Thomas Dundas (Royal Navy officer)

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. ==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 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 Cádiz 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 . They then all went below and witnessed Nelson's will. 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. At 1940 that evening the two ships collided, damaging Naiads jolly boat and smashing away most of the starboard quarter gallery. 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 . 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. He died in Reading, Berkshire on 29 March 1841. ==References==