James Athol Wood Sir James Athol Wood CB ( 1756 – July 1829 ) , was an officer of the Royal Navy . After serving on merchant ships for the East India Company from a young age , he entered the Royal Navy in 1774 . Wood served in the navy for almost his whole life , and took part in several of the wars fought by Kingdom of Great Britain throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century . During his career he was involved in several personal conflicts and feuds , which resulted in him being the subject of two courts - martial . Biography . Early life and the American Revolutionary War . Born in 1756 , James Athol Wood was the third son of Alexander Wood ( died 1778 ) of Burncroft , Perthshire . He was younger brother of Sir Mark Wood , 1st Baronet , and of Major - General Sir George Wood . First going to sea , for the East India Company , in 1772 , he entered the navy in September 1774 , as able seaman on board the " Hunter " sloop on the coast of Ireland and afterwards on the North America station . In July 1776 , as master ' s mate , he joined HMS " Barfleur " , flagship of Sir James Douglas at Portsmouth . In April 1777 he was moved into HMS " Princess Royal " , the flagship of Sir Thomas Pye , and from her was lent to HMS " Asia " , as acting lieutenant , during the spring of 1778 . He rejoined his ship in time to go out with Vice - Admiral John Byron to North America , where , on 18 October 1778 , he was promoted to be lieutenant of the 50 - gun ship HMS " Renown " , with Captain George Dawson . After taking part in the Siege of Charleston in April 1780 , the " Renown " returned to England ; for some months Wood was employed in small vessels attached to the Channel Fleet , but in November 1781 he was appointed to the 64 - gun ship with Captain William Blair , in which he was in the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782 , and continued till the peace . The next two or three years he passed in France , and then , accepted employment in merchant ships trading to the East Indies , and later on to the West Indies . The West Indies and shipwreck off Madagascar . When the fleet under Sir John Jervis ( afterwards Earl of St . Vincent ) arrived at Barbados in January 1794 , Wood happened to be there , and , offering his services to Jervis , was appointed to the flagship , the . After the reduction of Martinique he was sent to France with the cartels in charge of the French prisoners ; but on their arrival at Saint - Malo in the end of May the ships were seized and Wood was thrown into prison . The order to send him to Paris , signed by Robespierre and other members of the committee of public safety , was dated 13 Prairial ( 1 June ) , the very day of Lord Howe ' s victory . In Paris he was kept in close confinement till April 1795 , when he was released on parole and returned to England . He was shortly afterwards exchanged , was promoted ( 7 July 1795 ) , and was appointed to command the sloop , which he took out to the West Indies . There he was sent under ( Sir ) Robert Waller Otway to blockade St . Vincent and Grenada . While engaged on this service he had opportunities of learning that Trinidad was very insufficiently garrisoned ; and after the reduction of the revolted islands he suggested to the commander - in - chief , Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian , the possibility of capturing it by an unexpected attack . Christian was on the point of going home and would not commit his successor ( Sir ) Henry Harvey , to whom , on his arrival , Wood repeated his suggestion . Harvey sent him to make a more exact examination of the state of the island , and , acting on his report , took possession of it without loss . Of four ships of the line which were there , only half manned and incapable of defence , the Spaniards burnt three ; Wood was appointed , by acting order , to command the fourth , and sent home with convoy . His captain ' s commission was confirmed , to date 27 March 1797 . Early in 1798 he was appointed to the frigate HMS ' " Garland " , which had been sent to the Cape of Good Hope in February . He received information that a large French ship was sighted close in shore at Port Daupine , Madagascar . Wood sailed there , but when still a mile off the " Garland " struck heavily on a sunken reef , and was irretrievably lost , 26 July . The French ship proved to be a merchantman , which Wood took possession of and utilised , together with a small vessel which he built of the timber of the wreck , to carry his men and stores to the Cape . Wood returned to England , where on 15 December 1798 he and his officers were acquitted at the court - martial for the loss of their ship . Feud with Duckworth and court - martial . In April 1802 he was appointed to the 40 - gun , which , on the renewal of the war in 1803 , was attached to the fleet off Brest and in the Bay of Biscay under Admiral ( Sir ) William Cornwallis . In November 1804 the Acasta was sent out to the West Indies in charge of convoy , and there Sir John Thomas Duckworth , wishing to return to England in her , superseded Wood and appointed his own captain . As no other ship was available for Wood , he went home as a passenger in the " Acasta " , and immediately on arriving in England applied for a court - martial on Duckworth , charging him with tyranny and oppression and also with carrying home merchandise . The court - martial , however , decided that , in superseding Wood , Duckworth was acting within his rights , and , as Duckworth denied that the goods brought home were merchandise , the charge was pronounced " scandalous and malicious . " When Wood ' s brother Mark moved in the House of Commons that the minutes of the court - martial should be laid on the table , the motion was negatived without a division . Later years . Public opinion , however , ran strongly in favour of Wood , and he was at once appointed to the " Uranie " , from which , a few months later , he was moved into HMS " Latona " , again attached to the fleet off Brest , and again sent with convoy to the West Indies , where in January 1807 he was second in command under ( Sir ) Charles Brisbane at the reduction of Curaçao — a service for which a gold medal was awarded to the several captains engaged . In December 1808 Wood was moved into the 74 - gun ship HMS " Captain " , in which he took part in the Invasion of Martinique in February 1809 . In July he was transferred to , and sailed for England with a large convoy . On his arrival he was knighted , 1 November 1809 , and in the following March he was appointed to the " Pompee " , one of the Channel fleet , off Brest and in the Bay of Biscay . On 10 March 1812 broad off Ushant he sighted a French squadron some twelve miles distant . Of their nationality and force he was told by the frigate which had been watching them . It was then late in the afternoon , and when , about six o ' clock , two other ships were sighted apparently trying to join the enemy ' s squadron , and that squadron wore towards him as though hoping to cut him off , Wood judged it prudent to tack and stand from them during the night . The night was extremely dark , and in the morning the French squadron was no longer to be seen ; but the other two ships , still in sight , were recognised as English ships of the line . The affair gave rise to much talk ; Lord Keith was directed to inquire into it , and as his report was indecisive , the question was referred to a court - martial , which , after hearing much technical evidence — as to bearings , distances , and times — pronounced that Wood had been too hasty in tacking from the enemy , and that he ought to have taken steps at once to ascertain what the two strange ships were ; but also , that his fault was due to " erroneous impressions at the time , and not from any want of zeal for the good of his majesty ' s service . " That the sentence was merely an admonition which left no slur on Wood ' s character is evident from the fact that he remained in command of the " Pompée " — sent to join Lord Exmouth ' s flag in the Mediterranean — till November 1815 . On 4 June 1815 he was nominated a C . B . ; on 19 July 1821 he was promoted to be rear - admiral . He died at Hampstead , apparently unmarried , in July 1829 .