Henry William Bayntun Sir Henry William Bayntun GCB ( 1766 – 16 December 1840 ) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy , whose distinguished career in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a catalogue of the highest and lowest points of the Navy during the conflict . His record includes extensive operations in the West Indies followed by shipwreck , the battle of Trafalgar and the disastrous expedition to Buenos Aires in 1807 . Career . Born in 1766 in Algiers , where his father was Consul general , Bayntun joined the navy at a young age and received his lieutenancy at just seventeen on 15 April 1783 . Bayntun was actively employed following the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France in 1793 . He took command of the sloop following her captain ' s death on 4 May 1794 and proceeded to participate in the capture of the French frigate , as well as other shipping off Port Royal , Martinique . He was also prominent in the capture of both that island and Guadeloupe by the fleet under the command of Admiral Sir John Jervis . Bayntun was given command of the 36 - gun . The ship was wrecked in December 1796 , but he was absolved of blame for the loss and given . He then commanded ships of the line , including and , with which he won acclaim during a successful blockade of the French Caribbean islands following their return to France under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens . In 1803 he captured the French frigate , along with her convoy and hundreds of troops aboard returning to France . In 1804 Bayntun returned to England after ten years in the West Indies , and was given command of the fast third rate . She joined Nelson ' s fleet off Brest and subsequently sailed to the West Indies again before arriving off Cadiz . Bayntun was in this way unusual amongst Trafalgar captains , many of whom had only just arrived on station for the blockade . At the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October , Bayntun in " Leviathan " was fourth in Nelson ' s weather column , after , and . " Leviathan " raked the French flagship and battled the French before engaging with the massive . Seeing the distant approach of Rear - Admiral Dumanoir ' s squadron from the north , Captain Thomas Hardy ordered " Leviathan " and other ships to close the enemy . " Leviathan " managed to catch the Spanish ship and easily capture her , but the remainder of the squadron fled , terminating the battle . The " Leviathan " suffered only 26 casualties of the battle and was able to return to Gibraltar unaided in the growing storm . She did however lose her prize , the " San Augustin " , which was burnt as she foundered some days after the action . After the battle , Bayntun was among the many officers that the Lloyd ' s Patriotic Fund honoured with gifts . He also was the guidon bearer at Nelson ' s state funeral . In 1807 Bayntun participated in the naval aspects of the failed invasion of Argentina , but escaped the condemnation received by other of the officers involved . He continued in service , taking command of the 74 - gun in 1809 , and commanding the royal yacht HMY " Royal Sovereign " from 1811 until his promotion to rear - admiral of the blue on 12 August 1812 . With the defeat of Napoleon and his exile to Elba , Bayntun was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in January 1815 . Bayntun continued in the Navy as a semi - retired officer slowly gaining promotions , being advanced to rear - admiral of the white on 4 June 1814 ; rear - admiral of the red on 12 August 1819 , and then to vice - admiral of the blue on 19 July 1819 . He was further promoted to vice - admiral of the white on 27 May 1825 and vice - admiral of the red on 22 July 1830 . On 10 January 1837 he was made an admiral of the blue and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 25 October 1839 . Henry William Bayntun died in Bath in 1840 and is buried in All Saints ' Church , Weston , Bath , together with several family members . The Captain - class frigate was named for him . She served during the Second World War .