George Thorp ( Royal Navy officer ) George Thorp ( 9 September 1777 – 25 July 1797 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the French Revolutionary Wars . His short , but distinguished , career culminated in service as first lieutenant of the frigate and his death , aged 19 , at the side of his commanding officer , Captain Richard Bowen , in the assault on Santa Cruz , Tenerife . Family and early life . George Thorp was born on 9 September 1777 , the fourth son of Dr Robert Thorp MA , DD , Rector of Ryton from 1781 to 1795 , Archdeacon of Northumberland from 1792 to 1806 , a distinguished mathematician ( senior wrangler at Cambridge in 1758 ) and Latin scholar . In 1788 , Pooley Onslow , a first cousin of George ' s and daughter of his father ' s sister Jane , married Rear Admiral Sir Francis Samuel Drake , 1st Baronet , brother of Sir Francis Henry Drake , 5th Baronet and last in the line of baronets descended from Sir Francis Drake , 1st Baronet , nephew of the Elizabethan naval hero Sir Francis Drake . In the year following his marriage Sir Samuel , as he was known , was appointed a junior lord of the admiralty , though dying shortly afterwards . The marriage likely gave Lady Drake the ear of many senior naval officers in addition to those of other distinguished persons known to her father , George Onslow , Member of Parliament and an ex - army officer and her grandfather , Lieutenant - General Richard Onslow . Surviving correspondence between George and his family makes clear the patronage he received from Lady Drake throughout his short career . Enlistment at Portsmouth . Thorp joined the Royal Navy in Portsmouth in February 1790 , aged 12 , and served in the following ships : For his arrival at Portsmouth , Lady Drake provided George with several letters of introduction . Dr Thorp , who accompanied his young son , wrote to his wife in Gateshead " George has got a letter from Lord Hood to his Captain which cannot fail to procure him a good reception . . . Lady Drake has also got him letters to Capt . Onslow & Adm . Roddam . . . " ( Vice - Admiral Robert Roddam , Commander - in - Chief at Portsmouth ) . " Roddam will have to introduce him to the several officers of the ship . " HMS " Thisbe " . Most of Thorp ' s period on his first ship , the 28 - gun " Enterprise " - class sixth - rate frigate was spent in Nova Scotia , for which the frigate sailed in March 1790 , returning to England in July of the following year . Correspondence from Thorp to his family during this time seems to have been lost or perhaps there was none , so little is known of his activities , but the ship was at Nova Scotia during the Nootka Crisis . It was feared that war might be declared with Spain and Thorp ' s captain , Rupert George , was foremost among captains of other ships in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain authority to press local men into service to make up the difference between ships ' peacetime and wartime complements , suggesting that " Thisbe " may have been maintained in a state of preparedness for action that provided good training for Thorp . On " Thisbe " ' s return to England in July 1791 , Thorp transferred to the ship - of - the - line " Magnificent " . HMS " Juno " . On 16 November 1791 , Thorp reported on board the frigate ( 32 guns ) , under the command of Captain Samuel Hood , a cousin once removed of Lord Hood and later to become Vice - Admiral Sir Samuel Hood , 1st Baronet . Throughout 1792 , " Juno " was based at Weymouth in attendance on the King and frequently embarked members of the Royal Family . Early in 1793 she joined the Mediterranean Fleet under Lord Hood . The " Juno " later took part in some notable events during the time Thorp served in her . Escape from Toulon . In a letter to his family , Thorp gives a vivid account of the " Juno " ' s night - time arrival in Toulon on 11 January 1794 with a contingent of army onboard numbering half as many again as the ship ' s company , to provide urgently needed assistance for the occupying force under the command of Lord Hood , only to discover after anchoring that the English fleet had vacated Toulon , which was now under French occupation , escaping under point - blank fire from ships and shore batteries . Attack on the tower and redoubt at Mortella Bay , Corsica . On 7 February 1794 , " Juno " , in company with the ship - of - the - line " Fortitude " ( 74 guns ) , carried out an attack on the tower at Mortella Point , Corsica . The tower held out at first because of its robust design , inflicting heavy damage on the " Fortitude " with red - hot shot and causing the ships to withdraw temporarily . As the tower ' s two 18 - pounder guns could only fire in a seaward direction a scheme was hatched to attack it from the landward side , involving almost inhuman effort in landing and hauling ship ' s guns and ammunition up the steep terrain to a point behind and overlooking the tower , from which a successful bombardment was mounted . Thorp was ashore and one of the party involved throughout the successful attack and wrote a detailed account of the action to his parents . A dramatic account of what Thorp described as " the worst was to come " is given in William James ' " The Naval History of Great Britain , Vol . 1 " HMS " Aigle " . When Captain Hood transferred from the " Juno " to the bigger frigate ( 38 guns ) in March of 1794 he took with him a contingent of officers and men that included Midshipman Thorp . Corsica . Between April and August 1795 , " Aigle " took part in the blockade of Corsica and the capture of Calvi . Smyrna . " Aigle " spent six months from May to October 1795 blockading French warships in the Turkish port of Smyrna - a very unpopular operation because of its lack of opportunity for prizes and its unhealthy climate , with frequent outbreaks of the . HMS " Victory " . Thorp was transferred to Sir John Jervis ' flagship in April 1796 , where he was to sit the lieutenants ' examination . Promotion to lieutenant . Thorp ' s seniority as lieutenant was 1 May 1796 , at which time he would have been 18 years and 7 months old , having enlisted the aid of his sister Jane to obtain documents asserting that he was over 20 years old , the minimum age for candidates sitting the lieutenants ' examination . HMS " Terpsichore " . On 8 May 1796 , almost immediately after his promotion , Thorp joined the frigate ( 32 guns ) under the command of Captain Richard Bowen , as third lieutenant . He served in her during the capture of the Spanish frigate " Mahonesa " ( 34 guns ) and the capture , then loss in heavy weather , of the French frigate " Vestale " ( 36 guns ) , though he was in command of a prize being sailed to Gibraltar at the time of the latter action . On rejoining " Terpsichore " , Thorp was appointed as the first lieutenant , though ( presumably unbeknownst to his shipmates ) little more than 19 years old and still under the minimum age for lieutenant . It was in that capacity that he served during the " Terpsichore ' s " solo encounter on 1 March 1797 with the partially disabled Spanish ship - of - the - line " Santisima Trinidad " ( 136 guns ) , largest warship afloat at that time , which was retreating from the Battle of Cape St Vincent . " Terpsichore ' s " subsequent 10 - hour engagement from early afternoon until dark resulted in 9 killed and several seriously injured on the " Santisima Trinidad " but no serious injuries on the " Terpsichore " . Cutting Out of the " Principe Fernando " . In April 1797 Sir John Jervis sent the " Terpsichore " together with the " Dido " ( 28 guns ) to reconnoitre off Tenerife , where they found the Cadiz - bound Philippine frigates " Principe Fernando " and " El Principe d ' Asturia " in the Bay of Santa Cruz . On the night of 17 / 18 April a joint cutting out expedition was mounted by the two British frigates , each sending three boats of which those from the " Terpsichore " were under the command of Thorp . In correspondence to his family , Thorp says that Captain Bowen ( who was in command of the expedition ) told him that he had drawn lots with the captain of " Dido " as to whose boats should attempt to take the closer of the two frigates to the shore and batteries and that " Terpsichore " had drawn the short straw . Despite adverse weather , which caused the boats to be rowed for more than three hours longer than anticipated before reaching their quarries , " Terpsichore ' s " boats ' crews successfully boarded and captured their frigate , the " Principe Fernando " , sailing and towing her to sea while under fire from shore batteries for two hours , without loss of life but with the loss of 10 lives of the Philippine frigate ' s crew . " Dido ' s " crews were unsuccessful . Battle of Santa Cruz , Tenerife . In July 1797 , " Terpsichore " became part of the squadron under Rear - Admiral Nelson that sought to invade Tenerife and capture Santa Cruz , which was being used as a port of refuge by richly laden ships from the West Indies and beyond bound for Spain . On the night of 24 July , following unsuccessful attempts to land troops some distance from the town , Nelson led a full - frontal assault on Santa Cruz under cover of darkness in which " Terpsichore ' s " role was to land a party on the town ' s mole and neutralise the battery overlooking the waters to the mole ' s north - east in which direction the main force would head . Thorp must have known the danger likely to be faced through his prior acquaintance of the mole when cutting out the Philippine frigate " Principe Fernando " three months earlier and wrote a letter addressed to " My ever dear Parents , Brothers & Sister " saying : In the subsequent action " Terpsichore " ' s boat sustained a direct hit from the battery and capsized in the heavy swell , several crew members drowning , but some of the party got ashore , took the mole battery , spiked its six 24 - pounder guns and were progressing towards the town when they were mown down by grapeshot fired from a cannon that had been relocated from one of the town ' s forts for that purpose earlier in the day . Thorp was one of those killed at the side of his captain , Richard Bowen . After the cessation of the action , their bodies were recovered and buried at sea off Tenerife on 27 July . Retrospect . Thorp seems never to have returned home to Northumberland nor to have seen his parents again after bidding his father farewell in Portsmouth in February 1790 , aged 12 , spending all his time abroad save for his time in the " Magnificent " and the first year of his time in the " Juno " , waiting on the Royal Family , followed by a short period in the English Channel . He is mentioned with affection and respect in correspondence from several senior officers : In a letter dated 16 August 1797 to his sister , Captain Cuthbert Collingwood ( later Vice - Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood , 1st Baron Collingwood ) , close friend of Nelson and at that time captain of the ship - of - the - line " Excellent " as part of Sir John Jervis ' squadron blockading Cadiz , wrote : " Capt . Bowen of " Terpsichore " and his first Lieut poor Thorp were both killed while they were spiking the guns in a battery which they had got possession of . " In a letter dated 31 August 1797 to J E Blackett Esq , his father - in - law and a former Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne , also written aboard the " Excellent " , Captain Collingwood wrote : " Captain Bowen was killed , and his First Lieutenant , Thorpe , for whom I was very sorry : he was a fine young man , and promised to be an excellent officer . " Letters to his family . Thorp wrote numerous letters to his parents and siblings throughout his career , except for his time on " Thisbe " in Nova Scotia during his first year of service and his subsequent time on " Magnificent " . These were deposited in the National Maritime Museum in 1968 in the form of two letterbooks . Regrettably , no record of persons inspecting these letterbooks seems to have been kept by the National Maritime Museum but anyone studying them in detail who is familiar with the Aubrey – Maturin series of novels of Patrick O ' Brian may find a remarkable coincidence between some of the descriptions in Thorp ' s letters and events or characters in O ' Brian ' s novels , inviting speculation whether O ' Brian may have read the letters and been inspired by their content . Thorp ' s letters describing the escape from Toulon , the attack on the Mortella Tower and the siege of Saint - Florent , the blockade of Corsica , the capture of Calvi and the cutting out of the " Principe Fernando " are particularly noteworthy .