George Nicholas Hardinge George Nicholas Hardinge ( 11 April 1781 – 8 March 1808 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Possessing an ability to endear himself to senior officers through his intellect and good manners , he served under several important naval commanders , whose patronage allowed him to rise through the ranks . His own skill and bravery were also important factors in his promotion to his own command , a fact he demonstrated in 1804 when he led a daring cutting - out operation against two Dutch ships . Promotion to post captain left him temporarily without a command , and he was to be disappointed in a number of the ships he was offered when they turned out to be either unfit for service , or still under construction . Having ended up in the East Indies he was forced to make do with an elderly frigate he had first served on as a midshipman much earlier in his career . While commanding this ship he fought an action with a superior French opponent , and after a gruelling three - day battle the British were victorious and the French captain surrendered . Hardinge did not live to see the moment , having been killed by grapeshot shortly before . He was buried with full military honours and monuments to his memory were erected in Bombay and St Paul ' s Cathedral . Family and early life . George Hardinge was born in Kingston upon Thames , Surrey on 11 April 1781 , the second son of Reverend Henry Hardinge , and his wife Frances . His education was taken in hand by his uncle , George Hardinge , a judge , who sent him to Eton to study law . George Nicholas did not do well at school , and instead asked to go to sea , perhaps influenced by his uncle , Sir Richard Hardinge , who was a captain of an East Indiaman . He consequently joined the Royal Navy in 1793 as a midshipman aboard the 32 - gun frigate under Captain Charles Tyler , and saw action at the Siege of Toulon and the reduction of Corsica . When Tyler moved to take command of the captured French frigate " Minerve " , which had been taken into Royal Navy service as , he took Midshipman Hardinge with him . This was the ship that Hardinge would die in command of 15 years later . Hardinge continued to move ships to remain in Tyler ' s service , and both were present aboard at the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands on 13 July 1794 . The pair saw continued service off the Italian coast during the following months , and it was during this time that Hardinge came to the attention of Sir William Hamilton , the British envoy to the Kingdom of Naples . Hamilton introduced Hardinge to the study of history and the arts . Hardinge returned to England for a brief period in 1798 , but returned to sea aboard Tyler ' s new command , the 38 - gun . The " Aigle " was wrecked off the African coast on 18 July , but Hardinge survived to be rescued , and duly came to the attention of Earl St Vincent . Hardinge ' s talent for impressing senior officials with his intellect led to St Vincent appointing him to the 74 - gun , under the command of Captain Ralph Willett Miller . He was still aboard the " Theseus " when Miller was killed in an accidental explosion in May 1799 , that left the ship severely damaged . Hardinge returned to Britain where he was transferred to the 80 - gun as a supernumerary lieutenant under Captain Edward Berry , and on returning to the Mediterranean he was involved in the battle which led to the capture of the 80 - gun French ship " Guillaume Tell " on 30 March 1800 . Hardinge remained in the Mediterranean after this , serving under Captain Sir Sidney Smith aboard the 80 - gun . He was involved in the operations of the Egyptian Campaign , and was promoted to lieutenant on 15 October 1800 , subsequently receiving the Turkish Gold Medal . Command . Hardinge ' s earlier patron , Earl St Vincent , had by now risen to the post of First Lord of the Admiralty , and he promoted Hardinge to the rank of commander on 29 April 1802 . He had to wait nearly a year though before he obtained his first ship , the bomb vessel in March 1803 . Serving in the English Channel , initially under Captain Edward Owen , and later Admiral James Saumarez , he took part in the attack on Granville . The " Terror " was heavily damaged in this operation , and Hardinge ' s next command was the 18 - gun , which he commanded in the North Sea . On 28 March 1804 he was sailing off the Vlie when he discovered two Dutch brig - corvettes at anchor in the roads . Since the " Scorpion " was too large to risk navigating the passage , Hardinge decided to make an attack with his boats . While waiting for conditions that would allow an attack , he was joined by the 14 - gun , and at 9 . 30 in the evening of 31 March two boats from " Beaver " and three from " Scorpion " altogether carrying 60 men , set off to attack the Dutch . They approached the nearest one , the " Atalante " and rushed her , Hardinge being the first to leap aboard . After some fierce fighting they subdued the Dutch crew , with Hardinge at one point fighting hand to hand with the Dutch captain . The Dutch captain was able to disarm Hardinge , but other members of the crew came to his aid . Seeing that his opponent was outnumbered Hardinge called upon the Dutch captain to surrender , but he refused and the British were forced to kill him . ' He fell covered with honourable wounds ' , as Hardinge later recounted . The British secured the " Atalante " , and attempted to attack the second Dutch ship , but found that she had moved out of range . Hardinge instead laboured to take the " Atalante " out to sea and though hampered by a gale , succeeded after three days . Although he had been rewarded for his bravery with a promotion to post captain on 10 April 1804 , and a sword worth 300 guineas from the Lloyd ' s Patriotic Fund , Hardinge found it difficult to return to active service . He was at first assigned to command the 24 - gun and to escort a convoy to the West Indies , but was instead transferred to . The " Valorous " was found to be unfit for sea , but he was given the command of HMS " Salsette " , a frigate then supposed to be fitting out at Bombay . He made his way to the East Indies , taking part in the Capture of the Cape en route , but on his arrival at Bombay he found that the " Salsette " had only just been laid down . He was promised her command when she was completed , but in the meantime had to make do with the old fifth rate HMS " St Fiorenzo " , a ship he had served as a midshipman on 15 years earlier . Death . Hardinge made a number of uneventful patrols in the Indian Ocean , but on 6 March 1808 he came across three East Indiamen being followed by the 40 - gun French frigate " Piémontaise " . He turned to confront the Frenchman , who attempted to escape . " St Fiorenzo " chased the " Piémontaise " for the next several days , with intermittent fighting as the French turned to engage their pursuer , before sailing away again . They were finally brought to a decisive battle on 8 March , where after an hour and twenty minutes of fierce fighting , they surrendered . French losses amounted to 48 dead and 112 wounded , while the British lost 13 dead and 25 wounded . Captain Hardinge was among the dead , killed by grapeshot shortly before the " Piémontaise " surrendered . He was buried at Colombo with full military honours , and monuments to his memory were erected in Bombay and in St Paul ' s Cathedral . On 29 November 1809 , His Majesty George III granted to the Hardinge family an augmentation to their coat of arms commemorating both the victory over " Piemontaise " and Hardinge ' s earlier victory over " Atalanta " .