Editing John Byron (section)

== Commodore, governor, and vice admiral ==
In early 1764 the British Admiralty determined that it would require a permanent naval settlement off the South American coast, in order to resupply naval vessels seeking to enter the Pacific via [[Cape Horn]]. Captain Byron was selected to explore the South Atlantic for a suitable island upon which to establish such a settlement. The South American mainland was controlled by Spain, which was hostile to local expansion of British interests; to disguise Byron's mission it was announced that he had been appointed the new Navy [[Commander-in-Chief, East Indies]]. Byron set sail in June 1764, ostensibly to take up the East Indies post. For the voyage he was granted command of the 24-gun frigate {{HMS|Dolphin|1751|6}} and the 16-gun [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] {{HMS|Tamar|1758|6}}.<ref name="Rea">{{cite journal | last = Rea | first = Robert R. | title = Florida and the Royal Navy's Floridas | journal = The Florida Historical Quarterly | volume = 60 | issue = 2 | pages = 187–191 | publisher = [[Florida Historical Society]] | date = October 1981 }}</ref>

[[File:Pepys island.JPG|thumb|left|150px|The mythical [[Pepys Island]], which Byron searched for in 1764–1765. Illustration by William Hacke, 1699.]]

Byron's two-vessel flotilla crossed the Atlantic over the winter of 1764 and made its way slowly down the South American coast. The Admiralty had ordered Byron to first seek [[Pepys Island]], reputedly discovered off the Patagonian coast by the corsair [[Ambrose Cowley]] in 1683. Byron reached the co-ordinates given by Cowley in January 1765, but there was no sign of the island and the search was swiftly abandoned.{{NoteTag|Historian Robert Rea describes Pepys Island as "completely mythical;" Cowley's description of it was either fictional or a mistaken landfall among the Falklands.<ref name="Rea" />}} On 5 February Byron reached the Patagonian settlement of [[Port Desire]] where he resupplied his vessels from the storeship HMS ''Florida''.<ref name="Rea" />

Between June 1764 and May 1766, Byron completed his own circumnavigation of the globe as captain of [[HMS Dolphin (1751)|HMS ''Dolphin'']]. This was the first such circumnavigation that was accomplished in less than 2 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solarnavigator.net/circumnavigation.htm |title=Circumnavigation: Notable global maritime circumnavigations |publisher=Solarnavigator.net |access-date=2009-07-20}}</ref> His actions [[Falklands Crisis (1770)|nearly caused a war]] between [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and Spain, as both countries had armed fleets ready to contest the sovereignty of the [[Falkland Islands]]. Later Byron encountered islands and extant residents of the [[Tuamotus]] and [[Tokelau]] Islands, and [[Nikunau]] in the southern [[Gilbert Islands]]; he also visited [[Tinian]] in the [[Northern Marianas Islands]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Officer on Board the said Ship|title=Voyage Round the World, in His Majesty's ship the Dolphin, commanded by the Honourable Commodore Byron|url=https://archive.org/details/A020088/page/n5/mode/2up|year=1767|publisher=J. Newbery and F. Newbery|location=London}}</ref> A notable member of Byron's crew was Master's Mate [[Erasmus Gower]] whom Byron chose to 'take a significant part' in the ceremony when he took possession of the [[Falkland Islands]]. Byron had examined Gower for his lieutenant's examination in 1762 and was so impressed that he chose him to accompany him on his own circumnavigation (1764–65) and ensured that he was appointed as lieutenant to Commander [[Philip Carteret]] immediately afterwards in the next circumnavigation (1766–69).<ref>{{cite book |last = Bates |first = Ian M. |title = Champion of the Quarterdeck: Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (1742-1814) |publisher = Sage Old Books |isbn = 9780958702126 |pages = 28, 35–73 |edition = 1st |url = https://www.sageoldbooks.com/champion_sale.shtml |date = 31 May 2017 }}</ref>

In 1769 he was appointed governor of [[Colony of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] off the mainland of Canada, an office he held for the next three years.<ref name="dcb" />

He was promoted to [[rear admiral]] on 31 March 1775. In 1779, he served as Commander-in-chief of the [[Leeward Islands Station]]<ref>{{cite book |last = Haydn |first = Joseph |title = The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan |date = 13 June 2008 |publisher = Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans |page = 279 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aURnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Admiral+William+O%27Bryen+Drury%22&pg=PA272 |language = en }}</ref> during the [[American War of Independence]]. After being severely injured during a storm on his way to the West Indies, Byron unsuccessfully attacked a French fleet under the [[Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing|Comte d'Estaing]] at the [[Battle of Grenada]] in July 1779.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brand|first=Emily|title=The Fall of the House of Byron|publisher=John Murray|year=2020|pages=183, 187}}</ref> He subsequently resigned his post and returned to England, where he suffered from poor health for the rest of his life.

Byron was briefly [[North America and West Indies Station|Commander-in-Chief, North American Station]] from 1 October 1779.<ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10320?docPos=1 James Gambier, "John Byron"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> He was made [[vice admiral]] of the white in September 1780.<ref name="dcb" />