George Pocock Admiral Sir George Pocock , KB ( 6 March 1706 – 3 April 1792 ) was a British officer of the Royal Navy . Early career . Pocock was from Chieveley in Berkshire , the son of Thomas Pocock , a chaplain in the navy . George Pocock entered the navy in 1718 , serving aboard under the patronage of his maternal uncle , Captain Streynsham Master ( 1682 – 1724 ) . He became lieutenant in April 1725 , commander in 1733 , and post - captain in 1738 . After serving in the West Indies he was sent to the East Indies Station in 1754 as captain of the 58 - gun with Rear - Admiral Charles Watson . Watson ' s squadron co - operated with Clive in the conquest of Bengal . In 1755 Pocock became rear - admiral , and was promoted to vice - admiral in 1756 . Command of British naval forces in Indian waters . On the death of Watson in 1757 Pocock took the command of the naval forces in the East Indies . In 1758 he was joined by Commodore Charles Steevens ( d . 1761 ) , but the reinforcement only raised the squadron to seven small line - of - battle ships . War being now in progress between France and England the French sent a naval force from their islands in the Indian Ocean into the Bay of Bengal to the assistance of Pondicherry . To intercept the arrival of these reinforcements for the enemy now became the object of Pocock . The French force was indeed of less intrinsic strength than his own . Count D ' Aché who commanded it had to make up his line by including several Indiamen which were only armed merchant ships . Yet the number of the French was superior and Pocock was required by the practice of his time to fight by the old official fighting instructions . He had to bring his ships into action in a line with the enemy , and to preserve his formation while the engagement lasted . All Pocock ' s encounters with D ' Aché were indecisive . The first battle , on 29 April 1758 , failed to prevent the Frenchmen from reaching Pondicherry . After a second and more severe engagement on 3 August , the French admiral returned to Mauritius , and when the monsoon set in Pocock went round to Bombay . He was back early in spring , relieving the Siege of Madras , but the French admiral did not return to the Bay of Bengal till September . Again Pocock was unable to prevent his opponent from reaching Pondicherry , and a well - contested battle between them on 10 September 1759 proved again indecisive . The French government was nearly bankrupt , and D ' Aché could get no stores for his squadron . He was compelled to return to the islands , and the British were left in possession of the Coromandel and Malabar Coast s . Pocock went home in 1760 , and in 1761 was made a Knight of the Bath and admiral . Later career . In 1762 he was appointed to the command of the naval forces in the combined expedition which took Havana . The siege , which began on 7 June and lasted till 13 August , was rendered deadly by the climate . The final victory was largely attributable to the vigorous and intelligent aid which Pocock gave to the troops . His share in the prize money was no less than £122 , 697 . On his return to England Pocock is said to have been disappointed because another officer , Sir Charles Saunders , was chosen in preference to himself as a member of the Admiralty Board , and to have resigned in consequence . It is certain that he resigned his commission in 1766 . His monument is in Westminster Abbey . In 1763 Pocock married Sophia ( died 1767 ) , the widow of his friend Commodore Digby Dent , daughter of George Francis Drake of Madras and step - daughter of George Morton Pitt who had inherited Pitt ' s house at Twickenham now known as Orleans House . Their son George ( 1765 - 1840 ) was created a baronet and their daughter Sophia ( died 1811 ) married John 4th Earl Powlett .