Nathaniel Dance

Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance (20 June 1748 – 25 March 1827) was a British sea captain who served for over four decades in the East India Company (EIC), making numerous voyages to India and back with the fleets of EIC East Indiamen. He was already aware of the risks of the valuable ships he sailed on being preyed on by foreign navies, having been captured by a Franco-Spanish fleet in 1780 during the American War of Independence. His greatest achievement came during the Napoleonic Wars, when having been appointed commodore of one of the company's fleets, he came across a French squadron under Counter-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois raiding British shipping in the area.

Through skillful seamanship and aggressive tactics he fooled Linois into thinking that his convoy was escorted by powerful naval forces, and the French decided not to risk attacking Dance's fleet. He compounded the deception by taking his lightly armed merchants and chasing the French away, despite the considerable disparity of force between the two sides. Having saved the convoy from almost certain destruction, Dance was hailed as a hero, lavishly rewarded with money and a knighthood, and spent the last years of his life in comfortable retirement.