Sir William Symonds (24 September 1782, Bury St Edmunds-30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship Nil in the Strait of Bonifacio, off Sardinia) was "Surveyor of the Navy" in the Royal Navy from 9 June 1832 to October 1847, and took part in the naval reforms instituted by the Whig First Lord of the Admiralty Sir James Robert George Graham in 1832.
He was the second son of a naval captain, Thomas Symonds (?-1793) and his second wife, and first wen...
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Sir William Symonds (24 September 1782, Bury St Edmunds-30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship Nil in the Strait of Bonifacio, off Sardinia) was "Surveyor of the Navy" in the Royal Navy from 9 June 1832 to October 1847, and took part in the naval reforms instituted by the Whig First Lord of the Admiralty Sir James Robert George Graham in 1832.
He was the second son of a naval captain, Thomas Symonds (?-1793) and his second wife, and first went to sea on, HMS London, in September 1794. Serving in Lord Bridport's fleet at the Battle of Groix on 23 June 1795 and during the 1797 Spithead mutiny, he was promoted to lieutenant on 14 October 1801. However, despite service at sea for the whole duration of the Napoleonic Wars (in which experiences of being outsailed by French ships left him with an obsession for speed, wide beams and sharp design in his later designs for sailing ships) and showing fine seamanship, he was promoted no further (though between 1819 and 1825 he was captain of...
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