Roger Curtis - Staff Service

Staff Service

Curtis's remaining career was based at a series of shore stations, initially at Cape Town between 1800 and 1803, which he reportedly hated. In 1804 he was promoted to full admiral, and subsequently employed in Britain from 1805 to 1807 as part of the "Commission for revising the civil affairs of His Majesty's navy". This latter role was an important position and Curtis performed well, introducing many beneficial reforms to the service. In 1802 Curtis's eldest son Roger, a post captain in the navy, died suddenly while on duty. In 1809, after 40 years of naval service, Curtis took his final command, that of Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. In 1810, he performed his last significant duty, when he presided over the highly controversial court martial examining the conduct of Lord Gambier at the Battle of Basque Roads. At the battle, Gambier had failed to support Captain Lord Cochrane and missed an opportunity to destroy the French Brest Fleet. Infuriated, Cochrane attempted to block the proposed vote of thanks awarded to Gambier for the reduced victory from Parliament. Gambier responded by demanding a court martial to pass judgement on his actions. Gambier and Curtis had fought together at the Glorious First of June and had been friends for many years, and Curtis could be counted on by those in authority to "show strong partiality in favour of the accused." Under instructions from the Admiralty, Curtis and the other officers judging the case found in Gambier's favour and the trial inevitably ended with the court pronouncing that Gambier's behaviour "was marked by zeal, judgement, ability, and an anxious attention to the welfare of his majesty's service".

Curtis retired after the trial and died six years later after a peaceful retirement, followed a year later by his wife. In 1815, shortly before his death, he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. His surviving son, Lucius Curtis, inherited the baronetcy. Lucius was an experienced post captain who had lost his ship at the Battle of Grand Port but was exonerated at the subsequent court martial and eventually became an Admiral of the Fleet. Roger Curtis's highly controversial career was noted for a number of prominent public disputes, that resulted in bitterness between Curtis and several of his fellow officers. He was however, brave and resourceful: his actions at Gibraltar even prompted the naming of the Curtis Group, an archipelago of small islands in the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania: The islands were apparently given the name because of their physical similarity to Gibraltar. Modern authors have criticised Curtis for his caution at a time when officers were applauded for bravery, but contemporary opinion was more divided: despite his many detractors, Horatio Nelson, who knew him well from their service together in the Mediterranean, described him as "an able officer and conciliating man".