Rodney, GEORGE BRYDGES RODNEY, LORD, English admiral, born 19th February 1719, was the second son of Henry Rodney, a cadet of an ancient Somersetshire family, the elder branch of which had merged in that of Brydges, and was at this time represented by the first Duke of Chandos. Henry Rodney served for a few years as cornet of horse in the wars of William III. and Anne, and afterwards, settling at Walton-on-Thames, obtained an appointment under George I. as commander of one of the royal yachts. In this capacity he was noticed by the king, who offered to stand as godfather to his second son. The Duke of Chandos was the other godfather, and after the two the boy was christened George Brydges. He received his early education at Harrow, which he quitted at the age of twelve to enter the navy as a 'king's letter boy.' After serving chiefly on the Newfoundland station he was made a lieutenant in 1739 in the Mediterranean; in 1742 he was promoted by Admiral Mathews to be post-captain, and was sent home in command of the Plymouth, a 64-gun ship. He afterwards successively commanded the Sheerness, Ludlow Castle, and Centurion, and in 1747 the Eagle, in which he had a brilliant share in Hawke's victory over L'Etendure on 14th October. In 1748 Rodney went out in the Rainbow as governor of Newfoundland and commander-in-chief on that station, where he remained till 1752; in 1753 he commanded the Fougueux, and from 1754 to 1757 the Prince George. He was then appointed to the Dublin, one of the fleet under Sir Edward Hawke in the futile expedition against Rochefort, and in 1758 under Boscawen at the capture of Louisburg. In May 1759 Rodney was promoted to be rear-admiral, and in July commanded the small squadron which bombarded Havre and destroyed the flotilla of flat-bottomed boats collected for the proposed invasion of England. In October 1761 he was appointed commander-in-chief on the Leeward Islands station, where in the early part of 1762, in co-operation with the land forces, he captured Martinique, St Lucia, and Grenada. In October he was promoted to be vice-admiral, and returning to England in August 1763 was created a baronet, 21st January 1764. In November 1765 he was appointed governor of Greenwich Hospital, but in 1771 was recalled to active service, was promoted to be admiral, nominated rear-admiral of Great Britain, and sent out as commander-in-chief at Jamaica. He hoped that he might succeed to the office of governor, which became vacant in 1773; but in his command he had shown an independence which was distasteful to Lord Sandwich, and his application was unsuccessful. In 1774 he returned to England, and for the next five years was left on half-pay, in very embarrassed circumstances, which compelled him to retire to France. It was not till October 1779 that he was again appointed commander-in-chief at the Leeward Islands, and on 29th December he put to sea with, in addition to the West Indian ships, a powerful squadron and a large convoy of store-ships for the relief of Gibraltar, then besieged by the Spaniards. On 9th January 1780, when broad off Cape Finisterre, he fell in with a convoy of Spanish store-ships under the escort of a 64-gun ship, all of which he captured. Passing Cape St Vincent on the 16th he met the Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Langara, which he attacked with a dash and vigour that carried everything before him. Seven ships out of eleven were taken or destroyed; the others managed to escape into Cadiz. Gibraltar was thus relieved without further difficulty than was caused by the weather; and on 13th February Rodney sailed for the West Indies. He had scarcely reached St Lucia, which he made his headquarters, when he had intelligence that the French fleet under the Count de Guichen had put to sea from Martinique. He immediately followed, and overtaking it on the 17th April fought an action in which, in despite of the fighting instructions, he attempted to concentrate his force on the rear of the enemy's line. Unfortunately his signals were not sufficiently clear, the flag-officers and captains did not understand what was proposed, and the clever attempt resulted in comparative failure. During the following May he again twice met De Guichen, but without being able to bring him to a decisive engagement. In November he was nominated a K.B.; and in January 1781, in obedience to special orders from home, he seized on St Eustatia and the other Dutch settlements; but his health having broken down he was compelled to return to England a few months later. In December 1781 he again sailed for the West Indies; and, as before, shortly after arriving at St Lucia he had intelligence of the French fleet, under Count de Grasse, having sailed, with some 5000 troops on board, for Cape François, where it was to join a strong Spanish fleet for an attack on Jamaica. Abreast of Dominica Rodney came in sight of it, and, after an indecisive skirmish on the 9th April, had the good fortune, on the 12th April 1782, to bring it to close action; and being enabled, by the varying nature of the wind, to pass through the enemy's line, he gained a brilliant victory, rendered still more crushing by the success of a small squadron detached to look out for stragglers in the Mona Passage. The French loss in killed and wounded was extremely severe, and seven of their ships were captured, one of them being the Ville de Paris, with the Count de Grasse himself on board. The victory placed the English on a very different footing in the negotiations which had been already commenced; and the terms finally agreed on were much more favourable than might otherwise have been expected. But before the news reached England Admiral Pigot had been sent out by the new administration to supersede Rodney, who was looked on as a partisan of Lord Sandwich; and though an express was sent to stop Pigot on the way it failed to overtake him. Rodney returned to England, where—though raised to the peerage as Baron Rodney, with a pension of £2000—he was but coldly received by the government. He had no further employment, and was allowed to live in comparative obscurity, which his shattered health perhaps rendered necessary. He died in London on 24th May 1792.
See his Life by General G. B. Mundy (2 vols. 1830), and Hannay's Rodney ('Men of Action' series, 1891).