The son of an admiral, Thomas Graves entered the British navy at a young age and quickly moved through the ranks. In the 1740s and 1750s he saw action in several engagements. During the French and Indian War (1754-63), he was briefly governor of Newfoundland (1761 and 1762) and ably defended the province from French attack. By the beginning of the Revolutionary War (1775-83) he was a captain of a ship of the line, and in 1779 he was promoted to rear admiral. Sent to North America in 1780, he took command of the squadron in New York when Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot headed for England in April 1781.

Graves faced a difficult situation, with his fleet in need of repair; a French force under the comte de Barras at Newport, Rhode Island; and the possibility of another French fleet arriving from the West Indies. That possibility became a reality in August when the French admiral the comte de Grasse headed for Virginia, followed by a smaller British squadron under Admiral Samuel Hood. When Hood arrived in New York, Graves as the senior officer took command of the combined squadron and sailed to intercept the French. On September 5, 1781, he fought the French fleet in the indecisive Battle of Chesapeake Capes. However, in addition to being outnumbered by the French, he sustained enough damage to his ships that he returned to New York to refit. On the day he left New York to return to the Capes with a larger fleet and reinforcements for Lord Cornwallis, however, the British surrendered at Yorktown (October 19, 1781).

Because Hood had better political connections, Graves was accused of being timid and was blamed for the failure to defeat the French at the Battle of Chesapeake Capes. Despite several difficult years after the war, he remained in the navy and was even promoted. He was second in command of the Channel Fleet in the British victory over the French on June 1, 1794, and received an Irish baronetcy for his service. However, he was wounded during the fighting and subsequently retired from the navy. He died on February 9, 1802.

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