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Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet, GCB (5 April 1769 – 20 September 1839) was a British Royal Navy officer. He took part in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797, the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 and the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. He served as flag captain to Admiral Lord Nelson, and commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars. Nelson was shot as he paced the decks with Hardy, and as he lay dying, Nelson's famous remark of "Kiss me, Hardy" was directed at him. Hardy went on to become First Naval Lord in November 1830 and in that capacity refused to become a Member of Parliament and encouraged the introduction of steam warships. Early life Born the second son of Joseph Hardy and Nanny Hardy (née Masterman) at Kingston Russell House in Long Bredy (or according to some sources in Winterborne St Martin), Hardy joined the navy with his entry aboard the brig HMS Helena on 30 November 1781 as a captain's servant, but left her in April 1782 to attend Crewkerne Grammar School. During his time at school his name was carried on the books of the sixth-rate HMS Seaford and the third-rate HMS Carnatic. Mediterranean and Nelson Hardy joined the fifth-rate HMS Hebe on 5 February 1790 as a midshipman; he later transferred to the sixth-rate HMS Tisiphone under Captain Anthony Hunt, and then followed Hunt to the sixth-rate HMS Amphitrite in May 1793, going out to the Mediterranean in her. Hardy served off Marseilles and Toulon and was commissioned second lieutenant of the fifth-rate HMS Meleager under Captain Charles Tyler on 10 November 1793. Command of Meleager passed to Captain George Cockburn in June 1794; Cockburn took command of the fifth-rate HMS Minerve in August 1796 and Hardy went with him, subsequently becoming his first lieutenant. Horatio Nelson, then a commodore, moved his broad pennant to Minerve in December 1796. While en route to Gibraltar, in the action of 19 December 1796, Minerve and her consort, the fifth-rate HMS Blanche, engaged two Spanish frigates and forced Santa Sabina to surrender. Lieutenants Hardy and Culverhouse were sent aboard Santa Sabina with a prize crew, and the three ships continued on towards Gibraltar. Before the night was out, Nelson ran into the Spanish fleet and only managed to get away when Hardy drew the Spanish away from Minerve and fought until being dismasted and captured. Hardy and Culverhouse were almost immediately exchanged for the captain of Santa Sabina, Don Jacobo Stuart, and were able to rejoin Minerve at Gibraltar on 9 February 1797. Three days later Minerve left Gibraltar to join the main fleet off the south-east coast of Spain under Sir John Jervis. With two enemy ships pursuing him, Cockburn ordered more sail. During this operation, a topman fell overboard. The ship hove to and a boat with Hardy in it was lowered to search for the missing mariner. As the enemy ships were closing fast, Cockburn thought it prudent to withdraw, but Nelson overruled him crying "By God, I'll not lose Hardy, back that mizzen topsail!" This confused the Spaniards who checked their own progress, allowing Hardy to return to his ship and make good his escape. Command and the Nile Hardy remained with Minerve until May 1797 when, following a successful cutting out expedition of which he was in charge, he was promoted to master and commander of the newly captured corvette HMS Mutine. Under Hardy's command, Mutine joined a squadron under Captain Thomas Troubridge which met up with Nelson off Toulon in June 1798, located Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt and destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. Afterwards, Nelson's flag captain, Edward Berry was sent home with dispatches and Hardy was promoted to captain of Nelson's flagship, HMS Vanguard, in his place on 2 October 1798. HMS Vanguard carried King Ferdinand IV and the British ambassador Sir William Hamilton and his wife Emma from Naples to safety in Sicily in December 1798: Hardy did not altogether approve of Lady Hamilton who had once tried to intervene on behalf of a boat's crew – Hardy had the crew flogged twice, once for the original offence and again for petitioning the lady. Nelson transferred his flag to the third-rate HMS Foudroyant on 8 June 1799, taking Hardy with him. In June 1799, the main fleet, led by Foudroyant, landed marines at Naples to assist with the overthrow of the Parthenopean Republic so allowing Ferdinand's kingdom to be re-established. Hardy handed over command of Foudroyant to Sir Edward Berry on 13 October 1799, transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Princess Charlotte and returned to England. Baltic and Copenhagen After a year ashore, Hardy went to Plymouth Dock in December 1800 to take command of the first-rate HMS San Josef, which had just been refitted. He transferred to the second-rate HMS St George and became Nelson's flag captain once more in February 1801. Nelson was appointed second in command of the Baltic fleet, which had been sent to force the Danes to withdraw from the League of Armed Neutrality. On the night of 1 April 1801, Hardy was sent in a boat to take soundings around the anchored Danish fleet. Hardy's ship drew too much water and so took no part in the Battle of Copenhagen the following day, though his work proved to be of great value. The only two ships that went aground, the third-rates HMS Agamemnon and HMS Bellona, were taken in by local pilots and did not follow Hardy's recommended route. Hardy stayed on as flag captain to the new fleet commander, Vice-Admiral Charles Pole, until August 1801 when he took command of the fourth-rate HMS Isis. Mediterranean and West Indies Campaign In July 1802, Hardy was appointed to the fifth-rate HMS Amphion which after taking the new British ambassador to Lisbon, returned to Portsmouth. Nelson was in Portsmouth, as he was due to hoist his flag in the first-rate HMS Victory in May 1803, but on finding the ship not ready for him, transferred his flag to the Amphion and set sail for the Mediterranean. Nelson and Hardy finally transferred to Victory off Toulon on 31 July 1803. Nelson's fleet continued to blockade Toulon until April 1805, when the French escaped and were pursued to the West Indies and back. After a brief stop at Spithead between 20 August and 14 September 1805, they set sail for Cádiz arriving on 29 September 1805. George Murray, Nelson's captain of the fleet, was obliged to remain in England and Hardy unofficially replaced him in addition to serving as flag captain. Trafalgar As Victory approached the enemy line on the morning of 21 October 1805, Hardy urged Nelson to transfer to another ship to avoid the inevitable melee, but Nelson refused. Victory, leading the weather column, came under heavy fire in the opening stages of the Battle of Trafalgar. At one point, a splinter took the buckle from Hardy's shoe, to which Nelson remarked, "This is too w.... Discover the Adam Masterman popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Adam Masterman books.