Broke

Broke, Sir Philip Dowes Vere, Bart., born in 1776, entered the navy in 1793, and was present in 1795 at Hotham's two actions in the Mediterranean, and in 1797 at the battle off Cape St. Vincent. He became a commander in 1799 and a captain in 1801. In 1806 he commissioned the Shannon, 38, and in her, on June 1st, 1813, met, fought, and in a few minutes captured the United States frigate Chesapeake, 44, off Boston Lighthouse, after one of the most brilliant actions on record. Captain Broke, who was severely wounded, was made a baronet in 1813 and a K.C.B. in 1815. He became a Rear-Admiral in 1830, and died in London on January 3rd, 1841. No other single-ship action in history ever made so much stir in the world as that between the Shannon and Chesapeake. It was entered into by both combatants under exceptionally chivalrous conditions, and it was most furiously fought; and it resulted in the triumph of the weaker, but more disciplined ship, over the stronger, but less practised one.