James Young ( 1762 – 1833 ) James Young ( 1762 – 8 March 1833 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , rising to the rank of vice - admiral of the white . Young was born in 1762 , the son of a naval officer . He followed his father , and an older half - brother , into the navy and was promoted to commander early in the French Revolutionary Wars while serving in the West Indies with Sir John Jervis . His first command was a fireship , though he was also temporary commander of a 74 - gun warship , before being promoted to post captain and given a frigate . He was successful in cruising against privateer s , and was given another ship , in which in late 1799 , he was involved in the chase of two Spanish frigates , capturing one of them . They were found to be transporting valuable cargoes from the Spanish colonies , and their capture made the captains involved extremely wealthy men , with their crews also receiving huge sums of money comparative to their usual wages . Young commanded a frigate in the Mediterranean for the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars , paying her off at the peace . He did not immediately return to service with the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars , and it was not until 1807 that he commissioned a 74 - gun ship and joined the expedition to Copenhagen . Promoted to flag rank towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars , Young was further advanced to vice - admiral in 1830 , and died three years later with the rank of vice - admiral of the white . Family and first commands . James Young was born into a naval family in 1762 , the son of the naval officer James Young , who would become an admiral , and his second wife Sophia . William , his half - brother by his father ' s first marriage to Elizabeth Bolton , also embarked on a naval career and rose to be Vice - Admiral of the United Kingdom , with the rank of admiral of the red . James Young followed his father and brother into the navy , and after several years of service , was promoted to commander in 1794 , shortly after the start of the French Revolutionary Wars , by Sir John Jervis . He had been serving with Jervis in the West Indies prior to this , and on returning to Britain aboard " Reprisal " , was given command of the fireship . Young briefly served as acting - commander of the 74 - gun from June 1795 , after her previous captain , Christopher Mason , had been promoted to rear - admiral . Young went out to the Mediterranean , before returning to resume command of " Comet " . He was promoted to post captain on 5 October 1795 . Young was given command of the 32 - gun in 1796 and cruised in the North Sea , and then in the English Channel , where he was particularly successfully against privateer s , capturing the 16 - gun " Aventure " off Cape Barfleur at 4 . am on 19 December 1796 and " Tartane " off Beachy Head at 7 . am on 18 February 1797 . " Aventure " was a privateer brig carrying sixteen 4 - pounder guns and a crew of 62 men , under the command of Citizen Peltier . She was two days out of Calais on her first cruise and had not captured any prizes . " Tartane " was also a brig , mounting sixteen 4 - pounder guns and carrying 60 men , on a cruise from Dieppe . She had not taken any prizes , and in his report on the capture , Young paid tribute to Captain Cheshire of the 18 - gun sloop , who having seen the chase , manoeuvred to cut off " Tartane " s escape . Young commanded " Greyhound " until March 1797 , when he took command of the 32 - gun . " Ethalion " and " Thetis " . Young ' s next ship was the 38 - gun , which he took over in February 1799 . At 3pm on 16 October 1799 " Ethalion " sighted three sails , and bearing up , discovered that they were two enemy frigates , being pursued by the 38 - gun , under Captain William Pierrepoint . Young joined the chase , and the following morning the British were joined by another frigate , , under Captain Henry Digby , while a fourth frigate , , under Captain John Gore , was also sighted , joining from astern . Pierrepoint signalled his intention to engage the foremost ship , leaving the sternmost for Young in " Ethalion " , and at 7am the ships , now discerned to be Spanish frigates , separated . " Ethalion " pursued the sternmost frigate , exchanging fire from their stern and bow chasers , and after closing and firing two broadsides , the Spanish ship surrendered . She was discovered to be the 36 - gun " Thetis " , carrying 12 - and 6 - pdr guns and with a crew of 250 , under the command of Don Juan de Mendoza . She was bound from Veracruz to a Spanish port , carrying a cargo of 1 , 411 , 526 dollars and cocoa . " Ethalion " suffered no casualties during the chase , while there was one man killed and nine wounded aboard " Thetis " . Meanwhile " Naiad " , in company with " Alcmene " and " Triton " , chased down and captured the other Spanish frigate , which was discovered to be the " Santa Brigada " , also carrying a valuable cargo . Each captain received £40 , 730 . 18s . in prize money , approximately £ at today ' s prices . The sum paid out was so large that it was said that the crew of the ships involved roamed around Portsmouth with ' bank notes stuck in their hats , buying watches for the fun of frying them , and issuing laws that any of their crew who appeared without a gold - laced hat should be cobbed , so that the unlucky man who appeared in silver could only escape by representing that the costlier articles were all bought up , but he had compelled the shopkeeper to take money for gold lace . ' Each seaman involved received £182 4s 9¾d , the equivalent of ten years pay . " Pique " and " Valiant " . Young took command of the 36 - gun in June 1800 and commanded her in the Mediterranean for the remainder of the French Revolutionary Wars . On 5 June 1801 he came across a large French squadron under Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume , sailing to land troops in Egypt . The fleet pursued " Pique " for a time , but could not catch her . Young escaped , and then made his way to report the French movements to Admiral Lord Keith . Young sailed back to Britain to pay " Pique " off after the end of the wars , and arrived in port on 2 July 1802 . He does not appear to have returned to service after the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars until April 1807 , when he commissioned the new 74 - gun . Young went out with Rear - Admiral William Essington ' s force to Copenhagen in mid - 1807 , arriving off the city on 7 July . Flag rank and later life . Young was promoted to rear - admiral in 1814 , and to vice - admiral in 1830 . He died at Barton End House , Gloucestershire with the rank of Vice - Admiral of the White on 8 March 1833 at the age of 67 . He had married the daughter of Colonel ( later Lieutenant - General ) Fyers of the Royal Engineers while at Gibraltar in 1802 . She was renowned as the ' beauty of the rock ' , and together the two had a large family . Notes . a . Lieutenants received £5 , 091 . 7s . 3d . , warrant officers £2 , 468 . 10s . 9d . , petty officers £791 . 17s . , and seamen and marines £182 . 42s . 9d .