George Brydges Rodney (1718-1792), 1st Baron Rodney, was a British naval officer. He made a large amount of prize money during the 1740s, enabling him to purchase a country estate and a seat in the House of Commons. However, by 1774 he had run up large debts and was forced to flee to France to avoid his creditors; he was freed from a French jail when war was declared in 1778, and took up a new command. He was involved in the Battle of Martinique 17 April 1780, when confusion caused by his signals enabled the French to escape; some blamed his captains and others Rodney himself. He successfully relieved Gibraltar and was posted to Jamaica, where he defeated the French at the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782.