Robert Stopford ( Royal Navy officer ) Admiral The Honourable Sir Robert Stopford GCB , GCMG ( 5 February 1768 – 25 June 1847 ) , was a distinguished officer in the Royal Navy whose career spanned over 60 years , from the French Revolutionary Wars to the Syrian War . Naval career . Stopford was the third son of James Stopford , 2nd Earl of Courtown , and his wife Mary ( née Powys ) . He joined the Royal Navy in 1780 and became a Lieutenant in 1785 . In 1790 he was promoted to captain at the age of 22 and was briefly captain of HMS " Lowestoffe " . Stopford fought at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794 , commanding the frigate ( 32 ) . During the battle " Aquilon " had the task of standing off and repeating the signals from the flagship . " Aquilon " also towed the " Marlborough " out of the line of fire when she was dismasted , for which Lord Howe thanked him personally . One of Stopford ' s officers on " Aquilon " was Francis Beaufort , the inventor of the Beaufort Wind - Scale . On 10 March 1796 , Stopford was captain of the fifth rate frigate HMS " Phaeton " , of 38 guns , when she engaged and captured the 20 - gun French corvette " Bonne Citoyenne " of Cape Finisterre . Stopford took her back to England as his prize . The Royal Navy then bought her in as HMS " Bonne Citoyenn " , a sixth rate sloop of war . During his service in the Channel , " Phaeton " captured in all some 13 privateers and three vessels of war , as well as recovering numerous vessels that the French had taken . In 1799 , Stopford was appointed captain of the 74 - gun third rate HMS " Excellent " in the Channel Fleet . He sailed " Excellent " to the West Indies where he hoisted a commodore ' s pennant and served for eight months as the Commander - in - Chief of that station . In 1803 , Stopford became captain of the ship of the line ( 74 ) , in Horatio Nelson ' s fleet . He became a Colonel of Marines in November 1805 and received a gold medal for his conduct at the Battle of San Domingo in 1806 , while still in command of " Spencer " . Stopford was wounded during the battle ; he recovered , but the wound would plague him for the rest of his life . He took part in the British invasions of the Río de la Plata and Battle of Copenhagen of 1806 - 07 , and attacked Rochefort in 1808 . Stopford played an important part in the Battle of the Basque Roads . He was appointed to command HMS " Caesar " ( 80 ) , with a squadron of two ships of the line and five frigates . On 23 February 1809 he fell in the four French frigates under the batteries of Sable d ' Olonne , an action which left them disabled . Stopford continued his blockade until Lord Gambier chased a fleet of ten French sail of the line into the Basque Roads and assumed command . After the battle Stopford was called on to give evidence at Gambier ' s trial in which he was exonerated . In 1810 , he sailed to Cape of Good Hope to become Commander - in - Chief of that station . He directed the operations that resulted in the capture of Java when on 8 August 1811 , the Dutch settlement of Batavia capitulated to the British under Stopford and Lieutenant - General Sir Samuel Auchmuty . The British fleet consisted of some 100 vessels , including eight cruisers belonging to the East India Company . He was appointed Commander - in - Chief , Portsmouth in 1827 . Stopford became Rear - Admiral of the United Kingdom in 1834 . His last active post , in his early seventies , was as commander - in - chief of the Mediterranean fleet during the Syrian War against the forces of Mehemet Ali . As Vice Admiral on board ( 100 ) and subsequently , he was in command of the combined British , Turkish , and Austrian fleet during the bombardment of Acre on 3 November 1840 . For his services in the Syrian War , Stopford was given the Freedom of the City of the City of London . The ornate silver and oak box is part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum , Greenwich . The following year he became Governor of the Greenwich Hospital at Greenwich , with the rank of Admiral . Family . Stopford married Mary , daughter of Robert Fanshawe , in 1809 . Their eldest son , Robert Fanshawe Stopford ( 1811 – 1891 ) , also rose to the rank of Admiral , and their second son , James John Stopford ( 1817 – 1868 ) , became a Vice Admiral . Stopford died in June 1847 , aged 79 . His wife survived him by almost twenty years and died in June 1866 .