Mr. Collard entered the naval service as a midshipman on board the Shark sloop of war, commanded by his uncle Valentine, in which vessel he served on the N.E. coast of Scotland, from May 22, 1783, until Dec. 11, 1787; when he joined the Champion a 24-gun ship, under the command of Captain Sampson Edwards, with whom he continued upwards of three years.
During the remainder of the peace, we find Mr. Collard serving as master’s mate of the Iphigenia frigate. Captain Patrick Sinclair; and on the 16th Mar. 1703, he appears to have been removed into the St. George 98, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral John Gell, under whom he shortly afterwards sailed for the Mediterranean. The recapture of a Spanish galleon by that officer’s squadron, April 14, 1793, has been described at p. 757 of our first volume.
The St. George formed part of Lord Hood’s fleet at the occupation of Toulon, in Aug. 1793; and was almost constantly engaged with the republican batteries from the 19th until the 24th of the following month, she being then stationed in the N.W. arm of the inner road, to defend the head of the harbour, and to cover the fort of Malbousquet on the side next to the water.
In Oct., same year, Mr. Collard assisted at the capture of a French frigate and two armed tartans, which had broken the
the Master, 4 Midshipmen (one of whom was the Captain’s son), 2 warrant officers, and about 2S0 men lost their lives. Most of the other officers were then at a ball, and thereby preserved from the same melancholy fate. The following is a list of those gentlemen who were either saved from the wreck, or were on shore when the dreadful accident took place:–
Lieutenants James Pengelly, Thomas Tudor Tucker*, and the Hon. Alex. Jones*; supernumerary Lieutenants Nisbet Josiah Willoughby*, William Dredge, and Robert Smart; Messrs. John Douglas and Benjamin W. M‘Gibbon, marine officers; James Shaw, master’s-mate; James Spink, T. H. Buddie, Stephen Popham*, James Pettet, Charles William Chalmers†, and John Thompson, midshipmen; John Bury, surgeon; John Dredge, purser; and the Rev. Thomas Tringham, chaplain. The carpenter and about 109 men were also saved.
* Now Captains.
