Henry Inman ( Royal Navy officer ) Captain Henry Inman ( 1762 – 15 July 1809 ) was a British Royal Navy officer during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries , serving in the American Revolutionary War , the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars . Inman ' s service in the American war was punctuated by three shipwrecks : the burning of HMS " Lark " off Rhode Island in the face of a superior French squadron , the grounding of HMS " Santa Monica " on Tortola and the foundering of " Hector " following an engagement with two French ships in the Mid - Atlantic . After the war he was placed in reserve until the Spanish Armament of 1790 , when he was given command of the 14 - gun HMS " Pygmy " stationed off the Isle of Man . Inman ' s subsequent service career was principally in frigate s : he was engaged at the Siege of Toulon in HMS " Aurore " , in a raid at Dunkirk in HMS " Andromeda " and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen as captain of HMS " Désirée " . He later served on the ship of the line HMS " Triumph " at the Battle of Cape Finisterre and was subsequently called to give evidence at the court martial of Sir Robert Calder . After the battle off Finisterre , Inman suffered from ill - health and remained on shore duty until 1809 when he was appointed as Admiralty commissioner for Madras . The lengthy sea journey to India exacerbated his existing health problems and he died just ten days after his arrival . Early life . Henry Inman was born in 1762 , the son of the vicar of the Somerset village of Burrington , Reverend George Inman . Educated by his father until the age of 14 , Inman was sent to join the Royal Navy in 1776 , posted aboard the 90 - gun second rate HMS " Barfleur " . " Barfleur " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s captain was Sir Samuel Hood , later to become Viscount Hood , who formed a close personal and professional attachment to his subordinate that continued throughout Inman ' s military service . After two years on " Barfleur " , Inman was transferred to the frigate HMS " Lark " in 1778 for service off New England . The American Revolutionary War had broken out three years earlier , but " Barfleur " had been based in Britain and so there had been no opportunity for action aboard Hood ' s ship . His career in " Lark " was cut short on 5 August 1778 , when Captain John Brisbane , the senior officer off Rhode Island , ordered the frigate beached and burnt with four other ships when a French fleet under Vice - Admiral Comte d ' Estaing appeared off the harbour . Inman and the rest of the crew were transferred to shore duties and over the following week engaged D ' Estaing ' s ships from fixed gun batteries as they bombarded the British positions . Inman had lost all his personal possessions in the destruction of " Lark " and was forced to replace his uniform from his own wages when the Navy refused to provide compensation . Returning to Britain in the frigate HMS " Pearl " , Inman was promoted to lieutenant in 1780 and returned to the Americas in HMS " Camel " , transferred soon afterwards into HMS " Santa Monica " in the West Indies . Shortly after his arrival however , Inman was once again shipwrecked when " Santa Monica " grounded off Tortola . Although the crew reached the shore in small boats , the ship broke up rapidly and once again Inman lost all of his possessions . Remaining on shore service in the West Indies for the next two years , Inman was again employed in the aftermath of the Battle of the Saintes , appointed to the prize crew of the captured French vessel " Hector " for the journey to Britain . " Hector " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s masts and hull had been seriously damaged in the battle , requiring lighter spars to be fitted and 22 of her 74 guns removed to make her more seaworthy . As men could not be spared from the fleet , the 223 - strong prize crew was made up of men pressed in the Caribbean , principally invalids unfit for frontline service . On 14 August 1782 , " Hector " was separated from the rest of the prize ships in heavy weather and on 22 August encountered two large French frigates , " Aigle " of 40 guns and " Gloire " of 32 guns . Together these vessels significantly outclassed the leaky ship of the line in weight of shot , but Captain John Bourchier determined to resist the French attack , preparing " Hector " as the French approached . The French ships surrounded " Hector " at 02 : 00 and the engagement was furiously contested , with Bourchier wounded early on and many of his officers following him below with serious injuries . Within a short period , Inman was the only officer remaining on deck , but he was able to successfully drive the French away following a failed attempt to board , although " Hector " was left in a severely damaged state with 75 men killed or wounded . A hurricane that followed the battle inflicted further damage and the ship was badly flooded , seawater ruining the food supplies and threatening to sink the ship completely . Some of the crew were so ill and exhausted that they collapsed and died while manning the pumps , Inman only managing to prevent the remaining sailors from fleeing below decks by carrying loaded pistols and threatening men who refused his orders . Once the storm had abated it was clear that " Hector " was foundering , her rudder and masts torn away and the pumps unable to keep pace with the water leaking through the battered hull . For two weeks Inman made desperate efforts to keep the ship afloat , as food and water supplies ran low and the hull began to collapse in on itself . Fortunately for the men aboard " Hector " , the tiny snow " Hawke " appeared and approached the ship of the line to render assistance . Throwing his cargo overboard , Captain John Hill worked with Inman to supervise the transfer of all of " Hector " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s remaining men , many of whom were wounded or sick , into " Hawke " as " Hector " rapidly sank . No men were lost in the operation and Inman was the last to leave the ship of the line , " Hector " disappearing ten minutes after the last boat reached " Hawke " . The snow set sail for St John ' s in Newfoundland , its crew and passengers subsisting on short rations and arriving off the port on the same day as the consumption of the last water supplies . French Revolutionary Wars . With the Peace of Versailles in 1783 , the war ended and Inman was placed on half - pay in reserve , suffering from poor health caused by his ordeal on " Hector " . Retiring to his father ' s house in Somerset , Inman was not employed again until 1790 , when the Spanish Armament provoked a rapid expansion of the Navy . He was initially commissioned into the frigate HMS " Latona " under Captain Albemarle Bertie , but in the aftermath of the emergency Inman was given command of the 14 - gun cutter HMS " Pygmy " , stationed on the Isle of Man . He also married the daughter of Commander Thomas Dalby in 1791 ; the couple would have a son and a daughter . With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 , Inman was transferred to Lord Hood ' s flagship HMS " Victory " in the Mediterranean , receiving a promotion to commander on 11 September . Serving during the Siege of Toulon , Inman assisted in the removal of captured French ships from Toulon harbour and as a reward was promoted to post captain on 9 October and given command of the newly captured HMS " Aurore " . Stationed off Hyères , " Aurore " was heavily engaged with French Republican gun batteries and expended 20 , 000 cannonballs in November and December . When Toulon fell to the Republicans on 18 December 1793 , Inman was initially sent to Corsica and then tasked with carrying a large number of Republican prisoners of war to Malta . With an understrength crew , Inman had difficulty in controlling the prisoners , who deliberately holed the bottom of the ship during the voyage . On arriving at Malta , Inman anchored his leaking ship in deep water under the guns of the port ' s defensive batteries and then removed his entire crew , leaving instructions with the prisoners that they could either pump out the water and repair the damage or drown when the ship sank . The prisoners repaired the ship and were taken into captivity on Malta . Transferred from " Aurore " , Inman spent a brief period on the frigate HMS " San Fiorenzo " before returning to Britain in command of the fourth rate HMS " Romney " . " Romney " was paid off on arrival in Britain and Inman returned to the reserve until 1796 , when he was made temporary captain of HMS " Lion " and then took command of the frigate HMS " Espion " . Ordered to sail for the River Clyde , Inman set sail with his family on board but " Espion " , an old ship in a poor state of repair , was struck by a gale in the English Channel and was almost destroyed . Eventually reaching safety in Spithead , " Espion " was reduced to the reserve until extensive repairs could be made and Inman was again placed on half - pay . He was reinstated in 1797 as temporary commander of the ship of the line HMS " Belliqueux " in the immediate aftermath of the Nore Mutiny . " Belliqueux " had been heavily involved in the uprising : three members of the crew were under sentence of death and six others facing severe punishment for their part in the revolt . Inman was consequently afraid for his life and for the next six months slept with three loaded pistols beside him . " Belliqueux " was assigned to the blockade of the French Atlantic seaport of Brest and Inman continued to perform this service after he was moved to HMS " Ramillies " during 1798 , in which he participated in the chase that eventually led to the capture of " Hercule " . He was subsequently posted to the frigate HMS " Andromeda " in early 1799 . " Désirée " and Copenhagen . On 2 August 1799 , Inman seized the neutral merchant ship " Vrienden " carrying a cargo of hemp . Although the vessel ' s legal state was uncertain , no merchant claimed its cargo and in 1802 she was condemned and sold for over 247 " l . " In November 1799 , " Andromeda " was attached to the force that evacuated the Duke of York ' s army following the failure of the Expedition to Holland and he remained in the region , observing movements off the Elbe . " Andromeda " also participated in the Raid on Dunkirk on 7 July 1800 , when four French frigates were attacked by a squadron of British ships in Dunkirk harbour . Although an assault with fireships failed , the French frigate " Désirée " was captured by HMS " Dart " , with Inman following in the cutter " Vigilant " , crewed by thirty volunteers from " Andromeda " . Under fire from all sides , Inman successfully boarded the French ship following her surrender and brought her out of the harbour , sending the crew ashore on parole rather than detach men to guard them . " Désirée " was brought back to Britain and commissioned into the Royal Navy , Inman taking command of the new frigate . In 1801 , " Désirée " was attached to the fleet gathering at Yarmouth under Sir Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson for service in the Baltic Sea against the League of Armed Neutrality . Sailing for Denmark in March , the fleet anchored off Copenhagen and on 1 April a squadron under Nelson closed with the Danish fleet , which was anchored in a line of battle protecting the harbour . " Désirée " was ordered to operate at the Southern end of the Danish line , engaging shore batteries and nearby ships while their attention was focused on the main British battleline . When the battle began at 10 : 00 on 2 April , Inman engaged the " Provesteen " , which was firing on the 50 - gun HMS " Isis " . " Désirée " succeeded in inflicting considerable damage on the Danish ship and drew some fire away from the battered " Isis " . Once " Provesteen " had been abandoned by her Danish crew " Désirée " was engaged with a number of Danish shore batteries , but due to poor aim of the Danish gunners , who fired over the frigate throughout the engagement , she was not badly damaged and suffered only four men wounded in the battle . At 14 : 00 Danish fire slackened and shortly afterwards Nelson began to withdraw his ships out of range of the Danes . A number of his ships of the line grounded on the complicated shoals in the region and when " Désirée " came to the assistance of HMS " Bellona " she too became stuck . " Bellona " was hauled off by " Isis " shortly afterwards , but " Désirée " was forced to remain on the sandbank for two days until boats from the squadron could be spared to drag her free . Napoleonic Wars . At the Peace of Amiens , " Désirée " remained in service with orders to sail for the West Indies . Inman , whose health was beginning to suffer , resigned command and returned to his family on half - pay until the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 , when he was given the 64 - gun ship of the line HMS " Utrecht " . In 1804 he moved from " Utrecht " to the 74 - gun HMS " Triumph " and in February 1805 was attached to the fleet under Sir Robert Calder stationed off Cape Finisterre during the Trafalgar campaign . At 11 : 00 on 22 July , Calder sighted the French and Spanish fleet under Vice - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve emerging from the fog off Ferrol and attacked , " Triumph " third in line behind HMS " Hero " and HMS " Ajax " . The battle lines tacked and closed with one another , beginning a general action at 18 : 00 , eventually separating at 21 : 30 . " Triumph " was heavily engaged in the melee , in which two Spanish ships were captured , and suffered severe damage although light casualties of five killed and six wounded . On 26 July , Inman was briefly detached from the fleet to chase away the French frigate " Didon " before returning to her station in the battle line , but the action was not resumed , Calder ordering the fleet to return to Britain . In the aftermath of the battle , Calder faced a court martial for his failure to resume the engagement and Inman was called to give evidence : when questioned as to why he had not informed Calder about the damage to his ship , Inman replied " I did not think that a proper time to trouble the admiral with my complaints " . Inman ' s health had suffered during his long career at sea , and although he returned to sea in December 1805 aboard " Triumph " during the Atlantic campaign of 1806 as part of the squadron under Rear - Admiral Sir Richard Strachan , his ill - health forced his replacement by Sir Thomas Hardy in May . Returning to his family ashore , Inman was initially given command of the sea fencibles at King ' s Lynn before he was made Admiralty commissioner at Madras by Lord Mulgrave in 1809 . The journey to India broke his health completely and he died on 15 July 1809 , just ten days after arriving in Madras .