Thomas Dundas ( Royal Navy officer ) Vice - Admiral Sir Thomas Dundas KCB ( c . 1765 – 29 March 1841 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy , who saw service during the American War of Independence , and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . An effective frigate captain he made a number of small captures , but not did not see action in any major fleet clashes , until he was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 . He played an important role in relaying signals before the battle , and in towing dismasted British ships to safety afterwards . He had a largely uneventful career thereafter , rising through the ranks and eventually dying a vice - admiral . Early life . Little is known about Dundas ' s early life , but he appears to have been born in or around 1765 , and to have joined the navy in 1778 , during the American War of Independence . He was promoted to lieutenant on 15 July 1793 , shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War , with one of his earliest commands being the sloop . His next promotion was to commander on 2 September 1795 , and he was then raised to post - captain on 9 July 1798 . Dundas received command of the 20 - gun sixth rate shortly afterwards and in 1799 he captured a valuable Spanish whaling ship . In March 1799 he captured a Spanish warship , the " Urca Cargadora " , pierced for 26 guns , but only mounting 12 . He was then moved to , and escorted a convoy of merchantmen to the Mediterranean , returning to Britain on 2 July 1802 . Frigate captain . With the end of the Peace of Amiens in 1803 Dundas returned to sea in 1804 in command of the 36 - gun fifth rate . He was initially assigned to patrol off the west coast of Spain and in the English Channel , where he captured several prizes . In late 1804 he captured a Spanish ship worth over 200 , 000 dollars , and also helped in the capture of the privateer s " Fanny " and " Superb " . The " Naiad " was also involved in an engagement in the Bay of Gibraltar with a flotilla of Spanish gunboats . In mid - August 1805 Dundas had a narrow escape when he came across a large fleet off northern Spain , which challenged the " Naiad " using British codes . This was in fact the combined fleet under Pierre - Charles Villeneuve , heading for Ferrol . " Naiad " managed to escape , evading fire from the lead French frigates , and on 20 August Dundas fell in with Vice - Admiral Sir Robert Calder ' s squadron , on its way to blockade Ferrol . Calder ' s force was then sent on to join the ships blockading the combined fleet in Cadiz under Vice - Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood , and Dundas used his time here to harass enemy supply ships . With the arrival on 28 September of Vice - Admiral Horatio Nelson to take command of the fleet , the main British force withdrew over the horizon . Nelson deployed his frigates , including Dundas ' s " Naiad " , and several ships of the line to provide a line by which the enemy fleet could be observed and signals transmitted back to him . When the combined fleet put to sea on 19 October " Naiad " was third in the line , between the frigate and the 74 - gun third rate . As the combined fleet approached the British over the next couple of days , " Naiad " and the other frigates shadowed it , reporting on its movements . Nelson and Trafalgar . As the two fleets came within sight on the morning of 21 October , Nelson summoned the four frigate captains , Dundas of the " Naiad " , Prowse of the , Blackwood of the and Capel of the , to come aboard his flagship . There they received their orders for the battle , which were to take station windward of the " Victory " and so repeat his signals to the rest of the fleet . They were also to observe the progress of the battle , report on escaping ships , take over surrendered enemy ships that had not been taken and take in tow dismasted British ships or their prizes . They then all went below and witnessed Nelson ' s will . The " Naiad " duly remained out of the general melee , did not open fire , and sustained no casualties . After the battle she took William Hargood ' s damaged and dismasted in tow . Towing the " Belleisle " . Dundas ' s most significant challenge of the battle was navigating both the " Naiad " and the crippled " Belleisle " through the rising storm to the safety of Gibraltar . By 22 October they had lost contact with most of the rest of the fleet , but Dundas persevered , several times having to haul the ships off the coast as strong winds threatened to drive them onshore . Better weather on the morning of 23 October allowed Dundas to make more sail , but the return of the gale in the afternoon placed both ships in difficulties . During the afternoon the crews had a fright when a ship - of - the - line was spotted speeding up from the south . At first it seemed that it could be one of the squadron that had escaped from Trafalgar under Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley , but after an exchange of signals the mystery ship was revealed to be , rushing northwards to join the fleet . " Naiad " and " Belleisle " battled the weather for the rest of the day ; several times the tow rope snapped , but it was reattached by the " Naiad " sailing close enough to the unmanageable hulk of the " Belleisle " for a rope to be thrown across , as the sea was too rough to risk launching boats . At 1940 that evening the two ships collided , damaging " Naiad " s jolly boat and smashing away most of the starboard quarter gallery . Dundas was eventually forced to haul away from the " Belleisle " as night fell , and try to save his own ship . During the night the " Naiad " s larboard topsail sheet blew away , and the reefed topsail sheet was split . The crew were forced to cut away the other sheet to save the yard , but the sheet blew away in the gale . Shortly afterwards the fore topmast staysail was blown to bits . " Belleisle " was also in a desperate situation , blown almost onto the breakers of the Spanish coast before her crew managed to wear her around . With difficulty she survived the night , and was found when the light came the next morning by Dundas , who had a line reattached . He steered straight for Gibraltar , and came within sight of the rock by midday , despite having been fired on by the Spanish battery at Tarifa . Dundas took " Naiad " in and anchored at 1330 that afternoon , while the " Belleisle " was warped into the mole . Dundas subsequently was awarded a sword from the Lloyd ' s Patriotic Fund for his services at Trafalgar . Later years . Dundas remained in command of " Naiad " until 1808 , serving in the blockade of Rochefort . Dundas went on to command the 64 - gun , another Trafalgar veteran , and the 74 - gun . He commissioned on 28 March 1822 , and was stationed at Plymouth . During his career Dundas is said to have invented a type of inflammable ball , . . . applicable for besieging a town , and peculiar for its small weight , by which means may be thrown to a great distance ; and it takes fire on a very curious plan : it spreads a flame on three distinct openings , which is so strong , that the fire extends a full yard in length from the ball itself , and is so powerful , that anything under , over , or near , cannot escape its effects . Dundas was advanced to rear - admiral on 27 May 1825 , vice - admiral on 10 January 1837 and appointed and invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 13 September 1831 . He died in Reading , Berkshire on 29 March 1841 . The sword he received for Trafalgar is currently held in the collections of the National Maritime Museum .