. The station was formed, following the capture of
Jamaica, by assembling about a dozen frigates in 1655. The first "Admiral and General-at-Sea" was
Sir William Penn. Its main objectives in the early years were to defend Jamaica and to harass Spanish ports and shipping. In the late 1720s three successive commanders of the station lost their lives to tropical diseases while undertaking a
Blockade of Porto Bello during the
Anglo-Spanish War. The general ill-health associated with the station continued throughout the century. An assessment of Navy strength at the Jamaica station in 1742 found around 3,000 men were fit to serve out of a total Navy complement of 6,620. A Navy hospital was constructed in 1745 but its location was poor and many patients brought in for shipboard diseases developed additional tropical illnesses while in the hospital itself. A report to the
Admiralty in 1749 found that the hospital was "rather a hurt to the [Navy] Service than a Relief."
Salisbury was sent to the Jamaica station for a 3 year tour of duty in 1816. The station merged with the North American Station to form the
North America and West Indies Station in 1830. ==Commanders-in-Chief==