Jean - Baptiste Perrée Jean - Baptiste Perrée ( Saint - Valery - sur - Somme , 29 April 1761 – " Généreux " , off La Valette , 17 February 1800 ) was a French Navy officer and Rear - admiral . Career . Born to a family of sailors , Perrée started sailing in 1773 at the age of twelve as a boy on the merchantman " Glorieuse " , under his father . In the course of the following twenty years , he steadily rose in rank in the merchant navy , took part to a campaign on the fluyt " Boulonnaise " in the French Royal Navy as an aid - pilot , and earned his commission of Sea captain in 1785 . Commerce raiding on " Proserpine " . In 1793 , when France declared war to England on the backdrop of the War of the First Coalition , Perrée enlisted in the Navy as an acting Ensign . Promoted to acting Lieutenant in May 1794 , and took command of the frigate " Proserpine " in April 1794 to conduct Commerce raiding operations ; in his eight - month campaign , he captured over 63 British merchantmen and a 32 - gun Dutch frigate on 21 May . On 13 September 1794 , Perrée was Captain , and was appointed to command a naval division in the Mediterranean , comprising the frigate " Alceste " , under Lieutenant Lejoille , and the 18 - gun brig " Hazard " , under Lieutenant Leduc . The division returned to Toulon on 10 October . He set sail for another mission on 15 November , this time on " Minerve " , in consort with " Alceste " and the 20 - gun corvette " Brune " , under Ensign Deniéport . The division cruised in the Mediterranean and sailed for a diplomatic mission to Tunis before returning to Toulon on 29 December . On 4 February 1795 , Perrée cruised again on " Minerve " , this time in consort with the frigate " Sérieuse " , under Lieutenant Saunier . The two frigates cruised in the Mediterranean together until " Sérieuse " detached to ferry funds to Algiers . " Minerve " returned to Toulon on 24 February , and " Sérieuse " , on 20 May . In September 1795 , was given command of a four - frigate and two - corvette squadron to prey on British shipping off the Western coast of Africa and raid their settlements ; during the campaign , he captured 54 merchantmen and two corvettes . On 26 April 1796 , Perrée departed with the Mediterranean squadron , commanding the brand - new frigate " Diane " and ferrying diplomats , supplies and ammunitions to Constantinople until 14 November . In early 1797 , Perrée took command of the naval division of the Adriatic Sea as a Rear - Admiral . The division comprised the frigate " Diane " , under Lieutenant Hubert ; the corvette " Brune " , still under Deniéport , who was promoted to Commander ; the gunboat " Frimaire " , under Ensign Suply ; and the brig " Jason , under Lieutenant Sénéquier . In early 1799 , Perrée commanded the naval station of the Syrian coasts , part of the Mediterranean squadron , with his flag on the frigate " Junon " . Campaign in Egypt and the Action of 18 June 1799 . In the Mediterranean squadron , Perrée took command of the 74 - gun " Mercure " , but was replaced by Lieutenant Cambon after the landing of the troops . With the rank of Captain , Perrée acted as a Chief of Division during the French expedition to Egypt : General Bonaparte appointed him to the Nile flotilla , where he commanded a squadron of shebeks and other light craft . On 13 July , the flotilla fought against Egyptian fluvial ships and forts while supplying food and ammunition to the French Army , and Perrée managed to captured some of these ships and ward off the others . Wounded during the prelude of the Battle of Shubra Khit , Perée was promoted to Rear - admiral on the insistence of Bonaparte , and received a sabre of honour inscribed " " Bataille de Chabreis " " on one side of the blade , and " " Donné par le général Bonaparte " " on the other . When the French campaign in the Middle East turned to Syria , Perrée took command of a squadron of three frigates and two brigs , survivors of the Battle of the Nile , to ferry supplies and artillery for the Army in spite of the Ottoman and British blockades . The squadron comprised the frigates " Junon " ( Commander Pourquier ) , " Courageuse " ( Captain Trullet ) and " Alceste " ( Captain Barré ) , and the brigs " Salamine " ( Lieutenant Landry ) and " Alerte " ( Demay ) . Arrived at Jaffa , the frigates unloaded their cargo , and furthermore shared their own ammunitions , leaving the frigates with only 15 shots per gun ; Junon also landed four of her 18 - pounder long gun s . The division then established a blockade to complete the Siege of Acre . On 14 May , it was chased by two enemy ships of the line and a frigate , under Sidney Smith , which it quickly eluded . In spite of specific orders to land in Europe only if he could not possibly do otherwise , Perrée conferred with his officers and decided that his low supplies made it necessary for him to return to Toulon , by way of Lampedusa , where he would replenish his water . At 60 miles from Toulon , on 18 June 1799 , Perrée ' s division met a 30 - ship fleet under Lord Keith ; a 28 - hour chase started and in the ensuing Action of 18 June 1799 , all of Perrée ' s ships were captured . Perrée was taken prisoner and exchanged almost immediately . Court - martialled from 6 October to 25 November 1799 for the loss of his ships by a court presided by Vice - admiral Thévenard , the court found that the superior Ottoman and British forces off Syria , the partial disarmament of the frigates and their low food and water supplies had been legitimate reasons for Perrée to return to Toulon . Perrée was then honourably acquitted on a unanimous decision of the Council . Battle of the Malta Convoy . From 28 November , he took command of a naval division tasked to ferry food supplies from Toulon to Malta , with his flag on the 74 - gun " Généreux " . From 28 November , Perrée was appointed to command a small naval division tasked with supplying Malta . The division was composed of the 74 - gun " Généreux " ( under Captain Cyprien Renaudin ) as flagship , the 20 - gun corvette s " Badine " and " Fauvette " , the 16 - gun " Sans Pareille " and the fluyt " Ville de Marseille " ( under Joseph Allemand ) . Perrée ' s division departed on 26 January 1800 , but soon after , " Généreux " broke her mizeen tops and her main topgallant off Hyères , and had to deouble back for repairs . The division set ail again on on 10 February 1800 and arrived off La Valette only a week later , due to adverse weather . On 18 , off Lampedusa , " Généreux " investigated a strange sail which turned out to be a British ship rejoining two sails on the horizon . Perrée ordered his squadron to flee , but " Ville de Marseille " was oberhauled by the 74 - gun HMS " Alexander " in the next morning , ans struck he colours at 8 : 30 . The rest of the British squadron , comprising the 74 - gun HMS " Alexander " , " Northumberland " and " Foudroyant " , and the 32 - gun frigate HMS " Success " , part of Keith ' s fleet blockading the Malta , continued the chase . In the afternoon , Perrée spotted two further ships , HMS " Audacious " and " Lion " , in the North - North - West ; he ordered his corvettes to adjust course , " Sans - Pareille " sustaining a broadsite from " Alexander " in the process , and gave liberty of maneuver to his captains . " Généreux " headed East , but found herself surrounded from all directions . Perrée had anchors , boats and forage supplies throwned overboard , but at 3 : 15 , the frigate HMS " Success " audaciously intercepted and engaged the much more powerful " Généreux " , hoping to delay her enough for the British ships of the line to catch on . By 4 : 30 , the British 74 - guns had overhauld " Généreux " and were raking her . A shot from the first broadside threw splinters into Perrée ' s left eye , temporarily blinding him . Remaining on deck , he called to his crew " " Ce n ' est rien , mes amis , continuons notre besogne " " ( " It is nothing , my friends , continue with your work " ) and gave orders for the ship to be turned , when a cannonball from the second broadside from " Success " tore his right leg off at the thigh . Perrée collapsed uncounscious on the deck . " Généreux " continued to resist until 5 : 30 , when , overpowered , she struck her colours . Perrée died of his wounds in the evening . On Nelson ' s orders , he was inhumed in Saint Lucy church in the Dominican covent of Syracuse .