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Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, 1st Baronet ( 9 September 1776 – 2 January 1841 ) was a distinguished officer in the British Royal Navy . Broke was born at Broke Hall, Nacton , near Ipswich , the eldest son of Philip Bowes Broke. He joined the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1788, and was began active service as a Midshipman in 1792. It was rather unusual for him to have received formal naval education — most of his contemporaries received only "on the job" training. He served as Third Lieutenant on the frigate HMS ''Southampton'' during the Battle Of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797. He was promoted to Commander in 1799 and Captain in 1801. His most notable accomplishment was his victory of his vessel, the HMS ''Shannon'' , over the USS ''Chesapeake'' on 1 June 1813 , during the War Of 1812 . Broke took command of the ''Shannon'', 38-gun Frigate , on 31 August 1806 . Broke was ordered to take his vessel to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1811 as the diplomatic position between America and Britain deteriorated. US President James Madison declared war on 18 June 1812 . There had been half a dozen naval battles between American and British vessels in the following year. On each occasion, a Royal Naval vessel had fought an United States Navy vessel of equivalent rate and the Americans won all those battles. The tide turned at shortly before 6pm on 1 June , 1813 when ''Shannon'' defeated ''Chesapeake'' as it attempted to evade the Blockade of the port of Boston, Massachusetts . Although ''Chesapeake'' carried 49 guns and had a substantially larger crew, gunnery was Broke's area of experise, and the crew of ''Shannon'' were exceptionally well drilled. ''Chesapeake'' was disabled by gunfire, boarded and captured within 15 minutes of opening fire. 56 sailors on ''Chesapeake'' were killed, including its Captain, James Lawrence , and 85 wounded. Lawrence's last, prophetic, words were reported to be the command, " Don't Give Up The Ship ". On the ''Shannon'', 24 were killed and 59 wounded, including Broke who sustained a serious head wound while leading the boarding party. ''Shannon'' His younger brother, Charles Broke , joined the British Army , serving under the Duke Of Wellington , ending up as a Major General and was Knight ed. EXTERNAL LINKS
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