Albin Roussin Albin Reine Roussin ( 21 April 1781 – 21 February 1854 ) was a French admiral and statesman . Republic and Empire . His father was a lawyer who was arrested during the French Revolution when Roussin was aged twelve . He left home in Dijon and travelled to Dunkerque where he enlisted as a cadet in the French Navy in December of 1793 . He served from 1794 to 1797 on various frigates . In 1801 he sat and passed the midshipman s exam following to lessons from the hydrographer Jean Petit - Genet . His first posting as an officer was to command a gunboat at Antwerp , part of the " National Flotilla " of coastal ships , collecting in various Channel ports for Napoleon ' s projected invasion of England . By 1803 he was promoted to ensign and embarked aboard the frigate " Sémillante " under the command of Captain Léonard - Bernard Motard . They would spend six years in the Indian Ocean , based on Réunion , preying on British shipping bound to and from India . The worn - out " Sémillante " was paid off at Mauritius in 1808 after sustaining damage in a fight with the Royal Navy frigate " Terpsichore " . Roussin was promoted to lieutenant and posted to the corvette " Iéna " . A cruise in the Persian Gulf and the Bay of Bengal ended when the " Iéna " encountered the 46 - gun Royal Navy frigate " Modeste " off Calcutta and was captured after a two - hour engagement on 8 October 1808 . Roussin and his captain , Lieutenant Maurice , were exchanged at the end of 1809 and returned to Réunion . Roussin was appointed second in command to Bouvet de Maisonneuve aboard the frigate " Minerve " , a prize taken by Guy - Victor Duperré . Roussin received a mention in Bouvet ' s dispatches for his conduct during the battle of Grand Port in August 1810 . However , the French success at Grand Port was only a temporary setback to British plans to conquer Mauritius and Réunion , and Governor Comte Decaen finally signed a capitulation in December . Roussin was repatriated to France where he met the Emperor , who confirmed his promotion to Captain and presented him with the légion d ' honneur . Roussin was posted to command the frigate " Gloire " fitting out at Le Havre . After training , he cruised in the Atlantic Ocean from December 1812 to April 1813 , taking fifteen prizes , including two sloop s . Bourbon rule . Under the restored monarchy of Louis XVIII , Roussin was promoted again and made a Chevalier de St Louis . When Napoleon returned to power during the Hundred Days , he was dismissed , but returned to service when Louis XVIII was again restored . Following the infamous wreck of the " Medusa " off the Senegal coast in 1816 , Roussin was given the task of surveying the African coast from Senegal to Guinea by Minster of Marine Count Molé . Following this , he surveyed the mouth of the River Amazon in 1819 . He was made a Baron in 1820 . In 1821 he took a squadron to South America , ostensibly to protect French trade , but with secret instructions to seek a quarrel with the forces fighting for independence from Spain led by Simón Bolívar , Bernardo O ' Higgins and José de San Martín . Returning to France in 1822 , he was promoted to Rear Admiral . From 1824 until 1827 he served in administrative posts ashore . Roussin returned to sea in May 1828 , flying his flag aboard the ship of the line " Jean Bart " . He led a squadron to Brazil to persuade , through gunboat diplomacy if need be , the Brazilian Emperor Pedro I to pay compensation for French ships captured by the Brazilian Navy during the Cisplatine War . He arrived off Rio de Janeiro on 5 July 1828 and simply sailed into the harbour , ignoring the guns at the entrance , anchoring off the city . After saluting the Brazilian flag , he requested and received an audience with Emperor Pedro where the damages to be paid to French shipowners were agreed . On his return to France , Roussin was congratulated for solving the problem by diplomacy , and was appointed by King Charles X to the honorary post of Gentleman of the bedchamber . On 25 January 1830 he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in recognition of his work on geography and navigation . He would later serve as member of the Bureau studying longitudes . Later in 1830 he turned the offer of commanding the naval force which supported Bourmont ' s attack on Algiers . Louis - Philippe . The July Revolution which brought Louis - Philippe to the throne , unlike the return of Napoleon in 1815 , did not interrupt Roussin ' s career . he was given responsible for personnel at the Navy Ministry , in which post he oversaw the creation of the École Navale at Brest . He served as Minister of Marine from 1 March 1840 to 29 October 1840 and again from 7 February 1843 to 24 July 1843 when he retired due to ill - health Family . Roussin married in 1814 with Illumante Bihet Pontigny . They had two daughters and a son , Albert , who was later an admiral and also served as Minister of Marine .