Richard Budd Vincent
Richard Budd Vincent (c. 1770 – 18 August 1831) was an English Royal Navy captain. He was born in Newbury, Berkshire, the son of banker Osman Vincent; his brother was John Painter Vincent.
He joined the navy in 1781 on the Britannia, Vice-Admiral Samuel Barrington’s flagship, and fought at the relief of Gibraltar and the Cape Spartel action in October 1782. After the war, he served three years on the Salisbury on the Newfoundland station, then four years in the Channel. He was promoted to lieutenant on 3 November 1790.
In 1793 he went to the Mediterranean on the Terrible, taking part in the Toulon operations and along the Corsican coast in 1794. In October 1794 he moved to the Victory, Hood’s flagship, where promotion seemed likely. But in April 1795 Hood was ordered to strike his flag, so Vincent missed that opportunity.
His next promotion came on 29 April 1802, after seven years of continuous service, mostly in the North Sea. He was made commander and took command of the Arrow, a large sloop armed with 28 carronades. After about a year in the Channel, she was paid off on 28 February 1803 and immediately recommissioned for the Mediterranean, where for two years she convoyed merchant ships in the Adriatic and Archipelago.
By the end of 1804 Arrow needed repairs; a Malta survey said she was too weak to be heaved down, so she and the Acheron bomb were sent to bring the homeward-bound trade back to England. They left Malta at the end of January and were chased on 3 February by two French frigates, Incorruptible and Hortense. Vincent and the escorts defended the convoy until the merchant ships could escape. The Arrow was captured on 4 February; the Acheron was burned. The merchants escaped; the crew were taken to Cartagena and, by cartel, returned to Gibraltar in May and England in June.
A court-martial on 17 June acquitted Vincent and praised his conduct as highly meritorious. He was promoted to post captain on 8 April, and the Patriotic Fund gave him a sword and plate worth 100 pounds each on 3 July. Four years later Maltese merchants presented him with a fine service of plate.
In May 1806 he joined Brilliant on the Cork station but resigned in October due to ill health. He did not serve again until March 1808, when he was appointed to the Cambrian in the Mediterranean, and later moved to the Hind. In September 1808, while at Malta, he helped Sir Alexander Ball with the port duties as captain of the Trident. He stayed with Ball and his successors on the Trident until December 1815, when he moved to the Aquilon and returned to England in April 1816. He was made a Companion of the Bath in June 1815. He had no further service and died on 18 August 1831.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:28 (CET).