Philemon Pownoll (1734-15 June 1780) was a Post-Captain of the Royal Navy of Great Britain during the War of the Austrian Succession, Seven Years' War, and the American Revolutionary War.
Biography[]
Philemon Pownoll was born in Plymouth, Great Britain, in 1734. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1748, and fought in the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1755 he enlisted as a lieutenant in the British navy once more, serving on HMS Namur under Admiral Edward Boscawen. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Pownoll took part in the 1775 relief of Quebec and captured American privateers overseas. Pownoll also served under George Rodney at the Action of 8 January 1780 and the Second Battle of Cape St. Vincent, but on 15 June 1780 he fought his last battle against an enemy cutter, French privateer Stanislaus. Pownoll was hit by a cannonball and killed in the battle.