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  officer is a son of the late Rev. John Griffiths, of Kingston-upon-Thames. He entered the naval service as a Midshipman on board the Juno frigate, commanded by Captain James Montagu, in Jan. 1781; obtained his first commission Nov. 22, 1790; and after serving for some time as first Lieutenant of the Fly sloop, on the Newfoundland station, was appointed, in Nov. 1792, to the Culloden of 74 guns, in which ship he continued, under the respective commands of Captains Sir Thomas Rich, R. R. Burgess, Isaac Schomberg, and Thomas Troubridge, till his promotion to the rank of Commander, March 8, 1797.

The Culloden formed part of Earl Howe’s fleet in the battle of June 1, 1794; and bore a principal part in Vice-Admiral Hotham’s action, July 13, 1795. Her loss on each of those days was 2 men killed and 5 wounded. The services she performed on the memorable 14th Feb. 1797, have already been alluded to in the course of this work, and were thus noticed by Sir John Jervis, in a private letter to Earl Spencer, respecting the conduct of certain officers concerned in the engagement:

