William Charles Fahie

Vice-Admiral Sir William Charles Fahie KCB (1763 – 11 January 1833) was a prominent British Royal Navy officer during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. Unusually, Fahie's service was almost entirely spent in the West Indies, where he had been born and where he lived during the time he was in reserve and in his retirement. After extensive service in the Caribbean during the American War of Independence, during which Fahie impressed with his local knowledge, Fahie was in reserve between 1783 and 1793, returning to service to participate in Sir John Jervis' campaign against the French West Indian islands in 1794.

Remaining in the West Indies during the following 20 years of warfare, Fahie rose through the ranks to command the ship of the line HMS Belleisle in the invasion of Martinique and HMS Pompee in the subsequent action of Action of 14–17 April 1809, capturing the French ship D'Haupoult. In 1810 he participated in the invasion of Guadeloupe and transferred to European waters for the first time since 1780. At the end of the war Fahie remained in service and eventually became commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station. He retired in 1824 and was subsequently knighted, settling in Bermuda with his second wife.