Vice Admiral Charles Bayne Hodgson Ross (July 1776 – 2 March 1849) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, who later commanded the ship that took Napoleon Bonaparte into his finale exile on St Helena, and who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station. Biography Background and early career Charles Ross was the son of Lieutenant Robert Hunter Ross, RN, and a great-great grandson of William Ross, 12th Lord Ross. He entered the navy on 1 March 1788 as a captain's servant aboard the sloop , commanded by Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds. He remained in her, stationed at Newfoundland, until December. From February to April 1790 he served aboard the 74-gun , the guard ship at Portsmouth, under Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy, then moved into the (50), flagship of Vice-Admiral Mark Milbanke, Commodore-Governor at Newfoundland, before returning to the Edgar, under Captain Albemarle Bertie. French Revolutionary Wars Between March 1793 and April 1796 he served as master's mate and then midshipman, firstly in the fire-ship Conflagration and then the frigate (28), both commanded by Captain Thomas Francis Fremantle, then aboard (98) and (100), the flagships of Sir Hyde Parker, and the (100), flagship of Sir John Jervis. While attached to the Tartar and St. George he served on shore during the capture and evacuation of Toulon, and took part in the land operations connected with the capture of Saint-Florent, Bastia, and Calvi, in the island of Corsica, and fought in the battles off Genoa and the Hyères Islands in March and July 1795. On 14 July 1796, he was promoted to lieutenant in the (74), Captain James Douglas, stationed off Cádiz; and on 26 August 1797 was transferred to (20), Captain George Eyre, and then on 5 June 1798 to (98), flagship of Sir Hyde Parker, in the West Indies. He served on shore at Môle-Saint-Nicolas and contributed to the capture and destruction of several privateers and armed boats on the coast of Saint-Domingue. In January 1800 he was appointed acting-commander of the brig-sloop (18), and was confirmed in his rank on 11 June. However, on 8 October his ship was wrecked on the Honda Bank, off the northern coast of Cuba, and was abandoned and burned. After commanding the frigate (32), for about six months, on 5 July 1802 he was appointed acting-captain of (36), and was officially posted on 15