Sir Richard Strachan , 6th Baronet Sir Richard John Strachan , 6th Baronet GCB ( 27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828 ) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , eventually rising to the rank of admiral . Sir Dicky , as his friends referred to him , was the last Chief of Clan Strachan . The Baronetcy became dormant in 1854 as he died without male heir . Childhood . Strachan was born in Devon on 27 October 1760 , the eldest son of Lieutenant Patrick Strachan RN and a daughter of Captain Pitman RN . His uncle was Sir John Strachan , fifth baronet . Strachan entered the Royal Navy in 1772 at the age of twelve , serving first aboard HMS " Intrepid " . He sailed with " Intrepid " to the East Indies , before moving to HMS " Orford " , then under the command of his uncle . He went on to serve in a number of different ships on the North American Station , first aboard HMS " Preston " under Commodore William Hotham , followed by HMS " Eagle " , the flagship of Lord Howe . Early career . Strachan went on to serve aboard HMS " Actaeon " off the coast of Africa , and in the West Indies . On the death of his uncle on 26 December 1777 , he succeeded to the baronetcy . He was promoted to lieutenant on 5 April 1779 and was then appointed to HMS " Hero " in early 1781 , under the command of Captain James Hawker . Aboard " Hero " Strachan was part of Commodore George Johnstone ' s squadron , and was present at the Battle of Porto Praya against the Bailli de Suffren on 16 April 1781 . After this action , " Hero " moved on to the East Indies , where Strachan moved to take up a post , first aboard HMS " Magnanime " and then aboard HMS " Superb " . It was whilst aboard " Superb " that Strachan was present at the first of four actions that took place between Sir Edward Hughes and de Suffren , the Battle of Sadras on 17 February 1782 . First commands . After acquitting himself well , Strachan was promoted by Hughes in January 1783 to the command of the cutter HMS " Lizard " , and then again on 26 April 1783 to be captain of the frigate " Naiad " . Strachan ' s next appointment was in 1787 to HMS " Vestal " . He sailed in the spring of 1788 for China , carrying the ambassador , the Hon . Charles Alan Cathcart . Cathcart died during the journey , as " Vestal " passed through the Strait of Banca , and the ship returned to England . Strachan and " Vestal " were then ordered to the East Indies again , to join a squadron under the command of Commodore William Cornwallis . On arrival , Strachan was reassigned to HMS " Phoenix " . In November 1791 she was ordered to stop and search the French frigate " Résolue " , which was escorting a number of merchant ships believed to be carrying military supplies to support Tippu Sultan . " Résolue " resisted " Phoenix " and a brief fight ensued before " Résolue " struck her colours . The French captain insisted on considering his ship as a British prize , so Cornwallis ordered Strachan to tow her into Mahé and return her to the French commodore . Off the French coast . Strachan returned to England in 1793 , and was appointed to command the frigate HMS " Concorde " and in spring 1794 joined a squadron patrolling off Brest , under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren . The squadron engaged a rival squadron of four French frigates on 23 April 1794 and succeeded in capturing three of them . Strachan and " Concorde " had forced the surrender of one of them , the frigate " L ' Engageante " . Strachan was then appointed to the 42 - gun HMS " Melampus " which was attached in the summer to the main British fleet . In spring 1795 Strachan was dispatched in command of a squadron of five frigates to cruise off the Normandy and Brittany coasts . He was highly successful at this , capturing or destroying a considerable number of French coastal craft , many laden with military stores and conveyed by armed French warships . On 9 May 1795 , he captured " Crache - feu " , a French three - gun vessel . Command of the " Diamond " and the " Captain " . In 1796 Strachan was appointed to command HMS " Diamond " , after her previous captain , Sir Sidney Smith had been captured during a cutting - out expedition . He commanded her until 1799 , when he took command of the 74 - gun third rate HMS " Captain " . He took her off the west coast of France , at times operating as part of a squadron , and at other times alone . On 5 November 1800 he came to the assistance of the stranded and sinking HMS " Marlborough " , which had struck a ledge of rocks near Isle Grouat during the previous night ' s gale . " Captain " ’ s boats were pushed through the surf and were able to take off " Marlborough " ’ s officers and crew . Later that month , on 17 November " Captain " chased a French convoy through the Teignouse Passage between Quiberon and the Ile de Houat , and tried to keep them from reaching safety in the Gulf of Morbihan . Despite his efforts , the convoy reached the cover of a 20 - gun corvette , and a number of coastal forts the next day . The situation changed when the cutter HMS " Nile " attacked the corvette and forced her aground in Port Navalo . The corvette struck her colours , at which point boats from HMS " Magicienne " attempted to board and capture her . They were driven off by fire from the corvette and returned to " Magicienne " . Strachan meanwhile devised a plan to attack the French . Later that day , " Magicienne " was ordered to approach , to draw the fire of the batteries . Strachan ordered Lieutenant Hannah and a party of seamen and marines into four boats , which were towed into the harbour by " Suwarrow " ; while " Nile " and HMS " Lurcher " towed another four more boats manned by " Marlborough " ’ s men who had been rescued by Strachan three weeks previously . Under heavy fire of grape , round and musket - balls from the shore battery high above , they boarded the corvette , and set her on fire . They then re - embarked and began heading back towards " Captain " , when the corvette blew up with a tremendous explosion . The British lost only one man killed , when a shot hit the fluke of " Suwarrow " ’ s anchor , ricocheted , and struck the head of a sailor . Seven others were injured . In January 1801 , Strachan almost died when " Captain " struck a rock off Ushant with such force that she started taking on water at almost 3 inches a minute , which constantly increased . The damage was so severe that the incoming water nearly overloaded the pumps . She eventually made it into the Sound on 11 January attended by HMS " Fisgard " and the cutter from HMS " Lord Nelson " . " Captain " fired distress guns until she reached the narrows , when all the boats from the dock and the fleet came out to assist her . " Captain " eventually made it to the Hamoaze , and went back into Cawsand Bay on 5 May . Command of the " Donegal " . In 1802 Strachan was appointed to command HMS " Donegal " . Whilst serving aboard her , he was made senior officer at Gibraltar and ordered to watch the combined French and Spanish fleet at Cadiz , under the orders of Nelson . Whilst on this station , she spotted and gave chase to the large 42 - gun Spanish frigate " Amfitrite " in November 1804 . After pursuing her for 46 hours , " Amfitrite " lost her mizzen - top - mast and was subsequently overhauled by " Donegal " . A boat was dispatched from " Donegal " and the Spanish captain was brought aboard . Sir Richard did not speak Spanish and the captain did not speak English , so it was with difficulty that Sir Richard attempted to inform him that his orders were to return the " Amfitrite " back to Cadiz . Sir Richard allowed the captain three minutes to decide whether he would comply with the order , but after waiting for six minutes without an answer , opened fire on " Amfitrite " . The engagement lasted only eight minutes , and resulted in a number of deaths , including the Spanish captain , who fell to a musket ball . " Amfitrite " surrendered and after being searched , was found to be laden with stores and carrying dispatches from Cadiz to Tenerife and Havana . She was taken over and later commissioned into the Navy as HMS " Amfitrite " . " Donegal " would later make another capture off Cadiz , taking a Spanish vessel carrying a cargo reputed to be worth £200 , 000 . After Trafalgar . On 23 April 1804 Strachan was made a colonel of marines , and returned to England in HMS " Renown " . On arrival he was immediately appointed to HMS " Caesar " and placed in command of a detached squadron including three ships of the line and four frigates in the Bay of Biscay . Whilst sailing off Cape Finisterre on 2 November 1805 , the squadron encountered four French ships of the line that had escaped from the Battle of Trafalgar under the command of Rear - Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley . Sir Richard pursued them , bringing them to battle on 4 November . After a short engagement , known as the Battle of Cape Ortegal he captured all of them , completing the destruction of the French fleet . Strachan was promoted to the rank of Rear - Admiral of the Blue on 9 November 1805 . When , on 28 January 1806 , the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to those who had fought at Trafalgar , Strachan and his command was specially included . He was also ( by special Act of Parliament ) rewarded with a pension of £1 , 000 a year . On 29 January he was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath ( KB ) , and the City of London voted him the freedom of the city , and awarded him a sword of honour . Later career . Strachan was soon back in service , being dispatched early in 1806 to search for a French squadron reported to have sailed for America . After searching for some time , he failed to locate it and instead returned to watch the port of Rochefort . Thick fog and poor weather covered the port in January 1808 , and allowed the French to sail out undetected and escape to the Mediterranean . Strachan gave chase , joining Admiral Collingwood ' s forces , but the French were able to gain the safety of Toulon . Strachan was ordered to return home , where he was given command of a squadron watching the Dutch coast . On 9 June 1809 , he was appointed as the naval commander of an expedition , consisting of 264 warships and 352 transports carrying 44 , 000 troops , to attack the island of Walcheren and destroy the French arsenals in the Scheldt . Strachan was ill qualified for the position , lacking both the experience and the temperament to hold a joint command in such a complex combined operation . Whilst he was careful to attend to the details of the problems that the Navy might encounter , he failed to consider the army ' s problems . Relations with the army ' s commander , Sir John Pitt quickly became strained and the ambitious Walcheren Campaign ended up being abandoned , having only achieved the capture of Flushing . A period of angry recriminations followed the withdrawal , with Pitt presenting a narrative to King George III in 1810 , blaming Strachan for the expedition ' s failure . Strachan defended himself , declaring that the ships had done all that had been required of them . He nevertheless became the scapegoat for the failure , and was not given any more assignments . The confusion and conflicting accounts led to the following doggerel verse : The Earl of Chatham , with his sword drawn , < br > Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ; < br > Sir Richard , longing to be at ' em , < br > Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham . Later life and death . Despite these controversies , promotion being entirely on the basis of seniority , he was made a Rear - Admiral of the Red on 25 October 1809 , a Vice - Admiral of the Blue on 31 July 1810 , Vice - Admiral of the White on 12 August 1812 , Vice - Admiral of the Red on 4 June 1814 , and Admiral of the White on 19 July 1821 . After the defeat of Napoleon , and his temporary incarceration aboard HMS " Bellerophon " in 1815 , Strachan set out to see the man he had spent most of his career fighting to defeat . Napoleon himself was apparently aware of Strachan ' s deeds . On Thursday he ( Napoleon Bonaparte ) gratified the spectators with his appearance frequently on the poop and gangway , on which occasions the British , as well as the French officers , stood uncovered and apart ! One of his officers intimating to him , that Sir Richard Strachan was in a barge alongside , Bonaparte instantly took off his hat , and bowed to him with a smile . The Order of the Bath was reorganised on 2 January 1815 , with surviving Knights Companion becoming the first Knights Grand Cross ( GCB ) . Sir Richard Strachan died at his house in Bryanston Square , London , on 3 February 1828 . He had married Louisa Dillon , Marchioness of Salsa in 1812 , and together they had three daughters , but no son . The baronetcy became extinct upon his death . Assessment . Strachan became famous during his career for his ungovernable temper and violent cursing . This eventually earned him the nickname of ‘ Mad Dick ’ among his men , but he remained a popular and sought - after commander . Captain Graham Moore , the brother of Sir John Moore , described him on the eve of the Walcheren expedition as one of those in our service whom I estimate the highest . I do not believe he has his fellow among the Admirals , unless it be Pellew , for ability , and it is not possible to have more zeal and gallantry . Despite the failure of the venture , he was later to declare thatIt is my wish to serve with Strachan , as I know him to be extremely brave and full of zeal and ardour , at the same time that he is an excellent seaman , and , tho ' an irregular , impetuous fellow , possessing very quick parts and an uncommon share of sagacity and strong sense .