This officer entered the navy in Aug. 1805; and when very young we find him serving as a volunteer in the boats of the Alceste frigate, under the orders of Lieutenant Allan Stewart, at the capture of seven Spanish tartans, under the batteries of Rota[1]. In May 1809, he assisted at the destruction of several armed vessels and martello towers on the coast of Italy, likewise in bringing off a large quantity of timber from a dépôt at Terracina. In June following, he was present at the capture of the islands of Ischia and Procida[2]. In May 1810, a party from the Alceste stormed a two-gun battery near Frejus, and her boats captured and destroyed six French vessels in the bay of Agaye. In the following month, a three-gun battery in the island of Corsica was taken, and two vessels lying under its protection brought out, by detachments from the Alceste and Topaze. On the 5th May, 1811, a French national brig of 18 guns, lying in the harbour of Parenza, coast of Istria, was destroyed by the former ship in company with la Belle Poule[3]. On the 29th Nov. following, Mr. Croker participated in a severe action with two French frigates, near the island of Augusta, the result of which was the capture of la Pomone, mounting 44 guns with a complement of 322 men[4]. He returned home and joined the Clarence 74, Captain Henry Vansittart, in the autumn of 1812.
The subject of this sketch was made a lieutenant in Dec. 1814, at which period, we believe, he was serving on the Lakes of Canada. In Aug. 1818, he was appointed to the Redwing 18, Captain Frederick Hunn, fitting out for the St. Helena station; and, in Sept. 1821, to the Carnation 18, Captain J. E. Walcott, destined to the West Indies; where he appears to have been successively removed into the Gloucester 74, Commodore Sir Edward W. C. R. Owen, and Icarus 10, Captain John George Graham.
On the 20th Aug. 1824, the boats of the Icarus, despatched
