Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Sir Francis Augustus Collier, CB, KCH (7 August 1785 – 28 October 1849) was a senior officer of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the early nineteenth century. Born into a naval family, Collier served in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and fought at the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the ...

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

's flagship. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

he was engaged in campaigns in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and in 1819 he commanded an operation against pirates in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

. He remained in service for the next thirty years, holding several commands before his death in 1849 as commander of the China Squadron at

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Early life

Collier was born on 7 August 1785 in Ireland and baptised in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

16 September the same year , the son of Admiral Sir

George Collier Vice Admiral Sir George Collier (11 May 1732 – 6 April 1795) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. As commander of the fourth-rate shi ...

and his wife Elizabeth Fryer. In 1794 he entered the

aged 11 and served with the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

for several years before being transferred to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

to served aboard Admiral

's flagship HMS ''Vanguard''. In 1798, ''Vanguard'' and Collier were engaged at the

, and he subsequently moved with Nelson to HMS ''Foudroyant'', serving aboard until 1802 and the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...

.Collier, Sir Francis Augustus
''

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'',

J. K. Laughton Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a mathe ...

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Command

In 1803 he was promoted to Lieutenant and in 1805 to Commander. Between 25 October 1805 and 15 January 1806 he commanded ''Nimrod'' in the Caribbean.

Pearl Rock and Martinique

On 12 December 1808, Commander Collier was captain of was in charge of a squadron that included , and . The vessels joined together to attack the French 16-gun brig ''Cygne'' and two schooners off

Saint-Pierre, Martinique Saint-Pierre (, ; ; Martinican Creole: ) is a town and commune of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique, founded in 1635 by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc. Before the total destruction of Saint-Pierre by a volcanic eruption in 1902, it ...

. ''Circe'' sent in her boats, which the French repelled, causing 56 casualties, dead, wounded and missing. That evening , under the command of Captain

Edward Pelham Brenton Captain Edward Pelham Brenton (20 July 1774 – 13 April 1839) was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who military career was relatively quiet, apart from involvement in the capture of ...

, joined ''Circe'' and ''Stork''. The next day fire from ''Amaranthe'' compelled the crew of ''Cygne'' to abandon her and ''Amaranthe's'' boats boarded and destroyed the French vessel. For her part ''Amaranthe'' lost one man killed and five wounded due to fire from batteries on the shore. One schooner was run ashore and destroyed. ''Amaranthe's'' boats, assisted by boats from the schooner ''Express'', boarded the second schooner and set fire to her too. This expedition cost ''Amaranthe'' her sailing master, Joshua Jones, who was severely wounded. The other British vessels that contributed boats also had casualties. Including the losses in the earlier fighting before ''Amaranthe'' arrived, the British had lost some 12 men killed, 31 wounded, and 26 missing (drowned or prisoners) for little gain. Brenton was promoted to

Post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

soon after the battle, with the promotion being back dated to 13 December, the date of the battle. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "OFF THE PEARL ROCK 13 DECR. 1808". For his part in this action, Collier received a promotion to

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

, with the confirmation back-dating the promotion to 13 December 1808. As a result, he was still a commander in 1809 when as captain of he participated in the invasion of Martinique. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Martinique" to all surviving claimants from the campaign.

Subsequent career

Collier served as captain of from September 1810 until May 1812. In early 1812, a seaman named Oakey struck Collier, was charged, found guilty and sentenced to death. His plea for a stay of execution was denied, and every ship in port sent a boat of seamen to witness the hanging. Oakey came on deck with his arms tied behind him, attended by the Chaplain, and the sentence of the Court Martial was read. Then Captain Hall produced a letter from the Prince Regent that, at Collier's request, commuted Oakey's sentence to transportation. The reprieve surprised Oakey, who fell on his knees and wept.History from the Newspapers

Post-war

At the end of the war in 1815 Collier was made a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

for his services, mainly in the

. In 1818, Collier took command of the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

and joined the squadron on the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

. The following year he was given command of a joint Navy and

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

squadron including the 20-gun

post-ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a ship of the sixth rate (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carr ...

, the 18-gun

brig-sloop In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

, several

cruisers, and a number of gun and mortar boats. Several vessels belonging to the

Sultan of Muscat The sultan of the Sultanate of Oman is the monarchical head of state and head of government of Oman. It is the most powerful position in the country. The sultans of Oman are members of the Busaid dynasty, which has been the ruling family of O ...

joined them, while Major General Sir William Keir commanded 3,000 troops in transports.Ships of the Old Navy
/ref> The squadron's task was to destroy the pirate bases in the

and simultaneously eliminate the company's competition in the region. The operation lasted from 4 to 8 December and was a resounding success for the Royal Navy. The capture and destruction of the fortifications and ships in the pirate capital of

Ras al-Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...

was a massive blow to the local pirates. The Royal Navy suffered no casualties during the action. In 1820 the pirate states signed a treaty that effectively eliminated them as a threat to British shipping. In 1822 Collier returned to Britain, and between 1826 and 1830 he was the commodore in command of the West African Station. He raised his pennant in ''Sybille''; during the time she was engaged in anti-slavery duties off West Africa, ''Sybille'' captured numerous slavers and freed some 3,500 slaves.

Late career and honours

For his varied service he was knighted on 28 July 1830 and then admitted to the Persian Order of the Lion and the Sun for his service in the Persian Gulf. In 1833 he was made a

Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

and in 1841 became the commandant of

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 1 ...

, moving in 1846 to command a squadron in the

as a rear-admiral. In April 1848 he was made commander on the

East Indies and China Station The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China was a formation of the Royal Navy from 1831 to 1865. Its naval area of responsibility was the Indian Ocean and the coasts of China and its navigable rivers. The Commander-in-Chief was appointed in 1 ...

and took up his position at

later in the year.

Death

He died in October 1849 at Hong Kong, and is buried at

Hong Kong Cemetery Hong Kong Cemetery, formerly Hong Kong (Happy Valley) Cemetery and before that Hong Kong Colonial Cemetery, is one of the early Christian cemeteries in Hong Kong dating to its colonial era beginning in 1845. It is located beside the racecourse ...

. He was survived by his second wife, Catherine Thistlethwaite, whom he had married in 1831, and their child, Selina Catherine Collier,Selina Catherine Collier
/ref> although few details are known of his family life. He was, however, a well-known figure on the racecourse in the 1830s and early 1840s and won the 1836 Ascot Derby (now known as The

King Edward VII Stakes The King Edward VII Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 met ...

) with Lieutenant.

Notes

References

Collier, Sir Francis Augustus
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