Early naval career
The precise date as to when Smith entered the Royal Navy is unknown, but his first notable appointment in the Service was to the position of junior lieutenant aboard the Royal Oak on 6 February 1728, at the appointment of his commanding officer Sir Charles Wager. In June of the same year he was moved to the 44-gun Gosport under the command of Captain Duncombe Drake.
HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Jonas Shish at Deptford and launched in 1674. She was one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun. Life aboard her when cruising in the Mediterranean in 1679 is described in the diary of Henry Teonge.
Admiral Sir Charles Wager was First Lord of the Admiralty between 1733 and 1742. Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, Wager can be criticized for his failure to deal with an acute manning problem. However, in reality the Royal Navy's numerical preponderance over other navies was greater than at any other time in the century, and its dockyard facilities, overseas bases, victualling organization, and central co-ordination were by far the most elaborate and advanced. Although British warship design was inferior to French in some respects, the real problem was an insufficiency of the versatile and seaworthy 60-gun ships, a class that Wager's Admiralty had chosen to augment during the 1730s but, as wartime experience would show, not aggressively enough.
While a lieutenant aboard the Gosport, Smith attracted great controversy in an incident involving a French corvette in late November, 1728. At the time of the incident the Gosport was harboured in Plymouth Sound and Smith was acting-commanding officer due to all of his superiors being ashore. While in command, a French corvette that had entered the Sound for shelter passed the Gosport while departing, and Smith signalled for the French captain ‘to haul in his pennant in respect to the king of Great Britain's colours’. [1] Having already saluted the Royal Citadel of Plymouth, the French captain took this as an affront and the French authorities, upon receiving his report, presented an official letter of complaint to the British government. Smith was thus court-martialed and summarily dismissed from the Navy by king's order on 27 March 1729. [1] However, due to popular outcry at his dismissal, [1] he was reinstated at the same rank and made second lieutenant of the Enterprise on 12 May of the same year, [1] receiving the nickname 'Tom o'Ten Thousand' from his fellow seamen. [2]
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay on the English Channel at Plymouth in England.
The Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of Sir Francis Drake.
On 5 May 1730, Smith was promoted to the rank of captain and given the command of the 24-gun Success. [1] Two years after this Smith was given command of the Dursley Galley, [1] a 20-gun fast frigate stationed in the Mediterranean, mainly tasked with patrolling against Barbary Pirates. [1] Remaining mainly in the Mediterranean, Smith remained in this position for a decade. [1]
Late naval career and the creation of the divisional system
Smith left the post of governor for good and was placed in command of the 100-gun Royal Sovereign in September 1745. [1] Around this time Smith spent a lot of time organising anti-invasion defences off the coast of Suffolk and Essex aboard the 40-gun Hastings. [1] In February 1746 he replaced John Byng as Commander-in-Chief, Leith, a position he stayed in until January 1747. [1] Smith was promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1748, [1] and in August 1755 he was made Commander-in-Chief, the Downs. [1]
Soon after taking command of the Downs Squadron in 1755, Smith began to draft a scheme to combat the problems regarding relations between the officers and the men in the Royal Navy. [3] Under this system the lieutenants on board a ship would be placed in charge of a division of the ship's company, and would be responsible for the health, welfare and efficiency of the men under their jurisdiction. [3] This system became known as the divisional system. While originally confined to Smith's Downs Squadron, it soon spread to other ships in the Service and was widely, though not universally admired, by the end of the Seven Years' War. [4] By 1765 the system appears to have been the structure of choice for ships in the Royal Navy. [4] A very efficient arrangement, Smith's divisional system resulted in increased efficiency and closer control, as well as improved communications between the officers and men on board. [4]
In December 1756 he was ordered back from the Downs to preside over the trial of Admiral John Byng, at which Smith apparently did his utmost (albeit unsuccessfully) to see that the court's recommendation of leniency was followed. [4] Smith then returned to the Downs Squadron on 24 February 1757 after promotion to the rank of Admiral of the Blue, but ill health forced Smith to declare his retirement the following year.
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