Robert Plampin Vice - Admiral Robert Plampin ( 1762 – 14 February 1834 ) , was a British Royal Navy officer during the late 18th and early 19th centuries , serving in the American Revolutionary War , the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars , but best known for his time as commander of the British colony of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic during the period when former Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned there . Born into a Navy family , Plampin went to sea at age 13 and fought throughout the American Revolutionary War , based principally in the Caribbean Sea . During the French Revolutionary Wars , Plampin served in a number of ships with mixed success , once being involved in a shipwreck and twice serving ashore during sieges . After the Peace of Amiens , Plampin took command of the ship of the line and operated successfully in the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean . In 1816 , following the defeat and capture of the French Emperor , Plampin was placed in command of the squadron at the Cape of Good Hope , which also had responsibility for Saint Helena , which Plampin regularly visited and had numerous conversations with Napoleon . Life . Plampin was born in 1762 , the son of naval officer John Plampin of Chadacre Hall , in Suffolk . Intended for a career at sea , Plampin joined the Navy in 1775 , aged 13 , and served aboard under Captain Francis Banks off the coast of North America during the American Revolutionary War . In 1778 , Plampin moved to at Gibraltar and subsequently moved in 1780 to , the flagship of Admiral Sir George Rodney . In " Sandwich " Plampin participated in the Battle of Martinique in April 1780 , and subsequent operations , earning a promotion to lieutenant aboard and returning to Britain . In 1781 , he operated in off Newfoundland , remaining on the station for the remainder of the war . Placed in reserve following the end of the war in 1783 , Plampin traveled widely in Europe , making specific studies of the French language in 1786 and the Dutch language in 1787 . At the Spanish Armament in 1790 , Plampin became a lieutenant on the new ship of the line under Sir Hyde Parker . Parker was impressed by his subordinate ' s language skills and intelligence and , in 1793 , suggested Plampin for a mission to the Netherlands , at that time allied to Britain in the French Revolutionary Wars . Plampin assumed command of a flotilla of gunboat s based in the Dutch harbour of Willemstad , then under siege by a French army under General Charles François Dumouriez . When the French withdrew from Willemstad later in the year , Plampin was awarded a gold medal and chain by the Dutch government . Plampin subsequently became a lieutenant in and sailed for the Mediterranean , joining the British fleet assisting the Royalist forces at the Siege of Toulon . Plampin became an interpreter for Rear - Admiral Samuel Goodall and then for Lord Hood until the end of the siege , when Plampin was promoted to commander and sent home with despatches . Independent command . In February 1794 , Plampin was given command of the small sloop " Albion " and then the floating battery , operating off the Scheldt and the Dutch coast . In April 1795 , he returned to the Mediterranean as a post captain in the sixth rate , acting as a scout for Captain Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Genoa and present but not engaged at the Battle of the Hyères Islands . In September 1795 , Plampin took command of the frigate , which was soon after struck by lightning and badly damaged . After repairs , Plampin returned to Britain where " Lowestoft " was paid off . In November 1798 , " Lowestoft " returned to service with Plampin in command for operations in the West Indies . After three years on convoy escort duty in the Caribbean , " Lowestoft " was wrecked in the Windward Passage with three merchant ships . As the frigate was carrying a large quantity of specie , Plampin summoned the small ship and successfully transferred the money and all of the frigates crew into the tiny vessel . For saving the specie , Plampin was paid the reward he had originally been promised for bringing it safely to Britain and was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing in the loss of his ship . After the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 , Plampin was briefly given command of before moving to the ship of the line attached to the Channel Fleet . In the autumn of 1805 , he was sent to Cadiz to join the squadron under Sir John Thomas Duckworth that was observing the remains of the Franco - Spanish fleet destroyed at the Battle of Trafalgar in the autumn . In November , Duckworth received accounts of a French squadron raiding off North Africa and sailed to investigate . Although the squadron he pursued escaped , Duckworth did encounter another force under Jean - Baptiste Willaumez on 25 December . Although he pursued the French for two days , Duckworth could not bring Willaumez to battle and eventually gave up the pursuit , ordering his squadron to sail for the Caribbean ( where they later encountered another French squadron at the Battle of San Domingo ) , but detaching Plampin to the Indian Ocean in case Willaumez was intending to raid there . Arriving in the Indian Ocean , Plampin found no sign of Willaumez ( who had remained in the Atlantic ) , but did discover that British trade was under constant attack from French frigates and privateers based on Île de France , which particularly targeted the large East Indiamen . On 13 June 1806 , Plampin captured the small privateer " Henrietta " off Trincomalee , but was especially concerned by the depredations of the large privateer frigate " Bellone " , which carried 34 guns . Disguising " Powerful " as an East Indiaman , Plampin cruised off Ceylon in search of the enemy and on 9 July discovered " Bellone " under pursuit by the Royal Navy sloop . Moving to cut " Bellone " off , " Powerful " was hampered by light winds and " Bellone " almost slipped between Plampin ' s ship and shore . However , the breeze gradually increased and Plampin was able to close with the privateer . The French ship defended itself and a running fight began that lasted for 105 minutes before " Bellone " surrendered , having caused greater casualties on " Powerful " than had been suffered herself . Napoleon ' s gaoler . After a brief voyage to Java , disease spread aboard " Powerful " and Plampin himself was taken ill , returning to Britain to recuperate . Rejoining the service in 1809 , Plampin commanded at the disastrous Walcheren Expedition and in 1810 commanded the squadron at Basque Roads near Brest in . In 1812 , he commanded the 98 - gun off Toulon and in 1814 was promoted to rear - admiral . In 1816 , following the end of the wars , Plampin was appointed commander at the Cape of Good Hope , replacing Rear - Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm . Part of Plampin ' s duties was to observe the former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte , who was kept prisoner in a house on the island of Saint Helena , deep in the Atlantic Ocean . Plampin regularly visited his prisoner and the two had a number of conversations that were recorded by the naval historian James Ralfe . On his return to Britain in September 1820 , Plampin applied to become a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath , but was informed by Lord Melville that such awards could only be made for service in the face of the enemy . Melville did however praise Plampin ' s war record in his reply . In 1825 , Plampin was again recalled to service , commanding the Irish squadron based at Cork , until 1828 , by which time he was a vice - admiral . He retired to his country home near Wanstead and managed his estates in Essex . He also travelled in Europe and it was on one such journey , in February 1834 , that Plampin died in Florence . His remains were brought back to England and buried at Wanstead . He was survived by his wife Fanny , who died in 1864 , but the couple had no children .