Richard Bowen (1761 – 1797) was a British naval commander. He was born in Ilfracombe. Among other engagements, he captained HMS Terpsichore at the failed storming of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He was killed during the battle. Captain Richard Bowen was a friend of Nelson and many of his exploits are recorded in biographies of Nelson: Nelson: Southey, Nelson's Captains: Ludovic Kennedy, Carola Oman, Nelson and others. When he died, the British government would not allow a memorial to him to be erected in Westminster Abbey on the grounds that the action in which he was killed was not successful. His father then had a memorial to him erected in Ilfracombe parish church. The novelist C.S. Forrester used his exploits as the basis for one of the characters in the Horatio Hornblower books, but called him Captain Sir Richard Bowen.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
