Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hutt, John
HUTT, JOHN (1746–1794), captain in the navy, uncle of Sir William Hutt [q. v.], was promoted to be lieutenant in 1773. In 1780 he was serving in the West Indies on board the St. Lucia brig, and in October was moved into the Sandwich by Sir George Rodney, who, on 12 Feb. 1781, promoted him to the command of the Antigua brig. In May, when De Grasse attempted to recapture the island of St. Lucia, the Antigua was lying in Dauphin Creek, where she was seized and burnt, Hutt and the ship's company being made prisoners. In November he was allowed to return to England on parole, and, being shortly afterwards exchanged, was tried for the loss of his ship, and acquitted. In July 1782 he was appointed to command the Trimmer sloop for service in the Channel, and from her was posted, in the following year, to the Camilla of 20 guns, in which he went out to Jamaica. The Camilla returned to England in November 1787, and in July 1790 Hutt commissioned the Lizard frigate. In September he was sent off' Ferrol to get intelligence of the Spanish force, and brought back the news that the Spanish fleet had retired to Cadiz. In 1793 he was appointed to the Queen as flag-captain to Rear-admiral Sir Alan Gardner [q. v.], whom he had already known as commodore on the Jamaica station. He was serving in this capacity in the fleet under Lord Howe on 28-9 May 1794, when the admirable way in which the Queen was handled excited general attention. She was equally distinguished in the action of 1 June, in which Hutt lost a leg. No serious danger was at first apprehended, but after the return of the fleet to Spithead the wound took an unfavourable turn, and Hutt died on 30 June. A monument to his memory, in conjunction with that of Captain John Harvey [q. v.], who was also mortally wounded in the action, was erected, at the public expense, in Westminster Abbey.
[Official Letters and other documents in the Public Record Office.]