Rutherfurd was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1765 and entered the Royal Navy in August 1778 on board hms Suffolk following an education at Edinburgh and St Andrew’s University. He served as a midshipman for just over six years and passed for lieutenant in September 1793. He received his lieutenant’s commission in January 1794 and served in Vice Admiral Sir John Jervis’s flagship, hms Boyne (98), during the British invasion of Martinique in 1794. Rutherfurd commanded a detachment of sailors ashore and led to a storming party that captured the important post of Monte Mathurine.

Following this action, Rutherfurd was made commander in July 1794 and then captain in November 1796. He took part in the capture of the Dutch island of Curacoa in 1800, served for some time in the West Indies and assisted the British blockade of the French Atlantic ports. In 1805, he was appointed comman of hms Swiftsure (74) in which capacity he served during the Trafalgar campaign.

The Swiftsure was the tenth ship in line in the British leeward column commanded by Collingwood during the Battle of Trafalgar. By the time the Swiftsure broke the enemy line, the fight had been going on for several hours and the British ship hms Belleisle was being fired on by three enemy vessels. Passing the completely dismasted Belleisle, the crew of the Swiftsure gave her a rousing cheer and then poured a devastating broadside into the stern of one of the Belleisle’s tormentors, the French ship Achille (74). The Achille’s mizzen mast quickly went by the board and fire broke out in her foretop. Soon the Achille was ablaze and, despite the danger of explosion and the fire setting off the French guns, Rutherfurd sent the Swiftsure’s boats, aided by those of the Prince, Pickle and Entreprenante, to rescue as many men as they could. The Swiftsure lost two men killed and several wounded during this mercy mission but succeeded in rescuing many of the Achille’s crew. Shortly after the Achille exploded, killing the remaining crew on board. After the battle, the Swiftsure took the French prize, the Redoutable (74), in tow. However, as the gale that followed the battle increased, it became clear that the Redoutable was sinking and after rescuing as many men as she could, Rutherfurd had the Swiftsure cut free. Later, she managed to rescue some more men adrift on spars but the Redoutable sank and with her went five of the Swiftsure’s crew.

In 1814, Rutherfurd was appointed a captain of Greenwich Hospital and made a Companion of the Bath in 1815. He died at Greenwich on 14 January 1818 and was buried in St Margaret’s, Westminster, where a tablet was erected to his memory.

NS