text: sir george collier , 1st baronet sir george ralph collier , 1st baronet kcb ( 1774 – 24 march 1824 ) 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 uss constitution , 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 . family and early life collier was born in london in 1774 , the second son of the chief clerk of the victualling board ralph collier , and his wife henrietta maria . he began his education at the chelsea maritime academy , but by january 1784 his name appeared in the books of the 74 - gun third rate hms triumph as a captain 's servant to the triumph 's commander , captain robert faulknor . this was likely to have been only a nominal entry to gain seniority , and collier 's naval service probably actually began three years later in january 1787 , when he joined the 28 - gun frigate hms carysfort at the rank of midshipman . he moved in june 1790 to take up a position aboard captain edward pellew 's 50 - gun hms salisbury and spent the rest of that year serving on the newfoundland station . collier transferred again in december 1790 , joining the 100 - gun first rate hms victory , then under captain john knight in the english channel . collier 's next ship was captain samuel hood 's 32 - gun hms juno , which he joined in march 1791 . he remained with the juno until she was paid off . on being discharged he took passage aboard the east indiaman winchelsea , bound for the east india station . the winchelsea ran onto a reef in the mozambique channel on 3 september 1792 and was wrecked . collier and the other survivors were able to reach madagascar , where they remained until being picked up a portuguese brig in may the following year . before they could reach friendly soil the portuguese ship was captured by a french privateer and collier and his fellow survivors were sent to île de france as prisoners . he remained in captivity there until being released in late 1794 , whereupon he sailed to the british - held port of madras . french revolutionary wars by now the french revolutionary wars had broken out , and after a period spent recuperating from his several ordeals , collier joined commodore peter rainier 's flagship hms suffolk in june 1795 . collier had passed his lieutenant 's examination in 1790 , but only now did he receive his commission , when he was appointed lieutenant and commander of the suffolk tender on 31 july 1795 . rainer sent him to the cape of good hope , but shortly after his arrival , the commander of the station , admiral thomas pringle ordered that suffolk tender be surveyed . she was subsequently condemned as unseaworthy , and collier returned to rainer at madras without a ship . rainer recommended that he return to britain , where the good report of his service would assure him further employment and promotion . collier duly arrived in england in may 1799 , and on 2 july that year received an appointment to the 64 - gun hms zealand , which was then under the command of captain thomas parr . a further advance came shortly afterwards , when he made first lieutenant on 29 july aboard vice - admiral andrew mitchell 's flagship , the 50 - gun hms isis . he was present at the capture of the dutch squadron in the vlieter incident in august , and was chosen by mitchell to carry the despatches back to britain . battle with the flèche as was customary collier received a promotion , to master and commander on 3 september 1799 , and a command , the 18 - gun sloop hms victor , on 21 october . collier commanded the victor for the next couple of years , escorting convoys and on one occasion a convoy of troop transports to the red sea , bringing troops to defeat the french forces in egypt . he stopped briefly at diego garcia to take on supplies , whereupon he fell in with the 22 - gun french corvette flèche . the two ships fought a brief engagement on 1 september 1801 , during which the flèche damaged the victor 's rigging and managed to escape . after repairing the damage , collier searched the surrounding area before coming across his opponent on 5 september , sheltering in mahé roads . the channel was very narrow , and the wind unfavourable , but collier managed to warp the victor into the harbour , and with the aid of her , closed on the french ship . after enduring raking fire for sometime , he was finally able to haul his ship around and the two vessels exchanged broadsides for over two hours . by then the flèche was observed to be in a sinking condition , and her captain ran her aground . a party of men were sent over from the victor , but having boarded the french vessel , found her crew had set her on fire and then abandoned ship . the men were temporarily evacuated while further assistance was sent across , after which they re - boarded and managed to extinguish the fire . just as this had been achieved , the flèche slipped off the reef into deeper water and sank . collier therefore came away without his prize , but his exploit came to the attention of the first lord of the admiralty earl st vincent . impressed by collier 's daring , st vincent promoted him to post - captain , with the 50 - gun hms leopard as his command . as a further mark of favour , st vincent antedated his commission to 22 april 1802 , giving him greater seniority over the officers promoted a week later in the general promotion that followed the peace of amiens . with the paying off of the leopard in 1803 collier moved ashore , spending until 20 january 1806 in command of the sea fencibles at liverpool . on 18 may 1805 he married maria lyon , a resident of the city . the couple did not have any children . it was during this period ashore that collier devised and presented the plans for a blockade of the texel , in the hopes of being appointed to lead the expedition . nothing had come of the scheme by the time he received his next sea - going command , that of the 42 - gun hms minerva in february 1806 . napoleonic wars the minerva was sent south to the spanish and portuguese coasts , where collier found himself busy suppressing privateering , and the spanish coastal forts . he was moved on 22 april 1807 to take up command of the 38 - gun hms surveillante , and duly took part in the expedition to copenhagen . he received approbation for his services , and the british commander , admiral james gambier sent him back to britain with his despatches . collier received a knighthood , and by 1812 was back in the bay of biscay . he was active off the coast of spain that year , supporting the guerrillas in the countryside under admiral sir home popham , and was personally involved in some of the land - based operations of the peninsular war . he was wounded on 1 august 1812 in an attack on the castle at santander , but though the attack failed , it led to the french withdrawing from the castle , considering it too exposed . collier 's raids were particularly useful in forcing the french forces in the north of the county to attempt to fortify and defend hundreds of small coastal creeks and villages , instead of supporting the forces in the south , allowing wellington to defeat them . it was while operating off the iberian peninsula that collier devised a need for an improved type of ships ' boat . he developed a design based on elements of both a whaleboat and a jolly boat , and had one built for him at plymouth dockyard . the boat proved extremely useful after tests aboard the surveillante , especially at being able to land safely on a flat beach to give close support . collier further modified it by installing a howitzer in the bows , and soon boats of its type were being requested by other captains for their ships . in 1813 collier succeeded sir home popham in commanding the north coast squadron , spain . he and a small squadron supported general arthur wellesley and general sir thomas graham in the capture of san sebastián and the siege of bayonne . war of 1812 on 15 march 1814 collier received command of the 50 - gun hms leander and was sent to north america to deal with the american super frigates that were causing losses to british merchant shipping . it was a highly sought after posting , and reflected the admiralty 's approval of his efforts off spain . collier sought battle with the uss constitution , but the american ship escaped from boston and evaded him . he gathered a squadron consisting of the leander , the 60 - gun hms newcastle and the 40 - gun hms acasta , and set off in pursuit . he almost caught up with the constitution off st jago , but failed to close on her , later claiming the weather frustrated his attempts . the constitution was at the time sailing with two captured british prizes , the former hms levant and hms cyane . collier 's three ships gave chase and were overhauling the constitution , when , having allowed the cyane to escape , the levant broke away and collier followed her . in doing so he retook the levant , but allowed constitution to escape . collier continued to cruise in the area , but before he had another opportunity to pursue the constitution , news reached him that the treaty of ghent had been signed and that the war was over . years of peace collier returned to britain and on 20 september 1814 was created a baronet . he was invested as a knight commander of the order of the bath on 2 january 1815 . he was also appointed groom of the bedchamber to the duke of gloucester that day . he continued to see active service at sea , being appointed as commodore of the west africa squadron , with the 36 - gun hms creole as his flagship . between 1818 and 1821 , he played a distinguished role in anti - slavery efforts , which led to his election as an honorary life member of the african institution on 17 may 1820 . james 's account and death collier 's life was disturbed by the publication of william james 's naval history in 1823 . james paid particular attention to the escape of the constitution , and lamented collier 's failure to bring her to action and capture her . james claimed collier 's incompetence had allowed the constitution to escape from boston , while his failure to bring her to action when his squadron later sighted her was attributed to what amounted to cowardice on his part . james summed up the episode with most sincerely do we regret ... that this last and most triumphant escape of the constitution , the first frigate of the united states that had humbled the proud flag of britain , had , not long ago , been brought under the scrutiny of a court - martial . the blame would then have fallen where it ought to have fallen ... the more it is investigated , the more it will show itself to be , the most blundering piece of business recorded in these six volumes . collier applied to the admiralty for the opportunity to clear his name , but this was not satisfied . friends and relations had become increasingly concerned about his mental state as a result . his brother took the precaution of removing the razors from his home , but collier appears to have smuggled one to his room , and used it to cut his own throat early in the morning on 24 march 1824 . his servant who was sleeping in the same room immediately brought help , but nothing could be done and collier died less than five minutes after inflicting the injury . the inquest later determined that ' the deceased destroyed himself , being in a state of temporary mental derangement . ' the baronetcy became extinct upon his death .