Sir Charles Henry Knowles, 2nd Baronet, GCB (24 August 1754 – 28 November 1831) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral. He was an extraordinary figure and a great tactical innovator. Highly intellectual, he authored a number of signal books and had the chance to put his ideas into practice during his naval career. Knowles was at times beset by problems with discipline aboard his ships, often due to large proportions of raw recruits and untrained seamen. This may have been a factor in his rocky relationship with his superior, Sir John Jervis, which eventually led to Knowles's retirement from active service after the Battle of Cape St Vincent, and his concentration on scholarly studies of the issues affecting the naval service. Family and early life Knowles was born at Kingston, Jamaica on 24 August 1754, the second son of the Governor of Jamaica Admiral Sir Charles Knowles and his wife Maria Magdalena Theresa de Bouget. He received his initial education at Eton College circa 1764–6, and then subsequently at Glasgow and Edinburgh. He joined in navy in 1768 as a midshipman aboard the 36-gun frigate , which was then serving in the English Channel under the command of Captain Samuel Barrington. He was then aboard the Spithead guard ship the 74-gun under Captain Robert Roddam, before joining the 32-gun under Captain John MacBride, where he served at Plymouth and in the Channel. West Indies Knowles was appointed as acting-lieutenant without pay aboard the sloop by Sir George Brydges Rodney in 1773, and Knowles went on to serve in this capacity aboard , and under Captain William Cornwallis at Pensacola and from Jamaica. He then moved aboard Captain Collins's 20-gun where he served off Cap Francois and Santo Domingo. His next appointment was aboard Rear-Admiral Clark Gayton's flagship, the 50-gun at Port Royal from 1774 to May 1776, from which he moved aboard the 20-gun under Captain Stair Douglas. Under Douglas Knowles served at Jamaica, the Mosquito Shore and the Bay of Honduras. Knowles's commission was confirmed on 28 May 1776 and he was appointed as second lieutenant of the 28-gun , then under the command of Captain Charles Thompson. He served aboard the Boreas at Port Royal, and later on the North American Station at New