Aiskew Paffard Hollis was born in approximately 1764 and joined the
Royal Navy aged just ten in 1774 under the patronage of Captain Parry. Hollis served as a
midshipman in the
American War of Independence, first in the
West Indies and later in the
English Channel in a succession of frigates. By 1778 he was serving in
HMS Valiant, which was engaged in the
Battle of Ushant under Admiral
Augustus Keppel. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1781 and remained in the Navy following the end of the war, serving in a number of ships before, in 1793, joining
HMS Queen at the request of Rear-Admiral
Alan Gardner. In
Queen, Hollis served in the Channel Fleet during the early years of the war and was badly wounded in the head by flying splinters at the
Glorious First of June in 1794, during which
Queen was heavily engaged. He also saw action the following year at the
Battle of Groix. In 1797, after a period of service in
HMS Royal Sovereign and following promotion to commander in
HMS Chichester, Hollis was sent to the
Cape of Good Hope. There he was given command of guardship
HMS Jupiter and tasked with putting down a mutiny at
Robben Island by the crew of
HMS Crescent. Hollis advanced on
Crescent subdued the crew without conflict and towed the ship back to
Cape Town, where the ringleaders of the mutiny were tried and convicted. As a reward, Hollis was given command of
HMS Tremendous on the station and then the frigate
HMS Vindictive, in which he escorted an
East India Company convoy back to Britain. He was subsequently given command of
HMS Thames in June 1801 and the following month participated in the
Algeciras Campaign, firing on the French ship of the line
Formidable during the
Second Battle of Algeciras. He subsequently participated in a number of raids on the Spanish coastline before being sent back to Britain with his ship.
Thames was decommissioned soon afterward and Hollis given command of
HMS Mermaid, sailing to the West Indies in 1804, and was anchored at
Havana when war broke out between Britain and Spain. To avoid his ship being seized, Hollis was forced to
warp out of the harbour at night just before the Spanish attacked his ship.
Mermaid was subsequently attached to the North American command, blockading French forces anchored in
Chesapeake Bay until 1807, when the ship was sent back to Britain for urgent repairs. Hollis was transferred to
HMS Standard and joined the Baltic Fleet, where he commanded the squadron that captured the Danish fortress at
Anholt. He remained in the
Baltic Sea until 1811, when he was transferred to
HMS Achille in which he served with the Mediterranean Fleet, especially in the
Adriatic Sea. He later served with the Channel Fleet and was on convoy duty off South America when the war ended. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars he took command of
HMS Rivoli and then
HMS Ramillies, serving as acting commander at
Portsmouth for several long periods and in 1820 entertaining
King George IV during a visit to the dockyard. He did not hold an active commission after 1820, but remained in service and rose to the rank of vice-admiral, retiring to his estate at Highfield,
Southampton and dying there aged 80 in June 1844. ==Notes==