The ‘forgotten admiral’ who lived in Nelson’s shadow
TIM KING
Everyone knows about the Royal Navy’s greatest hero, Lord Nelson, but few could tell you about the admiral who sailed beside him for most of his career – Lord Collingwood. As HMS Collingwood marks the 80th anniversary of the first hostilities-only trainees being drafted to the newly-built Fareham base, former News Defence Correspondent looks at the life of the admiral who many rated as Nelson’s equal.
Towards noon on October 21, 1805 two lines of British men of war bore steadily down on the combined might of France and Spain off Cape Trafalgar. After months of chasing, blockading and frustration, the enemy had at last been cornered and the highly successful partnership of Nelson and Collingwood was about to put a main branch of Napoleon Bonaparte & Co out of business.
The pair had known no other trade.
Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, C-in-C of the British Fleet, and second-in-command Vice-Admiral Collingwood, had devoted their lives to outthinking, out-smarting and out-fighting their country’s enemies in every department.
Cuthbert Collingwood was born in 1748 in Newcastle upon Tyne and entered the Royal Navy aged 12.
He sailed to Boston in HMS Preston and fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolution.
After serving together in the 32-gun 5th rate HMS Lowestoft in 1777, they became lifelong friends early in their careers and Collingwood served under Nelson in the Spanish Main in 1780 and again in the West Indies in 1783-86.
So it was hardly coincidence that during their illustrious service promotion for
Horatio Nelson was closely followed by a similar step up the ladder for Collingwood.
Collingwood was a seaman of the highest order, matching his skill at handling ships with a brand of courage that endeared him to his men.
By the time he arrived off Trafalgar, he had already won renown for his part in the Battle of Ushant in 1794 known as ‘The Glorious First of June’ – first in a succession of British victories over revolutionary France – and in the Battle of Cape St Vincent three years later.
In fact, he ‘dipped out’ of getting one of the first medals awarded for bravery in action, for which he rather unfairly blamed Admiral Lord Howe, known as ‘Black Dick’ throughout the Fleet.
King George III decreed that medals should be awarded to officers who served gallantly, but the Admiralty foolishly insisted it had to be on the commanding officers’ recommendations.
Howe realised it might cause offence as it was impossible for any commander to see more than a handful of brave acts during a pitched battle, so he had to comply and Collingwood, commanding HMS Barfleur at Ushant, was not among the recipients.
However, the Admiralty made amends after Cape St Vincent when Collingwood was awarded two gold medals, with a third later in his career.
The admiration between Nelson and Collingwood was mutual and Collingwood, commanding HMS Excellent at Portsmouth at the time of Nelson’s brilliant victory in the Battle of the Nile in 1798, wrote: ‘It was the promptitude as much as the vigour of the attack which gave him the superiority so very soon. The Frenchman found himself assailed before he determined how best he should repel the assault.’
And so it was at Trafalgar, where Nelson broke all the rules and Collingwood played a part which at least equalled that of his commander.
As the two columns steadily narrowed the distance to the onslaught, Collingwood in HMS Royal Sovereign complained testily at Nelson’s ‘England Expects’ signal.
‘I wish Nelson would stop signalling as we all know well enough what we have to do,’ he said, as his ship led the line to leeward and was first to storm into action, smashing through the enemy centre after taking heavy punishment for several minutes.
Nelson was more complimentary. ‘See how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action,’ he remarked as the three-decker was superbly handled, an awe-inspiring sight to friend and foe.
When Nelson died, Collingwood took command of the Fleet to wrap up the anihilation and was later awarded a peerage. But that was by no means the end of his illustrious career and he stepped into the shoes of the man he described as ‘incomparable.’
In March 1810, Collingwood’s health failed and he agreed to relinquish his post as C-in-C Mediterranean, but he died of cancer on board the 110-gun HMS Ville de Paris that was bringing him home to his wife and two children whom he had not seen for seven years.
His body lay in state at Greenwich and then he was buried in a simple tomb alongside the mighty shrine in which the nation had interred its saviour, Nelson, in the crypt at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Cuthbert Collingwood’s service to his country and devotion to duty – he spent 44 of his 50 years in the Royal Navy at sea – has largely been forgotten, overshadowed by the man he admired,
Tim King
COMMEMORATION Sir Edward Collingwood takes the spade before planting a commemorative tree at the base on Trafalgar Day, 1967
Horatio Nelson; yet in the five years after Nelson’s death as C-in-C Mediterranean he prevented the French fleet from holding any part of the Mediterranean.
He exploited the Spanish anti-French uprising of
May 1808, paving the way for Wellington’s ultimately successful Peninsular campaign. His legacy ensured that final British victory at sea against the French was not by winning battles, but by preventing them.
The Royal Navy honoured him by naming three warships and a ‘stone frigate’ – the current shore base in Fareham – after him.
The first was an 80-gun second-rater of 2,584 tons built in 1841. She served in the Pacific and was converted to a screw ship before being sold.
The second Colllingwood (9,150 tons) was built in 1882 as an armour-clad barbette warship of 10 guns. She served in the Mediterranean before becoming a coastguard ship until 1900, when she was sold.
The last floating Collingwood and the most famous was one of the new breed of Dreadnoughts built in Devonport in 1908, displacing 19,250 tons.
Armed with ten 12-inch and 18 four-inch guns, she was part of the 1st Battle Squadron that fought the German High Seas Fleet at Jutland in 1916 and she had two VIPs on board – Sub Lieut Prince Albert, Duke of York and the future King George VI, and Midshipman Edward Collingwood, the great-great nephew and last direct descendant of the other hero of Trafalgar.
I met Sir Edward Collingwood when he visited the Fareham base on Trafalgar Day 1967 to plant a commemorative tree and he recalled how Prince Albert distinguished himself in ‘A’ turret and also found time to scrawl rude messages to his close kinsman, Kaiser Wilhelm, on the 12-inch shells before they were thrust into the breeches and hurled at the German battle cruiser Lutzow, which was badly mauled.
The dreadnought was scrapped in 1922, but four of her battle ensigns survived and one hangs in a glass case in the wardroom.
He said: ‘The Prince, who was mentioned in despatches, popped out of his turret, threw his cap joyfully in the air and saw it float away over the side.’
Sir Edward, who became an eminent scholar and the Navy’s Chief Scientist, also recalled his ancestor’s rare visits to his Northumberland estates near Morpeth.
‘He always filled his pockets with acorns before walking around with his dog, Bounce, and finding good places for oak trees to grow to make sure the Navy would never want for oaks to build the fighting ships on which Britain’s safety depended.’
He added: ‘My great-great uncle did much better than me. He was a captain at 30, I was 44 and Nelson was 21 when he got his captaincy.’
Two centuries on, some of those trees are still growing and shedding acorns in an age when Cuthbert Collingwood’s ‘Hearts of Oak’ have long been replaced by
The admiration between Nelson and Collingwood was mutual