Editing Croft

{{People|name=Croft|dob=|service=[[Royal Navy]]|rank=Admiral|nationality=British|billets=[[HMS Commendable]]}}

==Biography==

Admiral Croft was a tall man, striking in appearance, with a raking scar across his face and a false hand attached to the stump of his left arm, with iron fingers operated by springs and catches.  He had lost the limb shortly before his promotion to flag rank and had afterwards put on a great deal of weight.

Croft was in command of [[William Laurence]]'s home squadron in early 1805.  His flagship, the [[HMS Commendable]], was at the port of Funchal on Madeira when the [[HMS Reliant]] arrived, bearing [[Temeraire]], who had been hatched about three weeks before.  Croft was impatient and petty, apparently concerned mainly with his admiral's share of the French prizes (i.e., the French frigate [[Amitie]] and [[Temeraire]]'s egg) and with keeping either the Amitie or the Reliant as a plum for one of his own favourites rather than giving them to [[Gibbs]] and [[Tom Riley|Riley]], respectively, who had brought them in to Madeira.

It was Croft's dispatch to the Gibraltar covert that brought Captain [[Portland]] and [[Laetificat]] to Madeira.  Croft's tactless - almost offensive - remark about Laurence being "lucky" to be relieved of the necessity of joining the [[Aerial Corps]], made in Portland's presence, illustrated the attitude among naval officers that led aviators to keep to themselves.


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[[Category:Royal Navy]]
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