JERVIS, Or'vis or jativis, John, EARL. OF ST. VINCENT, British admiral: b. Meadford, Staffordshire, 9 Jan. 1735; d. 14 March 1823. He entered the navy 4 Tan. 1749, was promoted lieutenant 19 Feb. 175, took part in the capture of Quebec, and in 1759 was appointed to the command of the sloop Scorpion. He became post-captain in 1760, and in 1769-72 he com manded the Alarm, stationed in Mediterranean waters. He was then put on half-pay and traveled extensively in Europe and making many valuable notes on naval affairs. During the American Revolution he commanded the 80-gun Foudroyant, participated in the battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, in the relief of Gibraltar, and on 19 April 1782 he captured the French man-of-war Pegase, for which achievement he was made K.B. He was sent to Parliament for Launceston in 1783 and for Yarmouth in 1784. He became vice-admiral in 1793 and until 1795 commanded the naval operations against the French in the West In dies. He was appointed to the command of the Mediterranean fleet in 1795, receiving rank as admiral, and successfully maintained the blockade of Toulon. Upon the alliance of Spain and France and the occupation of Italy by the French he was obliged to withdraw his fleet to the Atlantic, and on 14 Feb. 1797 he engaged the Spanish fleet off Saint Vincent at heavy odds and completely routed it. For this victory he was granted his earldom and a pen sion of f3,000. In 1797, during the general mutinies at Spithead and Nore, his prompt measures and the high state of discipline in which he maintained his command were suc cessful in keeping his ships free from the trouble. He was often bitterly criticized as a disciplinarian, his firmness extending to his of ficers' conduct as well as that of the sailors; but Lord Nelson, whose methods were wholly different, acknowledged the efficiency of Lord St. Vincent's measures and the necessity for
them at the time. Nelson's victory at the bat tle of the Nile was largely due to the high discipline which St. Vincent had inaugurated. He resigned his command because of ill health in 1799 and upon return to duty in 1800 he took command of the Channel fleet, where he instituted his usual disciplinary methods to the great indignation of his officers and crews, but with salutary results so far as the efficiency of the fleet was concerned, as he was able to maintain the blockade of Brest for 121 days. He was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1801-03 and was fearlessly dictatorial in the institution of reforms at the dockyards, but was opposed by Pitt on the grounds that he failed to see the necessity of preparing the fleet for war. He refused the command of the Channel fleet under Pitt's ministry in 1803, assumed it after Pitt's death in 1806, but asked to he relieved in 1807. The rank of admiral of the fleet was conferred upon him by George IV at the time of his coronation. Lord St. Vincent ranks high among the commanders of his time, through whom the supremacy of British naval power was established. The biographies by Tucker (2 vols., 1844) and Brenton (1838) are not considered authoritative in the best sense. Consult Laughton, 'From Howard to Nelson' (1899) ; Mahan, A. T., 'Types of Naval Heroes' (1901) ; Anson, 'Life of John Jervis, Admiral Lord St. Vincent' (1913).