# Michael Clements

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{{Short description|Royal Navy officer (died 1796)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix    = [Rear-Admiral](/source/Rear_admiral_(Royal_Navy))
|name                = Michael Clements
|honorific_suffix    = 
|image               = Michael Clements (Royal Navy officer).jpg
|image_upright       = 
|alt                 = 
|caption             = Clements in 1778, by Thomas Anthony Devis
|nickname            = 
|birth_date          = 1735
|birth_place         = 
|death_date          = 1796
|death_place         = 
|burial_place        = 
|burial_label        = 
|burial_coordinates  = 
|allegiance          = [Kingdom of Great Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain)
|branch              = [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy)
|branch_label        = 
|service_years       = {{circa}}1748–1789
|service_years_label = 
|rank                = [Rear-Admiral](/source/Rear_admiral_(Royal_Navy))
|commands            = [HMS ''London''](/source/HMS_London_(1756_busse))<br>[HMS ''Actaeon''](/source/HMS_Actaeon_(1757))<br>[HMS ''Pallas''](/source/HMS_Pallas_(1757))<br>[HMS ''Dorsetshire''](/source/HMS_Dorsetshire_(1757))<br>[HMS ''Vengeance''](/source/HMS_Vengeance_(1774))
|battles             = '''[War of the Austrian Succession](/source/War_of_the_Austrian_Succession)'''<br>
'''[Seven Years' War](/source/Seven_Years'_War)'''<br>
*[Battle of Bishops Court](/source/Battle_of_Bishops_Court)
'''[American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War)'''<br>
*[Battle of Ushant](/source/Battle_of_Ushant_(1778))
|battles_label       = 
|awards              = 
|memorials           = 
|alma_mater          = 
|spouse              = 
|children            = 
|relations           = 
|other_work          = 
|signature           = 
|signature_size      = 
|signature_alt       = 
}}
'''Michael Clements''' (1735{{ndash}}1796) was a [rear-admiral](/source/rear_admiral_(Royal_Navy)) in the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy).

==Early life==
Clements was born in 1735, the son of a [rector](/source/Rector_(ecclesiastical)) in [Leicestershire](/source/Leicestershire).<ref name=Chambers>Chambers 1820, pp. 561{{ndash}}562</ref> He enlisted in the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) at the age of thirteen, serving as a captain's servant and then [midshipman](/source/midshipman). On 17 November 1755 he passed the [Admiralty Board](/source/Admiralty_Board) examination for the rank of [lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant_(navy)), and was commissioned two weeks later as first lieutenant aboard {{HMS|Unicorn|1748|6}}.<ref>Duffy & McLeod 2011, p. 48</ref> He was still serving in this position in 1757, at the outbreak of the [Seven Years' War](/source/Seven_Years'_War) between France and England. In May 1757, ''Unicorn'' encountered and engaged ''L'Invincible'', a French [privateer](/source/privateer) from [St Malo](/source/St_Malo). The captain of ''Unicorn'' was killed, but Clements assumed command and secured the capture of the privateer. The French vessel was brought into [Kinsale](/source/Kinsale); and Clements immediately took ''Unicorn'' back to sea in pursuit of a second French vessel, which was also captured and brought in. For this service Clements was recommended for promotion; he spent four months as [commander](/source/commander) of [HMS ''London''](/source/HMS_London_(1756_busse)), a 6-gun [busse](/source/busse) and was then named as [post-captain](/source/post-captain) of the 28-gun frigate {{HMS|Actaeon|1757|6}} from 29 September 1757.<ref name=DNB>{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Clements, Michael|volume=11}}</ref>

==Royal Navy Captain==
Clements continued in ''Actaeon'', attached to the [Channel](/source/English_Channel) fleet, till the summer of 1759, when he was moved into {{HMS|Pallas|1757|2}} of 36 guns, also with the fleet blockading Brest and [Quiberon Bay](/source/Quiberon_Bay). He was specially employed, with other frigates, in cruising against French privateers and in communicating with the home ports. By chance, ''Pallas'', in company with {{HMS|Brilliant|1757|2}} and {{HMS|Aeolus|1758|2}}, put into Kinsale in the last days of February 1760, just as a message came from the Duke of Bedford, then lord-lieutenant of Ireland, that [François Thurot](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Thurot)'s squadron was at [Belfast](/source/Belfast). They immediately put to sea and, coming to Belfast on the morning of the 28th, succeeded in capturing Thurot's ships with small loss.<ref name=DNB/> The casualties among Clements' crew amounted to one killed and five wounded. For his part in the battle Clements received a formal vote of thanks from the [Irish House of Commons](/source/Irish_House_of_Commons).<ref>Clowes 1898, pp. 230{{ndash}}231</ref>

''Pallas'' continued on the same service till towards the end of the year, and was then sent to the Mediterranean, where she remained till after the peace, and returned to England to be [decommissioned](/source/ship_decommissioning) in December 1763. On paying off this ship Clements refused to give a certificate of service to the [ship's master](/source/ship's_master), whom he reported as 'inattentive to his duty.' The master made a counter-accusation that Clements had misused and wasted the ship's stores, but in November 1765 a [Navy Board](/source/Navy_Board) inquiry dismissed this allegation as both groundless and inspired by malice.<ref name=DNB/> In December 1765, Clements married a London woman, Miss Hopton, who brought with her a substantial personal fortune of £10,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=London|work=The Salisbury Journal|date=23 December 1765|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000554/17651223/003/0001|publisher=B. Collins|location=Salisbury, United Kingdom|page=1|accessdate=11 April 2017}}</ref>

In 1769 Clements commanded {{HMS|Dorsetshire|1757|6}} of 70 guns, guardship at Portsmouth, but which in 1770 was sent up the Mediterranean as part of the answer to a threatening armament of the French at [Toulon](/source/Toulon). In March 1778 he was appointed to {{HMS|Vengeance|1774|6}} of 74 guns, which he commanded in the action off [Ushant](/source/Ushant) on 27 July and in the October cruise under Admiral [Augustus Keppel](/source/Augustus_Keppel%2C_1st_Viscount_Keppel). He was afterwards a witness for the defence in the admiral's trial, and spoke strongly in the admiral's favour, which was not to his personal advantage.<ref name=DNB/>

==Later life==
A few months later Clements was compelled by failing mental health to resign his command. In July he was granted leave from the Navy to go abroad with his family, and travelled to [Ostend](/source/Ostend) with his wife and daughter. His name continued on the list of captains till around 1789, when by virtue of seniority he was promoted to rear admiral on the superannuated list.<ref name=DNB/> His wife died in around 1786, after which Clements' mental health declined further and he was confined to an [insane asylum](/source/insane_asylum).<ref name=Chambers/> He died in around 1796.<ref name=DNB/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Chambers|first=John|title=Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire: Including Lives of Persons, Natives or Residents Eminent either for Piety or Talent|year=1820|publisher=R. & S. Prowett|location=London|oclc=719415216}}
*{{cite book|last=Clowes|first=William Laird|title=The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Present|volume=3|publisher=Sampson, Low, Marston and Company|year=1898|location=London|oclc=645627800}}
*{{cite thesis |last1=Duffy |first1=Michael|last2=McLeod|first2=Anne Byrne |date=2011|title=The Mid-Eighteenth Century Navy from the Perspective of Captain Thomas Burnett and his Peers |type=PhD |publisher=University of Exeter|location=Exeter, United Kingdom |oclc=757128667}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Michael}}
Category:1796 deaths
Category:Royal Navy rear admirals
Category:18th-century Royal Navy personnel
Category:1735 births

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Michael Clements](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Clements) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Clements?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.