George Johnstone Hope Rear - Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope , KCB ( 6 July 1767 – 2 May 1818 ) was a British naval officer , who served with distinction in the Royal Navy throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , including service at the Battle of Trafalgar . A close personal friend of Admiral Nelson , he received many honours following the battle , and later served as a Lord of the Admiralty . Early life . Born the son of The Hon . Charles Hope - Weir , and grandson of Charles Hope , 1st Earl of Hopetoun , Hope joined the navy at 15 , in 1782 , and spent much of his early career serving on frigate s . He was promoted from midshipman to lieutenant on 29 February 1788 and was given command of his own sloop , the HMS " Racehorse " on 22 November 1790 . War service . At the time of Britain ' s entry into the war , as part of the First Coalition , Hope was serving as commander in the sloop HMS " Bulldog " in the Mediterranean Sea , and conducted several convoys to the forces of Lord Hood , who was besieging Toulon at the time . Later in the year , on 13 September 1793 , he was promoted to the rank of Post Captain , and given command of the large frigate HMS " Romulus " , in which he saw action against French ships off Genoa in 1795 . Following his appointment to HMS " Alcmene " , Hope joined Nelson at Aboukir bay , 11 days after the battle of the Nile . On 19 August Nelson left for Naples but left Hood with three 3rd rates and three frigates , including " Alcmene " , with which to blockade Alexandria , where the remaining French ships ; two of the line , eight frigates and four corvettes , were sheltering . Hope obtained Nelson ' s good graces by capturing the French gunbrig " Légère " off Egypt , and seizing dispatches intended for Napoleon . The papers had been thrown overboard by the French captain but two of " Alcmene ' s " crew jumped in to retrieve them . Hope then sailed to Naples and successfully evacuated the Neapolitan royal family in the face of a Republican uprising , which was eventually quelled by Nelson ' s personal intervention . By 1801 , Hope was an experienced Mediterranean campaigner , and , in command of the frigate HMS " Leda " , supported the successful amphibious landing s which began the British invasion of Egypt . Battle of Trafalgar . Following the Peace of Amiens , Hope returned to sea aboard the 74 - gun ship of the line HMS " Defence " . When Spain entered the war in December 1804 , " Defence " became part of a newly formed ' Spanish Squadron ' under Sir John Orde . The squadron was involved in the blockade of Cadiz when on 8 April 1805 , Villeneuve arrived with 11 ships of the line and 6 frigates . The 6 British ships formed line of battle but the French refused to engage and allowed the squadron to retreat to Lagos Bay . Villenueve gathered the ships that were ready to sail and put to sea again . Orde believed they were bound for the Channel but in fact Villenueve was on his way to the West Indies . Orde therefore took his squadron , including " Defence " , north to rendezvous with the Channel Fleet . Hope and his ship " Defence " stayed with the Channel fleet until the end of August then joined another squadron under Sir Robert Calder . This squadron was sent to Cadiz , arriving on 15 September , to find Villenueve ' s fleet back from the West Indies and under blockade from a small contingent of vessels under the command of Vice - Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood . Nelson arrived on the 29th and moved the bulk of his force out to sea , in an attempt to lure out the combined French and Spanish fleet . When Villenueve eventually ordered his fleet to sail on 19 October , " Defence " was one of the ships that passed the signal to Nelson . On the morning of 21 October 1805 , Hope found his ship at the rear of Admiral Collingwood ' s division at the start of the Battle of Trafalgar . The position of his ship prevented Hope engaging with the enemy until the battle was two and a half hours old , but once within range , the " Defence " was heavily engaged , fighting with the French ship ( formerly of the Royal Navy ) , and then the Spanish ship " San Ildefenso " , whose surrender Hope received after some hours of battle . Hope sensibly anchored both ships during the ensuing storm , and so his prize was one of only four captured ships to survive the following week of gales . It was Nelson ' s desire that the fleet anchor after the battle but his order was never passed on and Hope made the decision on his own initiative . During the action and storm , and despite being heavily engaged during the close of the battle ; Hope ' s crew suffered casualties of just seven dead and twenty - nine injured . After the storm , Collingwood , now in charge , selected Hope and four other captains to sink the remaining prizes to prevent their recapture . Evacuating the crews was " a particularly arduous task in a high sea running " that earned Hope a mention in dispatches . Later years . Following his action at Trafalgar , Hope continued to serve in the " Defence " until 1809 , when he was appointed Captain of the Fleet . Under Sir James Saumarez , with his flag in the " HMS Victory " , Hope helped to defend and maintain British trade interests in the Baltic Sea . Hope remained Saumarez ' s chief of staff until 12 August 1811 when he was made Rear Admiral of the Blue through seniority and good service , and on 21 August 1812 , was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White . In June 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia and Hope was sent back to the Baltic to rescue as much of the Russian fleet as could be saved from the French invasion , and bring it to Britain . The plan was never fully enacted due to the defeat of Napoleon . Hope was rewarded with a position as one of the Lords of the Admiralty , a post he retained for the next six years . His service ended abruptly , when he died suddenly whilst working late at the Admiralty on the evening of 2 May 1818 . He had served as a Member of Parliament for East Grinstead , Sussex , from 1815 and on 2 January that year , had been inducted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath . He also received a sword of honour and gold medal in recognition of his service at Trafalgar . Hope was buried in Westminster Abbey , where a large wall - mounted memorial remains to his memory , although his tombstone has been removed to make way for later burials . Family . George Johnstone Hope married his cousin , Lady Jemima Hope , the daughter of James Hope - Johnstone , 3rd Earl of Hopetoun . Lady Hope died in 1808 leaving her husband with two young children . Their son Sir James Hope ( 1808 – 81 ) also became a naval officer and rose to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet . Hope was remarried in 1814 to Georgina , daughter of George Kinnaird , 7th Lord Kinnaird , who bore him a second daughter .