Nelson summoned him to Cádiz in September 1805 and gave him command of the 32-gun frigate . Sent on a diplomatic mission to
Algiers, he missed the
Battle of Trafalgar by a matter of days, and only learned of Nelson's death on his return in November. He wrote to his father – "Not to have been in it is enough to make one mad, but to have lost such a friend besides is really sufficient to almost overwhelm me" (Hoste's letters). A number of successes while engaged on active service in the Mediterranean over the following 18 months brought Hoste to the attention of
Lord Collingwood, who sent him into the
Adriatic Sea. Here he single-handedly conducted an aggressive campaign against the ships and coastal installations of the French and their allies, bringing much of the coastal trade in the region to a halt. By the end of 1809, Hoste and his crew had captured or sunk over 200 ships. His endeavours were rewarded with command, as commodore, of a small detachment of frigates, comprising HMS
Amphion, (36 guns), (22 guns) and (32 guns), operations continued and by establishing a base at Lissa, now known as
Vis, Hoste was able to dominate the Adriatic with just four ships. In March and April 1810 alone, they took or destroyed 46 vessels. The French and their allies became so frustrated by the disruption to their shipping that a Franco-Italian squadron, under the command of an aggressive frigate commander named
Bernard Dubourdieu, was dispatched and on 13 March 1811 they attacked Hoste's small force in what became known as the
Battle of Lissa.
Battle of Lissa Dubourdieu's squadron of seven frigates and four smaller warships possessing a total of 276 guns and nearly 2,000 men significantly outnumbered Hoste with his 4 frigates mounting only 124 guns and manned by less than 900 men. The French officer imitated Nelson's attack at
Trafalgar by sailing down on the British line from windward with his ships in two lines. However, signalling 'Remember Nelson' to rally his men, Hoste used his superior seamanship and gunnery to overcome the larger Franco-Italian squadron, with the loss of 50 men killed and 132 wounded. Dubourdieu was killed, one of the French frigates was driven on shore and two of the Italian ships were taken. Hoste's signal had a profound effect on his men. It was universally greeted with loud cheers and Captain
Phipps Hornby of
Volage wrote of it later: "Never again so long as I live shall I see so interesting or so glorious moment".
Kotor, Split and Ragusa (Dubrovnik) Amphion was so badly damaged that she was obliged to return to England, where Hoste was given the command of (38 guns), although he did not return to the Adriatic in her until 1812. Hoste continued to demonstrate the same kind of initiative and aggression as before. He helped capture
Spalato (Split) in November 1813 with the assistance from the
35th regiment of foot. Then working with
Montenegrin forces, he attacked the
mountain fortress of Cattaro, hauling ships' cannon and mortars to positions above the fort using block and tackle. The French garrison had no alternative but to surrender, which it did on 5 January 1814. Hoste immediately repeated these tactics at Ragusa (now
Dubrovnik), which also surrendered later on the 27th. ==Later life==