Richard Stayner

Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Stayner (1625 – 2 July 1662) was an English naval officer who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War and the Interregnum. During the First Anglo-Dutch War, he commanded the Foresight in actions at Portland (February 1653), the Gabbard (June 1653) and in the Battle of Scheveningen (29–31 July 1653). During the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660), he won renown and a fortune in prize money when he captured a great part of the Spanish West Indian treasure fleet off Cadiz in 1656. He was knighted by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell for services in Admiral Robert Blake's destruction of Spanish ships at Santa Cruz, 1657. He was a rear-admiral of the fleet which brought Charles II to England in 1660. He was again knighted at the Restoration. He died in Lisbon, while serving as vice-admiral of the Mediterranean fleet.^[1][2]