, 17 March, 1823, to the Thetis 46, Capt. Sir John Phillimore, he sailed in the ensuing Oct. for Mexico with the Commissioners deputed to inquire into the political state of that country. In May, 1824, having returned to Plymouth with specie from the Havana, the Thetis was ordered to Cape Coast Castle with supplies and a detachment of the Royal African corps. On her arrival her officers and crew became involved in the war raging with the Ashantees, whom, on 11 July in the same year, they assisted in totally routing. Continuing in the Thetis until paid off in Nov. 1826, Mr. Tucker was present in her in a variety of experimental cruizes, and was engaged in escorting different diplomatic personages to Naples, Constantinople, and South America. He attained the rank of Commander 15 June, 1827; served in that capacity in the Semiramis 24, flagship of Hon. Sir C. Paget at Cork, from 5 July, 1828, until 1831; was advanced to his present rank 28 June, 1838; and from 26 May, 1841, until paid
- ↑ Consisting, with the Dover, of the Cornwallis 44, Capt. Wm. Augustus Montagu, and Samarang 18, Capt. Rich. Spencer. The Cornwallis did not join until 9 Feb. 1810.
- ↑ The Mandurese of 12 guns (afterwards weighed by the British), San Pan cutter of 10 guns, and a cutter, name unknown, of 12 guns.
- ↑ The courage and sound judgment displayed by Capt. Tucker in the operations he conducted against Amboyna were warmly praised by Rear-Admiral Drury. – Vide Gaz. 1810, p. 1481.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1811, p. 497.
