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1018 in an attempt to intercept the enemy in their flight after the battle of Tze-Kee. He was confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant 23 Not. 1841. In May, 1843, he obtained an appointment to the 26, Capt. Robt. Fair, fitting at Portsmouth; and from 13 Dec. 1843 until the close of 1847, he was employed on the south-east coast of America, chiefly as First-Lieutenant, in the 18, Capt. Robt. Hibbert Bartholomew Rowley.



SABBEN. 

was born 1 Aug. 1787, at Portsea.

This officer (who had been in the merchant service and had witnessed the destruction of the 100, in Leghorn Roads, 17 March, 1800) entered the Navy, 16 March, 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 98, Capts. John Bowen, Edw. Brace, John Child Purvis, Robt. Carthew Reynolds, Geo. Reynolds, Edw. Rotheram, and John Conn, flag-ship for some time of the late Lord Collingvvood. Shortly after he had joined he was severely injured by a blow from a storm-staysail sheet. In Aug. 1805 he was present off Cadiz when the, with two other ships of the line, was pursued by the combined squadrons of France and Spain on their return from the West Indies, whence they had been driven by Lord Nelson. On 21 Oct. following he fought, as Signal- Midshipman, and was wounded, at the battle of Trafalgar. He was afterwards nearly wrecked, off Europa Point; and, in June, 1806, he removed to the 74, Capt. Wm. Grenville Lobb. He next, in July of the same year, joined the 18, Capt. Fras. Augustus Collier; and he was in that vessel when she was hove down at English Harbour, Antigua, and lost many of her officers and crew from yellow fever. On 17 Dec. 1806, being at the time a Supernumerary in the schooner, he was taken captive by the French frigate Thétis and brig Sylphe, and carried into Guadeloupe. He was soon, however, restored to liberty, and on again joining the was awarded the rating of Master’s Mate. When subsequently in pursuit of an enemy he was a second time accidentally hurt. He continued employed with Capt. Collier in the sloop until Nov. 1808, when, at the strong recommendation of that officer, he was received by Sir Alex. Cochrane on promotion on board his flag-ship the 98, part of the force engaged, in Feb. 1809, at the reduction of Martinique. As soon as he had passed his examination, Mr. Sabben was nominated, in March, 1809, Acting-Lieutenant of the 16, Capt. Wm. Dowers; whom, in the ensuing Aug., he followed, in a similar capacity, into the 18. While he was officiating as First of the, that vessel, although at anchor in Trinity Bay, Martinique, with her lower rigging and stays cast off, in the act of securing the bowsprit, and preparing to stay the lower-masts, &c., put to sea, at a moment’s notice, in pursuit of a large French letter-of-marque brig, whom she succeeded in capturing. When in the same sloop, at the blockade of Guadeloupe, Mr. Sabben was almost daily in action, either in cutting-out vessels, in storming batteries, or in intercepting the coasting trade. He also participated in three attempts to capture or destroy the French frigates Furieuse and Félicité in the roadstead of Basseterre – the first being made at night by means of boats – the second by running the and  in broad day alongside the enemy’s ships (an attack which failed from the want of wind) – and the third by converting the  brig into a fire-vessel and sending her in by night under cover of the. While attached to the latter vessel, Mr. Sabben was again very strongly recommended to the Commander-in-Chief. As Acting-First-Lieutenant, afterwards, of the, he passed through scenes of great mortality – was wounded, 18 Dec. 1809, at the destruction, in L’Ance la Barque, of the 40-gun frigates Loire and Seine, laden with stores and protected by numerous batteries – and contributed to the reduction of the island of Guadeloupe, where, during the absence of his Captain on shore, he held command of the ship. In 1811, having been confirmed to the 10 Sept. 1810, he had charge of her when, to the surprise of every one, she was hoved down, keel out on both sides, at the half-desolate island of Bequia, one of the Geraldines, and entirely new coppered and refitted by her own crew alone, in as short a time and as completely as could have been accomplished in any naval port, without, too, one case of sickness, or one instance of desertion – a feat pronounced, before, impracticable. In the course of the same year, while the was lying within pistol-shot of the formidable batteries of La Guira, on the Spanish Main, Capt. Dowers incurred the displeasure of the authorities by refusing to surrender the person of the Archbishop of Santa Fé, who, in ignorance of the recent declaration of South American independence, had put into that harbour on his return from Spain, and had in consequence claimed the protection of the British flag. Regardless, notwithstanding that his ship was perfectly becalmed, of their threatened intention of sinking her, he ordered the anchor to be weighed, the sweeps to be got out, and the boats to be sent ahead for the purpose of towing her, and thus contrived with the prelate to get clear of the port. Mr. Sabben invalided from the in the summer of 1811, and was afterwards appointed – 13 April, 1812, and 3 Oct. 1813, to the  74, and  10, Capts. Thos. Dundas and Edw. Saurin, both in the Channel – 26 March, 1814 (after five months of half-pay) to the 14, Capts. Wm. Gregory, Thos. W. Cecil, Chas. Sam. White, Chas. H. Mercer, and Rich. John Lewin, in which vessel, prior to her being paid off in Sept. 1815, he returned to the West Indies, again witnessed the ravages of the yellow fever, and was very nearly lost in a hurricane while in escort, with the 74, of a homeward-bound convoy – and 4 Sept. 1821, to the  receiving-ship off the Tower, Capt. Jas. Couch. Since he left the latter vessel he has been on half-pay.

Possessed of a scientific turn of mind, Lieut. Sabben made an attempt, in 1826, at a geometrical rectification of the circle by means of Archimedes’ demonstration of the relative value of the sphere to the cylinder and cone, and by reference to other sections of those three solids. He has also suggested the possibility of determining the polarity of the magnet by subjecting the needle to electromagnetic experiments in high northern and high southern latitudes; and he has published several papers tending to prove it to be an element in the art of ship-building that the extreme breadth of a vessel should be as nearly as possible equal to one-third of its length from forward.

 SADLEIR. 

entered the Navy, 1 Feb. 1808, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 44, Capts. Clotworthy Upton, Jas. Sanders, and Thos. Forrest; in which ship he was for upwards of seven years actively employed on the Irish, Newfoundland, and Home stations – part of the time in the capacity of Midshipman. From April to Aug. 1815 he served in the river Medway and at Portsmouth in the 100, Capt. Chas. Inglis; and from July, 1815, until some time after his promotion to the rank he now holds, which took place 21 May, 1819, he was employed on the Canadian Lakes (at first as Midshipman, Acting-Lieutenant, and Second Master), in the, Capt. Wm. Augustus Baumgardt,, Capt. Nicholas Lockyer, and in the Ordinary under Sir Robt. Hall and Commodore Robt. Barrie.

Lieut. Sadleir is a Catechist at New South Wales. – Hallett and Robinson.

