Robert Carthew Reynolds Rear - Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds ( " bap . " 30 July 1745 – 24 December 1811 ) was a long serving and widely respected officer of the British Royal Navy who served in four separate major wars in a 52 - year career . During this time he saw only one major battle , although was engaged in one of the most noted frigate actions of the French Revolutionary Wars , the destruction of the " Droits de l ' Homme " , in which his own frigate was driven ashore and wrecked . Reynolds died in 1811 during a great storm in late December , which scattered his convoy and wrecked three ships of the line including his own flagship HMS " St George " . Over 2 , 000 British sailors , including Reynolds , were drowned . Early career . Reynolds was born in the village of Lamorran in Cornwall in 1745 . His exact date of birth is unknown , but he was baptised on 30 July to parents John and Elizabeth Reynolds . Robert Reynolds joined the Royal Navy at 14 , under Captain George Edgcumbe in HMS " Hero " during the Seven Years War . A few months after joining the ship , " Hero " was engaged in the Battle of Quiberon Bay at which a French fleet was destroyed . Although there is no direct proof of his presence at the action , it is likely that Reynolds was on board and witnessed the engagement first hand . Reynolds remained with the ship for several years and during the 1760s served on HMS " Brilliant " , HMS " Pearl " and HMS " Venus " , becoming a midshipman and passing the lieutenant ' s exam in 1770 . Due to the restrictions in the size of the peacetime navy , Reynolds was not actually promoted to lieutenant until 1777 , following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War . Reynolds saw action in the war , remaining aboard HMS " Royal George " , HMS " Barfleur " and HMS " Britannia " in the Channel Fleet until 1783 when he sailed for the West Indies as commander of the storeship HMS " Dolphin " . In 1786 he took over the sloop HMS " Echo " on the Newfoundland Station and in 1788 returned to Europe , being promoted and made temporary captain of HMS " Barfleur " at the Spanish emergency in 1790 . Wars with France . In 1795 , Reynolds was called out of half - pay in Penair near Truro and given command of the frigate HMS " Druid " . A year later he moved to HMS " Amazon " , in which he served under Sir Edward Pellew in HMS " Indefatigable " . In Pellew ' s squadron , Reynolds participated in the capture of the French frigate " Unité " . He was still under Pellew in the Action of 13 January 1797 when " Amazon " , in company with HMS " Indefatigable " , engaged and drove ashore the much larger French ship of the line " Droits de l ' Homme " . In the heavy storm in which the battle was fought , " Amazon " became unmanageable and was also wrecked , although the frigate was beached and all but six of her men survived , unlike her larger opponent which was run on a sandbar and destroyed with hundreds of lives lost . Reynolds and his crew were made prisoners on reaching the shore , but less than a year later he was exchanged and returned to Britain , being honourably acquitted at a court - martial into the loss of his ship . Reynolds was given command of the large prize frigate HMS " Pomone " and in her operated in the Bay of Biscay during which time he captured several enemy privateers , including the " Cheri " in 1798 . In 1800 , he was given command of the ship of the line HMS " Cumberland " . In 1801 , Reynolds transferred to HMS " Orion " , but was placed in reserve during the Peace of Amiens , being given command of the Cornish sea fencibles until 1804 . In the same year his eldest son , also named Robert , was killed in action with the French off Martinique . His younger son Barrington Reynolds also served in the Royal Navy and later became a highly - respected admiral in his own right . Christmas storm of 1811 . In 1804 Reynolds returned to the sea in HMS " Dreadnought " , moving soon afterwards into HMS " Princess Royal " in which he remained until 1807 . In 1808 Reynolds was made a rear - admiral , and in 1810 was ordered to the Baltic Sea as second - in - command to James Saumarez . Reynolds raised his flag in HMS " St George " . He remained in the Baltic until 1811 , when on 1 November he took command of a large convoy from Hanö to England . The weather was extremely bad , and the convoy failed to pass through the Skagerrak three times before managing in mid - November . As they sheltered close to Jutland , storms drove dozens of the convoy ashore , and one loose merchant ship collided with " St George " , tearing away anchors and beaching the flagship , which was badly damaged . " St George " was refloated and underwent a month of repairs , escorted by ships of the line HMS " Defence " and HMS " Cressy " . On 17 December the battered flagship returned to sea , Reynolds hoping to reach Britain before the weather worsened further . Seven days later however , on Christmas Eve , the remains of the convoy was struck by the biggest storm in the North Sea in many years . " St George " , " Defence " and numerous other ships were flung onto the reefs on Jutland ' s western coast , where they were broken up by the heavy seas . Of " St George ' s " 850 crew only 12 survived , Reynolds was not among them . All but six of " Defence ' s " crew were drowned and only " Cressy " escaped the disaster . Hours later another large British convoy was driven onto the Haak Sands off the Texel , bringing the death toll in the Royal Navy alone to over 2 , 000 . Reynolds ' s last moments were recorded by survivor John Anderson , who recounted that the admiral had remained below decks after the ship had struck and was only brought on deck , having been seriously injured , when the sea flooded his cabin . Just a few hours later he was dead , succumbing to exposure with over 500 of his crew . An attempt was made some days later to recover his remains , but they were not found , the deck having been washed away by the high seas . His remains are probably interred with the other bodies which washed ashore over the next weeks in an area now known as " Dead Men ' s Dunes " . Home . Penair House in the parish of St Clement , Cornwall was built by Rear - Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds ( d . 1811 ) and was the residence of his son Barrington Reynolds . This house replaced an older one at least going back as far as the 17th century . A fine monument in St Clement parish church commemorates the Rear - Admiral : it is from the studio of Micali , Leghorn , and shows a young soldier and two women , the soldier points to a monument with a naval battle , above is the portrait medallion . Arthur Mee suggests that the figures represent his children but if he had two sons this is unlikely . His eldest son predeceased him on active service during the Napoleonic Wars ; his second son Barrington suffered in his youth from severe bouts of ill - health .