Thomas Masterman Hardy
Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, 1st Baronet GCB , called "Nelsons Hardy", (born April 5, 1769 in Kingston Russell , Dorset , † September 20, 1839 in Greenwich ) was one of the most famous British naval officers of the 19th century , who was under served the high command of Lord Nelsons in the naval battles at Abukir and Trafalgar .
At Trafalgar, he was the captain of Vice Admiral Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, and had long been one of Nelson's most trusted friends. Nelson's last words “Kiss me, Hardy”, which today is sometimes interpreted as “Kismet, Hardy” (literally: “Fate, Hardy”) have become famous. It is narrated by those present until Nelson's death that Hardy leaned over Nelson and kissed his forehead. Port Hardy is named after Thomas Hardy and is the largest town in northern Vancouver Island . The same applies to the Hardy Cove on Greenwich Island in the archipelago of the South Shetland Islands .
Life
Thomas Hardy was born in 1769 as the sixth child and second son of Joseph Hardy of Portesham , Dorset and his wife Nanny, daughter of Thomas Masterman of Kingston Russel, Dorset. He attended Crewkerne Grammar School in Somerset and then entered the Royal Navy on November 30, 1781 as Captain's Servant on the brig HMS Helena under Captain Francis Roberts from Burton Bradstock . The next year he left the Navy and went back to school. After a time in the merchant navy , he rejoined the Royal Navy on February 5, 1790 as a midshipman on the HMS Hebe under Sir Alexander Hood , also a Dorset man and neighbor of the Hardys . On December 10, 1793 he was appointed naval officer (lieutenant) on the frigate HMS Meleager , which - under the command of Captain Charles Tylers, since 1794 under Captain George Cockburn , whose successor as First Sea Lord Hardy was thirty years later - to Commodore Nelson's squadron, which at the time was off Genoa .
His biographer John Gore describes him as a strong character, promising young naval officer who, in an admirable way, had all the basics for a successful naval officer. He was a born sailor with a flair for doing the right thing at the right time.
In August 1796, Captain Cockburn switched to the captured frigate HMS Minerve and took Hardy with him, who was captured in a collision with the Spanish frigates Santa Sabina and Ceres - he was the leader of a prize squad on board the one handed over by their captain Don Jacobo Stuart Santa Sabina , which could be retaken from the Spaniards. Nelson was forced to report the loss of two officers, Lieutenants John Culverhouse († 1809) and Thomas Hardy, and the 40-member prize squad to his Admiral Sir John Jervis . At the same time he wrote to the captain general of the Spanish port of Cartagena , where Hardy was imprisoned:
Sir,
The fortune of war put La Sabina into my possession, after she had been most gallantly defended: the fickle dame returned her to you, with some of my officers and men in her. I have endeavored to make the captivity of Don Jacobo Stuart, her brave Commander, as light as possible; and I trust to the generosity of your nation for its being reciprocal for the British officers and men. I consent, Sir, that Don Jacobo may be exchanged and at full liberty to serve his King when Lieutenants Culverhouse and Hardy are delivered into the garrison of Gibraltar.
Nelson aboard the Minerve , December 24, 1796
On January 29, 1797, Hardy and Culverhouse were released in Gibraltar. On February 10, 1797, one day after his return to the fleet, the Minerve was again pursued by Spanish frigates en route to meet Jervis in the Strait of Gibraltar. One of the British sailors went overboard. Hardy immediately launched a dinghy to rescue the sailor. The boat was drifting aft, toward the Spanish ships within firing range, and Hardy's recapture seemed inevitable. Another captain might have sacrificed the dinghy and crew to save the frigate, but Nelson, quickly grasping the situation, was cut from different cloth. He shouted By God, I'll not lose Hardy. Back the mizzen topsail. This daring action was successful, the Spaniards cut their sails and Hardy was taken back on board. Three days later, the HMS Minerve took part in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and contributed so significantly to the victory of the British that its commander and the crew were commended. Hardy was promoted to Commander and was given command of the HMS Mutine , which he commanded in 1798 in the Battle of Abukir in Egypt.
Because of his services in this battle, he was made captain of HMS Vanguard , which had been Nelson's flagship with Abukir. On board the Vanguard and the HMS Foudroyant , he continued to serve under Nelson in Naples and Sicily for the next few years and was present at the sea battle of Copenhagen on April 1, 1801. In May 1803 he acted during the siege of Toulon as Flag Captain on the Victory and was on board the same ship as Captain of the Fleet in the victory over the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar , in which Admiral Nelson was fatally wounded. The dying Nelson’s last wish to Hardy has become famous: “ Kiss me, Hardy ”.
" If he was known to a few as Nelson's Hardy since the Battle of the Nile , this name was on everyone's lips after Trafalgar and was to remain the highest distinction in his career to all times ". On February 4, 1806 he was given the hereditary title of Baronet , of the Navy. On November 17, 1807, in Halifax , Nova Scotia , he married Anne Louisa Emily Berkeley, the daughter of Commander-in-Chief Sir George Berkeley. The marriage produced three daughters.
From 1809 to 1812 he served as a Portuguese commodore on the Barfleur in Lisbon. After serving at the North American Station , he was made Knight Commander of the Order of Bath in 1815 and returned to England to take command of the Royal Yacht Augusta until 1819 . He was then commander in chief of the South American Station , was appointed Rear Admiral of the Blue in 1825 and Rear Admiral of the White in 1830 . In November of the same year he took over the post of First Sea Lord of the Admiralty , he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath in 1831 and became Vice-Admiral of the Blue in 1837 .
" Nelson's Hardy " died on September 20, 1839. He was buried in Greenwich Hospital , of which he had been governor since 1834. Since he had no sons, his baronet title expired on his death.
literature
- John Gore: Nelson's Hardy and His Wife . John Murray, London 1935.
- Alexander Meyrick Broadley: The Three Dorset Captains at Trafalgar: Thomas Masterman Hardy, Charles Bullen, Henry Digby . John Murray, London 1906.
- Alexander Meyrick Broadley, Richard Grosvenor Bartelot: Nelson's Hardy. His Life, Letters and Friends . John Murray, London 1909.
annotation
- ^ A b John Gore: Nelson's Hardy and His Wife . - London: John Murray, 1935.
- ↑ John Culverhouse RN, born before 1770, appointed Lieutenant December 1, 1787, then served on the ships Edgar 1788, Trimmer Stoop 1789, Meleaser 1793 and Minerva 1796; after the Santa Sabina incident, promoted to Commander at Nelson's suggestion, February 27, 1797; Used on the Romulus 1799, promoted to captain April 29, 1802, drowned in 1809.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hardy, Thomas Masterman |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hardy, Sir Thomas Masterman, 1st Baronet |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British naval officer, admiral |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1769 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston Russell , Dorset |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 20, 1839 |
| Place of death | Greenwich , England |