James Lucas Yeo

Who was James Lucas Yeo?

Sir James Lucas Yeo KCB was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812.

Yeo was born in Southampton on 7 October 1782, and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 10. He first saw action as a lieutenant aboard a brig in the Adriatic Sea. He distinguished himself during the siege of Cesenatico in 1800, when thirteen merchant vessels were burned or sunk. In 1805 he captured a fort and a privateer at Muros Bay. He was sent to Brazil, given command of a frigate and four hundred men, where, he captured a fortified position of two hundred guns and took a thousand prisoners. He participated in several sea battles during the Napoleonic Wars, so successfully that he was made a post captain at the age of 25.

In 1810, he was knighted for his services at the Invasion of Cayenne. In 1811 he commanded the frigate Southampton, which captured a piratical frigate- Amethyste.

In 1812, he commanded the frigate HMS Southampton, then stationed in the Bahamas.