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Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a British Royal Navy officer who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718.
John Byng was a British admiral executed for failing to relieve the naval base at Minorca (in the western Mediterranean) from a French siege. By initiating legal proceedings against Byng, the administration of Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, hoped to divert public.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Dec 8, 2020 · Learn how British admiral John Byng was executed in 1757 for failing to stop the French from taking Minorca in the Seven Years' War. Explore the controversy over his court-martial and its impact on naval law and command doctrine.
It was rare for a high-ranking Royal Navy officer to be executed at sea, but it fell unto the lot of Admiral John Byng on 14 March 1757.
Mar 3, 2007 · Learn about the controversial case of John Byng, a British admiral who was executed in 1757 for failing to do his utmost in the Seven Years War. Find out how he faced his death, why he was condemned and how his fate influenced naval history.
Byng was a naval officer fighting in the Seven Years War when an order to relieve a British garrison on the island of Minorca was not carried out. As admiral he had made the decision to return to Gibraltar, rather than land further troops to seize the fort on the island of Minorca.
John Byng (1704–57) was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy. He is best known for the loss of Minorca to the French at the Battle of Minorca, marking the start of the Seven Years War in 1756.
