William Thornton Bate William Thornton Bate ( 1820 – 29 December 1857 ) was a surveyor and officer in the Royal Navy . Early life . Bate was born in 1820 , the son of the Governor of Ascension Island . He entered the Royal Naval College , Portsmouth at the age of 13 , spending two years studying there . He was then appointed as a midshipman aboard HMS " Isis " , and sailed with her to the Cape of Good Hope . He spent five years at the Cape , transferring to HMS " Britannia " and then , on his passing his lieutenant ' s exam , to HMS " Blenheim " . He sailed with the " Blenheim " to the China Station . While serving there , the First Opium War broke out . A party of men from " Blenheim " was landed to attack Chinese positions . Bate was one of those involved , helping to capture a fort , but being wounded in the neck as he did so . For his actions , he was promoted to lieutenant on 11 October 1841 . Surveying career . In autumn 1842 Bate was assigned to Commander Collinson on HMS " Bentinck " , who had been tasked with surveying the waters around the Chinese coast . In May 1842 he was involved in an attack on Chapoo . Collinson was responsible for surveying the approaches to Chapoo , and once the troops were landed , Bate accompanied them . He was involved in a hand to hand battle with a Chinese defender . Bate captured him , then opened the gates of the fort to the British , at which the Chinese fled . This earned him a Mention in Despatches from Vice Admiral William Parker who commanded the force . He returned to England in 1846 , and took a series of scientific courses at the colleges at Woolwich and Portsmouth . He was promoted to Commander in 1848 and given command of HMS " Royalist " , with which he was to carry out further surveys of the Chinese coast . He was taken ill with smallpox in 1852 , but recovered and was able to complete his surveys , including one of the island of Palawan . After completing these tasks , Bate returned to England . In January 1856 he was appointed to command HMS " Bittern " , and to return to Chinese waters to conduct further surveys . He took command in April that year , but it was soon found that the " Bittern " was unsuitable to the task . Bate sent her back to Britain , transferring his command to the sixth rate HMS " Actaeon " , while he awaited the arrival of his new ship . While cruising off the Chinese coast , the " Arrow " incident occurred , the prelude to the Second Opium War , and the British decided to bombard the port of Canton . Bate was put in charge of the landing parties , and whilst overseeing operations from HMS " Barracouta " , was struck on the hand by some shot , and was slightly wounded . After the subduing of resistance , Bate took over and garrisoned a fort with 300 men . He held the fort under siege for five months , before the Admiralty ordered him to evacuate . He returned to the " Actaeon " , then at Hong Kong . As a reward for his services , he was promoted to Captain . Bate returned to Canton in November 1857 , and delivered Lord Elgin ' s ultimatum to the Chinese officials . There being no reply , the navy began to bombard the port on 28 December . Death . The attackers decided to storm the walls of the city , and Bate volunteered to lead a party . He was landed , but as he was determining the height of the wall to be scaled with his sextant , he was hit in the right breast by a ball fired from a jingal . He died half an hour later . Admiral Michael Seymour wrote to the Admiralty after the capture of Canton : He was buried in Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley of Hong Kong . Legacy . Bate ' s strong Christian views led to him becoming lionised as a Christian hero and martyr . His memoirs were published by Reverend John Ballie , and Charles Rogers included his biography in his " Christian heroes in the army and navy " . A memorial was erected in St Anns Church , Portsea . Mount Bate , on Vancouver Island , British Columbia , was probably named after him by Captain George Henry Richards .