Sir Robert Howe Bromley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 November 1778 |
| Died | 8 July 1857 (aged 78) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1791–1857 |
| Rank | Admiral of the White |
| Commands | HMS Inspector HMS Squirrel HMS Champion HMS Solebay HMS Statira |
| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars |
| Other work | Deputy lieutenant of Nottinghamshire |
Admiral Sir Robert Howe Bromley, 3rd Baronet DL (28 November 1778 – 8 July 1857) was a Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After joining the navy in 1791 under the auspices of his relative Captain Henry Curzon, he participated in the Macartney Embassy to China as a midshipman and also spent time serving in the English Channel and Mediterranean Sea. Promoted to lieutenant in 1798, he served in the North Sea Fleet and on the Jamaica Station before returning to the Channel to serve off the Channel Islands in the sloop of war HMS Pelican which was heavily damaged in a storm in late 1800. Soon after this he was promoted to commander and again served in the North Sea, before being promoted to post captain in 1802.
Bromley's most active command was of the post ship HMS Champion from 1803, in which he fought against the Flottille de Boulogne to help stop preparations for Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom before being sent to the North America Station. While escorting a convoy in 1806 he encountered the French ship of the line Vétéran and engaged it but failed to protect his convoy from the larger ship. He continued to serve in command of various frigates until 1808 when his father Sir George Pauncefote-Bromley, 2nd Baronet died and he inherited the baronetcy. At the end of the year he relinquished command of the frigate HMS Statira and never served at sea again. Bromley was promoted to admiral through seniority but spent his time on land as a deputy lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. He died in 1857 at the age of seventy-eight.