William Charles Fahie Vice - Admiral Sir William Charles Fahie KCB ( 1763 – 11 January 1833 ) was a prominent British Royal Navy officer during the American War of Independence , French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars . Unusually , Fahie ' s service was almost entirely spent in the West Indies , where he had been born and where he lived during the time he was in reserve and in his retirement . After extensive service in the Caribbean during the American War of Independence , during which Fahie impressed with his local knowledge , Fahie was in reserve between 1783 and 1793 , returning to service to participate in Sir John Jervis ' campaign against the French West Indian islands in 1794 . Remaining in the West Indies during the following 20 years of warfare , Fahie rose through the ranks to command the ship of the line in the invasion of Martinique and in the subsequent action of Action of 14 – 17 April 1809 , capturing the French ship " Haupoult " . In 1810 he participated in the invasion of Guadeloupe and transferred to European waters for the first time since 1780 . At the end of the war Fahie remained in service and eventually became commander - in - chief of the Leeward Islands . He retired in 1824 and was subsequently knighted , settling in Bermuda with his second wife . Life . Fahie was born in Saint Kitts , one of the Leeward Islands , the son of a judge and part of a prominent family of Irish settlers . In 1777 , aged 14 , he was sent to serve in the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War , joining under Captain John Colpoys . Within a year he had moved to , later transferring again to Sir George Rodney ' s flagship . On " Sandwich " he was engaged in the Battle of Cape St Vincent off Southern Spain in 1780 . Appointed lieutenant in the aftermath of the action , Fahie returned to the West Indies on , serving at the Battle of Martinique and the Battle of Saint Kitts . Due to his knowledge of the island , Fahie was selected to take messages to the besieged garrison on Saint Kitts but was briefly captured in the attempt , before being released . He later served at the Battle of the Saintes . At the end of the war , Fahie remained in service but in reserve , remaining on Saint Kitts with his family . In 1793 , at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars , Fahie was given command of the sloop , in which he participated in an attack on Fort - de - France , for which he was highly commended . He then served on Sir John Jervis ' flagship and then as captain of . In 1796 he became captain of HMS " Perdrix " . In her he engaged in one major action when on 12 December 1798 she took " L ' Armee d ' Italie " , a privateer of 18 guns . After a chase of 16 hours and an action of 42 minutes , the privateer was an unmanageable wreck . Of her crew of 117 men she had lost six dead and five wounded ; " Perdrix " had only one man wounded , and some damage to her sails and rigging . Fahie then served in European waters for some time , his first service out of the West Indies since 1780 . In 1799 his ship was paid off , and Fahie remained in reserve until 1804 , following the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars . Serving in command of in the West Indies , Fahie subsequently moved into and then , participating in the seizure of the Danish West Indies in 1807 under Sir Alexander Cochrane . For this service he was promoted into the ship of the line and was prominently involved in the invasion of Martinique in January 1809 . In the aftermath , Fahie exchanged ships with Commodore George Cockburn , taking over . " Pompee " was subsequently heavily engaged at the Action of 14 – 17 April 1809 with the French ship " D ' Hautpoult " . Fahie successfully captured his opponent , but was badly wounded in the battle . By January 1810 he had sufficiently recovered to participate in the invasion of Guadeloupe in the captured " D ' Haupoult " , renamed HMS " Abercromby " . In June 1810 , " Abercromby " escorted a convoy to Europe and was subsequently refitted in Britain , before join the squadron under Sir George Berkeley off Lisbon . For the next three years he operated in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel in " Abercromby " . Briefly in reserve following the peace of 1814 , Fahie returned to service during the Hundred Days as commander of the naval forces off Italy in . For his services in that role he was made a Commander of the Order of St Ferdinand and Merit by the King of the Two Sicilies . In 1815 he was also made a Companion of the Order of the Bath . Returning to the West Indies in reserve , Fahie was subsequently promoted to rear - admiral in April 1819 and made commander of the Leeward Islands the following year , in 1821 moving to Halifax , Nova Scotia as Commander - in - Chief , North American Station . When he left this command in 1824 , he retired from the Navy completely , settling in Bermuda with his second wife . During his retirement he continued to advance in rank , become a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in October 1824 and a vice - admiral in 1830 . He died on Bermuda in January 1833 , having lived almost his entire life in the Caribbean .