George Murray ( Royal Navy officer ) Vice - Admiral Sir George Murray KCB ( January 1759 – 28 February 1819 ) was an officer in the Royal Navy who saw service in a wide range of theatres and campaigns . His active naval career spanned the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Murray served under many of the most notable commanders of his age and participated in several of their greatest victories . He was with Parker and Howe in the West Indies and North America , Johnstone and Hughes in the East Indies , Jervis at Cape St Vincent , Nelson at Copenhagen , and took part in a host of other actions and engagements . Temporarily a captive of the French he was a keen scholar and spent time learning the French language and their naval customs , as well as being a competent surveyor , experience that was to help him in later life . He had a particularly enduring friendship with Nelson , who personally requested his services as his captain of the fleet . It was only chance that prevented Murray from serving as such at Trafalgar . With Murray absent , Nelson declined to appoint a replacement , one biographer reasoning that " none but Murray would do " . Family and early life . George Murray was born in Chichester in January 1759 . His father was Gideon Murray , Alderman of that city . He began his naval career at the age of 11 , when he was entered in the books of Captain Francis Banks ' s , which was serving in the Mediterranean , as a captain ' s servant . His proper service in the navy likely began in 1772 , when he joined , the flagship of Commodore Molyneux Shuldham , for service on the Newfoundland station . He then transferred to the flagship of John Montagu , the 50 - gun , and again in time to join Sir Peter Parker ' s flagship for the attack on Sullivan ' s Island on 28 June 1776 . He moved into after this and continued to serve with Parker along the North American coast , participating in the occupation of Rhode Island in December 1776 . After receiving favourable reports of his conduct , Vice - Admiral Lord Howe requested Murray ' s services and he was transferred to . Murray went on to see action in Howe ' s campaigns to disrupt the French fleet under comte d ' Estaing in the summer of 1778 . Home waters . Howe and Murray returned to England in 1778 . Howe was disaffected by his experiences of command in North America , and consequently did not bestow patronage on those junior officers under his command , as was the custom . Instead a friend of Murray ' s father , Captain George Montagu arranged for him to draw up a record of his service and good conduct in the North American campaign , which was then passed on to the First Lord of the Admiralty , John Montagu , 4th Earl of Sandwich . He passed his lieutenant ' s examination on 19 November 1778 , and quickly received his commission on 31 December that year . He was to be second lieutenant aboard the 32 - gun , under Captain Charles Holmes Everitt . It was to be a short - lived appointment as on 19 March 1779 she ran aground and was wrecked on the Breton coast while chasing a French frigate . Murray was captured and became a prisoner of war , spending the next two years in captivity and occupying himself with the study of the French language and naval regulations . He was released and exchanged when he came to the attention of the French authorities after chastising an American privateersman for wearing a British uniform . East Indies . Murray had made it back to England by early 1781 and received an appointment to the 64 - gun as her first lieutenant . The " Monmouth " , commanded by fellow townsman James Alms , set sail to the East Indies in April 1781 . Murray also took part in the Battle of Porto Praya against the Bailli de Suffren , and went on to face him again with Sir Edward Hughes ' s fleet off the coast of India at the Battle of Sadras on 15 February 1782 , and at the Battle of Providien on 12 April 1782 . Murray moved aboard Hughes ' s flagship , the 74 - gun shortly after the engagement at Providien , and went on to take part in the battles of Negapatam and Trincomalee , being wounded in the latter . Murray received his first command on 9 October 1782 , that of the fireship , but he was promoted to post - captain three days later and appointed to the 22 - gun storeship and former Spanish privateer . He remained with her during the last engagement between Hughes and de Suffren , the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783 , after which he was transferred to the 64 - gun for his return to England . Years of peace . Without active employment following the Peace of Paris and the end of the American War of Independence , Murray spent several years in study , residing in France for a two - year period in order to refine his language skills . The Nootka Crisis in June 1790 led to Murray ' s return to service in command of the 32 - gun frigate . He continued in her for the next few years , and by April 1791 he was occupied in surveying the Great Belt , and the approaches into Copenhagen . He spent the remainder of the peace serving at Halifax and Jamaica , returning to England in June 1793 after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars . French Revolutionary Wars . He was appointed to the 36 - gun in March 1794 and went on to serve as part of Sir John Borlase Warren ' s squadron . He was present at the Action of 23 April 1794 off Guernsey , where Warren ' s four frigates fought an engagement with three French frigates and a corvette , capturing two frigates and the corvette . He was still in command a year later when he and the " Nymphe " were engaged in Lord Bridport ' s victory at the Battle of Groix on 23 June 1795 . He took advantage of a brief period of shore leave after this to marry Ann Teesdale on 15 September 1795 , but was back at sea two weeks later , in command of the 90 - gun . Jervis and Cape St Vincent . Murray ' s next assignment was to take command of the 74 - gun in 1796 . He sailed to join Sir John Jervis ' s fleet and took up station commanding the inshore squadron blockading Cadiz . While there the Spanish admiral of the port invited Murray to attend a bullfight , offering his nephew as a temporary guarantee of Murray ' s safety . Murray saw action at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797 , where he and " Colossus " formed up near the centre of the British line . As the British ships broke through the Spanish line and tacked around to engage their van , Spanish Vice - Admiral Joaquin Moreno in the rear saw an opportunity to exploit a weakness in the British formation . Pulling forward in his flagship " Principe de Asturias " he came across the bows of the British line , cutting between , which had already tacked , and HMS " Colossus " , which was just preparing to . He then fired a broadside at the vulnerable bows of " Colossus " , damaging her main foreyard and causing her to miss stays . She began to drift out of the line while Murray and his crew struggled to regain manoeuvrability . Seeing her predicament , " Orion " dropped back to cover " Colossus " with a broadside . Despite this setback " Colossus " only sustained five wounded during the course of the battle , which ended in a British victory . Loss of the " Colossus " . Murray continued to serve with Jervis until he was despatched to join Horatio Nelson in the Mediterranean . He rendezvoused with him at Naples , but the " Colossus " was by now so worn out that Nelson sent Murray back to Britain as a convoy escort , and carrying a cargo of artefacts from Sir William Hamilton ' s collection . The " Colossus " reached the Channel safely but a north - east gale blew up , forcing Murray to seek shelter in the waters off the Isles of Scilly . He initially anchored in St Marys Roads but the storm worsened and her anchors dragged , and on 7 December 1798 she ran onto a ledge of rocks and was wrecked . There was one casualty in the sinking , and many of Sir William Hamilton ' s treasures in his collection were lost with her . A court - martial was convened , at which Murray was honourably acquitted of blame and assigned to command the 84 - gun with the Channel Fleet . In March 1801 he was moved to the 74 - gun and assigned to Sir Hyde Parker ' s Baltic expedition , where it was anticipated that his previous experience in the Baltic would be an asset . Nelson and Copenhagen . Detached with Nelson ' s expeditionary squadron for the expeditionary assault on Copenhagen on 2 April , Murray was given the task of leading the British force into the harbour , using channels he had helped to chart a decade earlier . She eventually passed by four Danish ships , taking fire from each one , before anchoring opposite the " Jylland " , which she engaged for the next four hours of the battle . By the time the truce was concluded , the " Edgar " had taken casualties of 31 killed and 104 wounded . During the peace negotiations with the Danish , and the subsequent foray to watch the Swedish forces at Karlskrona , Murray developed a strong rapport with Nelson , who had replaced Parker after the latter ' s recall to Britain . Captain of the fleet . With the resumption of hostilities after the Peace of Amiens , Murray returned to sea in command of the 74 - gun , but word soon reached him that Nelson had requested him to be his captain of the fleet in the Mediterranean . Murray was initially reluctant to accept the offer , and on being asked why , replied that the nature of the service was such , as very frequently terminated in disagreement between the admiral and the captain ; and he should be extremely unwilling to hazard any possible thing that should diminish the regard and respect which he should ever entertain for his lordship . Nelson ' s response was to express agreement with Murray that such situations could occur , but reminded him that on whatever he [ Murray ] might be called , or whatever measure he might be directed to carry into execution , he never should forget the intimacy which subsisted between them ; and even , should anything go contrary to his wishes , he would wave the rank of admiral , and explain , or expostulate with him , as his friend , Murray . Murray then accepted the post , and remained with Nelson as his captain of the fleet during the blockade of Toulon between 1803 and 1805 , and the subsequent chase of Villeneuve and his fleet to the West Indies and back in 1805 . He had been promoted to rear - admiral on 23 April 1804 , but declined to raise his flag so as to be able to continue on with Nelson . The fleet returned to England in August 1805 , where Murray learnt that his father - in - law had died , leaving him as executor of his estates . While Nelson sailed to take up command of the fleet blockading Cadiz , Murray was compelled to remain in England and attend to family affairs . Nelson did not therefore have a captain of the fleet at Trafalgar , for as one biographer stated " none but Murray would do " . Later service . Murray ' s last operational command was in November 1806 , when he was assigned as commander - in - chief of the naval forces involved in the operations to capture Buenos Aires , supporting General John Whitelocke ' s soldiers . Murray and the naval forces were for the most part limited to conveying troops , and subsequently organising their evacuation . He returned home in January 1808 , and was promoted to vice - admiral on 25 October 1809 . A nomination to be a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath followed on 2 January 1815 . He died suddenly at his home in Chichester on 28 February 1819 . His obituary reported that he had gone to bed " in good health , and was seized by a spasmodic affectation in his chest , which terminated his existence at 8 o ' clock " . The " Naval Chronicle " declared that Admiral Murray ' s disposition is so gentle , and his manners are so mild , that but few men are equally well beloved in the navy ; while few possess the facility of commanding with such ease , and , at the same time , with such energy and effect . His wife Ann outlived him by a considerable number of years . She died in Boulogne in 1859 , at the age of 95 .