Francis Fane ( Royal Navy officer ) Rear - Admiral Francis William Fane ( 14 October 1778 – 28 March 1844 ) son of John Fane ( 1751 – 1824 ) was a British Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in several engagements while commissioned on the frigate HMS " Terpsichore " , including the blockade of Alexandria . There he was commended for rescuing five French soldiers from a group of Bedouin partisans , despite coming under fire from the people he was trying to rescue . He advanced rapidly through the ranks , and by 1810 was in command of his own frigate , participating in the Peninsular War . It was during this campaign that he was captured during an operation at Palamós , remaining a prisoner for the remainder of the war . After the peace of 1815 , Fane did not continue in active service , and although he was promoted to admiral in 1844 he did not serve again at sea . Life . Francis William Fane entered the Royal Navy on 15 April 1795 as a young midshipman , and rapidly impressed his superiors with his service during the French Revolutionary Wars aboard the frigate HMS " Terpsichore " . On 24 October 1796 , " Terpsichore " was cruising near Cartagena , Spain , when she encountered the Spanish frigate " Mahonesa " . Engaging the enemy directly , Captain Richard Bowen was able to defeat and capture the Spanish ship , despite his own vessel taking serious damage . Two months later , after hasty repairs at Gibraltar , Bowen was again cruising the Spanish coast , when on 12 December he sighted and chased the French frigate " Vestale " . In a fierce engagement , the French ship was forced to surrender , although Fane was badly wounded in the exchange of cannon fire . During the night however the ships became separated and by morning the French crew had overpowered the British sailors placed aboard their ship and taken it into Cadiz . Bowen was killed during the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797 , and was replaced by Captain William Hall Gage . In May 1798 , " Terpsichore " was attached to the squadron under Rear - Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson that participated in the Mediterranean Campaign of 1798 , but were separated from the main squadron in late May and did not return until mid - August , by which time Nelson had already defeated the French at the Battle of the Nile off Egypt . Attached to the squadron under Sir Samuel Hood ordered to blockade Alexandria , " Terpsichore " assisted in the destruction of French vessels entering or leaving the port . On 2 September , a squadron including " Terpsichore " drove the cutter " Anémone " ashore , but as the French survivors scrambled onto the beach they were intercepted by Bedouin partisans . As the British watched from beyond the heavy surf , the Bedouins began massacring the survivors , and desperate attempts to reach the beach by boat were driven back under fire from the French . In desperation , Lieutenant Fane dived into the sea with an empty barrel tied to a rope and swam ashore , dragging five French soldiers back to the ships , the only survivors of the massacre . Fane ' s promotion was one of the fastest in the fleet , and by 1804 he had been made a post captain , taking over the 28 - gun frigate HMS " Hind " . By 1810 he was in command of the frigate HMS " Cambrian " and was actively supporting the Spanish war effort against the French in the Peninsula War , attacking French coastal positions . Once such raid ended in disaster however at Palamós , when a British amphibious assault on 13 December 1810 was forced to retreat in confusion . Fane , who was leading a boarding party , became cut off at the town ' s mole and was eventually forced to surrender . Fane remained a prisoner for the rest of the war , and did not return to active service once it ended . Despite remaining in reserve and receiving a promotion to rear - admiral in 1837 , Fane did not serve again and died on 28 March 1844 at Bath . He was survived by his wife , Anne " neé " Flint , who remarried Lord Thomond in 1847 . Family . Fane was the youngest son of John Fane ( 1751 – 1824 ) and Lady Elizabeth , daughter of Thomas Parker , 3rd Earl of Macclesfield , in 1773 .