William Hargood Admiral Sir William Hargood KCB GCH RN ( 6 May 1762 – 12 December 1839 ) was a British naval officer who served with distinction through the American War of Independence , the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars , during which he gained an unfortunate reputation for bad luck , which seemed to reverse following his courageous actions at the battle of Trafalgar in command of HMS " Belleisle " . Born in 1762 into a poor naval family , the son of a purser , Hargood was able to secure a position as a midshipman on HMS " Triumph " , on which he served from 1775 until the following year , in which time he made a convoy to Newfoundland , and then moved to HMS " Bristol " in which he saw the West Indies and American Eastern Seaboard , being heavily in involved in the landing at Fort Moultrie in 1776 . In 1781 , Hargood was a lieutenant , serving in the sloop HMS " Port Royal " when Pensacola fell to the Spanish despite his best efforts to keep it supplied , and in 1782 he was on board HMS " Magnificent " at the battle of the Saintes . Hargood continued in service in American waters beyond the end of the war , remaining there until he met Captain William Henry ( who in 1830 would succeed his brother to become King of England ) . The two became firm friends , and William took him as his first lieutenant aboard the frigate HMS " Pegasus " and then HMS " Andromeda " , procuring his promotion in 1789 to commander and getting him the sloop HMS " Swallow " , which he commanded for year off Ireland before moving to HMS " Hyaena " and the West Indies when he was made a Post Captain . Captured by the French in 1793 along with his ship , Hargood was exchanged and honourably acquitted and in 1796 given the 50 gun HMS " Leopard " , a command which ended in disaster , when he was deposed ashore during the Spithead mutiny . Moving to HMS " Nassau " and then HMS " Intrepid " , Hargood convoyed a fleet of East Indiamen to China , where he remained until the Peace of Amiens in 1803 . On his return at the outbreak of war , he was given the ship of the line HMS " Belleisle " , a good ship captured from the French in the battle of Groix in 1795 . Joining Nelson ' s fleet in the Mediterranean , Hargood participated in the chase across the Atlantic , and his ship was so worn out it required a refit at Plymouth , only rejoining the fleet two weeks before the battle on 21 October . During the battle , " Belleisle " was second in Collingwood ' s division , following the flagship HMS " Royal Sovereign " into the enemy lines by just fifteen minutes , and when there held his fire until he was able to discharge both sides simultaneously into the " Fougueux " and " Santa Ana " . " Belleisle " was engaged continuously during the action , often fighting alone against numerous enemy ships , before finally attaching herself to the " Argonauta " , which she boarded and captured , but not before she was herself dismasted . " Belleisle " took almost 25 % casualties , with 33 dead and 93 wounded , including Hargood , who had suffered severe bruising during the cannonade . " Belleisle " was lucky to survive the storm , only the constant attentions of the frigate HMS " Naiad " allowing her to be slowly towed back to Gibraltar . Following the battle , Hargood , who had been unable to get a favourable commission until this point was suddenly inundated with offers , and after some lucrative shore duties , he was made a rear - admiral and given command of the Channel Islands squadron , which made numerous raids on the French coast and collected a lot of prize money . In 1811 he married Maria Cocks , and they lived happily together until his death despite their failure to have any children . Following the peace in 1815 , Hargood retired from the sea , but retained shore duties , and between this date and his death twenty four years later at his home in Bath , he was made a vice admiral , Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath , a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order , a full Admiral of the White and Commander - in - Chief , Plymouth . Throughout his life he also retained a close and personal friendship with William Henry , even after the latter became King William IV in 1830 . He retired to Bath residing at number 9 Royal Crescent until his death and was buried in Bath Abbey where his much faded tombstone can still be seen , along with a lengthy epitaph on a mounted wall plaque .