John Herbert Dent was born in Charles County, Maryland, on 22 February 1782. He entered the Naval service as a Midshipman in March 1798. Serving in the frigate Constellation during the undeclared war with France, he took part in the capture of the enemy frigate Insurgente in February 1799 and the battle with the Vengeance a year later. Lieutenant Dent was an officer of the frigate Essex in 1801 and 1802, then went to the Mediterranean Sea. He served with distinction in several ships during the conflict with Tripoli, having command of the brig Scourge, a bomb vessel, and the schooner Nautilus.
In mid-1805 Master Commandant Dent returned to the United States. He was commanding officer of the sloop of war Hornet in 1806-1809, taking her on a cruise to the Mediterranean and serving in her as senior naval officer at Charleston, South Carolina. Dent was next in command of USS John Adams, operating along the U.S. southern coast and, in 1811, on a voyage to Europe. Promoted to Captain in December of that year, he was sent back to Charleston to serve as commandant of the naval stations there and at Wilmington, North Carolina. Captain Dent held that post through the War of 1812. After a brief excursion north in 1815, seeking improved health, he resided in South Carolina for the remainder of his life. Captain John Dent died at his plantation near Charleston on 31 July 1823.
USS Dent (Destroyer # 116, later DD-116 and APD-9), 1918-1946, was named in honor of John H. Dent.
This page features our only views of Captain John H. Dent, USN, (1782-1823).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Additional portrait: The Mariner's Museum, of Newport
News, Virginia, holds an early 1800s pencil sketch of Lieutenant
John H. Dent. This head and shoulders portrait shows him in left
profile, wearing a high-collared uniform.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 14 September 2003