
James Lucas Yeo
Background
Biography
Sir James Lucas Yeo, KCB (7 October 1782 – 21 August 1818) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Born in Southampton, Hampshire, he joined the British navy at the age of 10 and saw his first action in the Adriatic Sea. Yeo distinguished himself in combat multiple times, most notably during the Portuguese conquest of French Guiana, earning knighthoods in the Portuguese Order of Aviz and the British Order of the Bath. He was subsequently given command of the frigate Southampton in 1812, but she was later wrecked in the Bahamas, although he was acquitted of blame for its loss. Yeo was then given command of the British squadron on Lake Ontario and commanded it in several engagements on Lake Ontario with American forces. He died off the African coast in 1818.