LEAKE, RICHARD, master gunner of England, was born at Harwich in 1629, and was bred to the sea. At the Restoration, he was made master gunner of the Princess, a frigate of 30 guns; and in the first Dutch war distinguished himself by his skill and bravery in two extraordinary actions; one against 15 sail of Dutch men of war; and another in 1667 against two Danes in the Baltic, in which the commanding officers of the Princess being killed or desperately wounded, the command, according to the rules of war at that time, fell to the gunner. In 1669, he was promoted to be gunner of the Royal Prince, a first rate man of war. He was engaged, with his two sons, Henry and John, in the battle against Van Tromp, in 1673; when the Royal Prince had all her masts shot away, near 400 of her men killed and disabled, and most of her upper tier of guns dismounted. As she lay thus like a wreck, a great Dutch man of war came down upon her with two fire ships, either to burn or carry her off; and Captain Rooke, afterwards Sir George, thinking it impossible to defend her, ordered the men to save their lives, and the colours to be struck. Mr Leake hearing this, ordered the lieutenant off the quarter deck, and took the command upon himself, saying, "The Royal Prince shall never be given up to the enemy while I am alive to defend her." The undaunted spirit of the brave gunner inspired the small residue of the ship's company with resolution; they returned with alacrity to the fight, and under the direction of this valiant gunner and his two sons sunk both the fire ships, and obliged the man of war to steer off; and having thus saved the Royal Prince, he brought her into Chatham. But Mr Leake's joy in obtaining this victory was damped by the loss of Henry, his eldest son, who was killed near him. Soon after, Mr Leake was preferred to the command of a yacht, and also made gunner of Whitehall. In 1677, he obtained a grant for life of the office of master gunner of England, and storekeeper of the ordnance at Woolwich. By this post he had full scope for his genius.
He accordingly, among other things, invented the cushion piece; and contrived to fire a mortar by the blast of a piece, which has been used ever since. He was also the principal contriver of what the French call infernali, used at the bombardment of St Malo's in 1693. Mr Leake had a surprising genius for all inventions of this kind; and had frequent trials of skill with French and Dutch gunners and engineers in Woolwich warren, at which King Charles II. and the duke of York were often present, and he never failed to excel all his competitors: nor was he less skilled in the art of making compositions for fireworks; of which he likewise made frequent trials with equal success.