Rowland Cotton (Royal Navy officer)

Cotton joined the Royal Navy at the Royal Naval Academy in 1753. He was given command of the sloop, HMS Druid in 1762. Promoted to captain on 7 May 1764, he went on to command the frigate, HMS Alarm in 1764, the fifth-rate, HMS Pallas in 1776 and the storeship HMS Buffalo in 1780. After that he was given command of the third-rate HMS Inflexible in 1780, the third-rate HMS Vengeance in 1782 and the third-rate HMS Culloden in 1783, as well as the third-rate HMS Robust in 1790. He was then promoted to Rear-Admiral of the White and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1793. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Red^[1] and then Vice-Admiral of the Blue in 1794.^[2][3]