Jacques Bedout was a Canadian born naval officer who had both a merchant marine and Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 career in France.

Bedout spent 14 years in the merchant marine at the beginning of his career. He joined the French Royal Navy in 1777 as sub-lieutenant

Sub-Lieutenant

Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...

 and rose to rear-admiral^{http://kr.cs.ait.ac.th/~radok/discaust/BIOS1.HTM}. His career advanced steadily and, in 1802, Napoleon personally gave him a five ship squadron. The flagship was the Argonaute

French ship Argonaute (1798)

The Argonaute was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Under Villaret de Joyeuse, she took part in the expedition to Saint Domingue.She took part in the Battle of Trafalgar and managed to return to Cádiz...

from which he commanded his squadron until illness forced his retirement in 1803. He remained listed as active on the lists until 1816.

Bedout always received high ratings from his superiors. Records show that he was considered a first rate officer.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online