Sir John Norris | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:John_Norris.jpg) John Norris by Godfrey Kneller in 1711 | |
| Nickname(s) | Foul-weather Jack |
| Born | 1670 or 1671 |
| Died | 13 June 1749 Hemsted Park, Benenden, Kent |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1680–1734 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands | HMS Pelican HMS Spy HMS Sheerness HMS Royal Oak HMS Sussex HMS Russell HMS Carlisle HMS Content HMS Winchester HMS Orford HMS Britannia Mediterranean Fleet |
| Battles / wars | Nine Years' War Williamite War in Ireland War of the Spanish Succession Great Northern War War of Jenkins' Ear |
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Norris PC (1670 or 1671 – 13 June 1749) was a Royal Navy officer and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer during the Nine Years' War and the Williamite War in Ireland, he was given command of a squadron sent to North America to protect British settlements on the banks of Hudson Bay in 1697. Although he developed a plan to recapture some territories in Newfoundland and Labrador taken by French forces the previous winter, he was prevented from implementing that plan when the local council overruled him.
Norris served under Admiral Sir George Rooke at the Battle of Cádiz at an early stage of the War of the Spanish Succession. He went on to command the vanguard at the Battle of Malaga in August 1704 and then served under Admiral the Earl of Peterborough at the capture of Barcelona in October 1705.
As a flag officer, Norris was sent with a fleet to the Baltic Sea to support a coalition of naval forces from Russia, Denmark and Hanover taking in the Great Northern War. Tsar Peter took personal command of the coalition fleet and appointed Norris as his deputy in 1716: together they protected British and other allied merchant vessels from attack by warships of the Swedish Empire. In November 1718, following the death of Charles XII of Sweden, Britain switched sides and Norris returned to the region to protect British merchant shipping from attack by Russian raiders. Norris also acted as a commissioner in the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Nystad which ended the War in September 1721.
Norris went on to be commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet at the outset of the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739. In 1744 he was asked to defend Britain from an imminent French Invasion: he was preparing for battle against the French fleet, when storms intervened scattering the invasion transports, with heavy loss of life, thereby ending the immediate threat of invasion.