serviceyears branch commands death_date death_place birth_place allegiance awards nationality battles birth_date rank residence image article_title name
1787 -- 1824 royal navy victor surveillante 1803 6 leander 1813 6 creole 1813 6 1798 6 leopard 1790 6 minerva 1805 6 24 march 1824 london london , england united kingdom of great britain and ireland knight commander of the order of the bath british french revolutionary wars napoleonic wars war of 1812 1774 captain united kingdom captain sir george ralph collier.jpg sir george collier , 1st baronet
 george ralph collier , 1st baronet
sir george collier , 1st baronet

sir george ralph collier , 1st baronet kcb -lrb- 1774 -- 24 march 1824 -rrb- was an officer of the royal navy during the french revolutionary and napoleonic wars , and the war of 1812 .
he had an eventful early life , being shipwrecked early in his career and later captured by the french .
nevertheless he saw enough service to attract the attention of powerful patrons that secured his rise through the ranks .
an officer of considerable ability , he won a noteworthy victory against a stronger french opponent , before embarking on a period of distinguished service off the spanish and portuguese coasts , working closely with the british generals fighting the peninsular war , and markedly contributing to their success .
his good service led to a prime posting in command of a squadron despatched to hunt down and neutralise the american super frigates during the war of 1812 .
he came close to capturing the , but lost her in circumstances that were unclear and would later return to haunt him .
the years of peace that followed the end of the napoleonic wars saw him rewarded with a baronetcy , and his continued to serve in the navy where he was tasked with the suppression of the slave trade .
the publishing of william james 's account of the war of 1812 , which lambasted him for incompetence and cowardice in his failure to catch the `` constitution '' , broke his personal peace .
having failed to clear his name , and increasingly depressed by the accusations , collier took his own life .
