steady officer. On 10 October he returned the Royal Sovereign to Admiral Collingwood and took command of the fast new second rate . Eleven days later Conn and his crew were thrown into battle as the Franco-Spanish fleet attempted to break out of Cadiz. Situated halfway down Collingwood's division, Conn struggled to reach the action, only getting there around the time Nelson was mortally wounded in the northern division. Making up for the delay, Dreadnought tangled with the , rescuing the battered , killing the Spanish captain Cosmé Damián Churruca and forcing his ship to surrender. Charging on from this victory, the Dreadnought engaged the Spanish flagship , mortally wounding the Spanish admiral Gravina, but being unable to defeat the enemy, which succeeded in escaping back to Cadiz. Conn even managed to rescue his prize, the San Juan Nepomuceno being one of only four captured enemy ships to survive the storm. Following the battle, in which Dreadnought suffered 33 casualties, Conn continued in service taking over the massive 112 gun and then the 120 gun as flag captain before moving as a commodore to the West Indies in in 1810. Admiral's rank and the honours which came with it were surely not far away when tragedy struck on 4 May when during the chase of a small French ship near Bermuda, Conn became over-eager, slipped and fell overboard. Swiftsure was halted and a search was conducted, but Conn had drowned before help arrived. His death was mourned in Britain and especially in the Navy where he was a popular and respected figure. Sir John Borlase Warren, an old commander and friend, expressed regret at the death of "so deserving an officer as Captain Conn." References Further reading External links Animation of the Battle of Trafalgar 1764 births 1810 deaths Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon Deaths by drowning Royal Navy captains at the Battle of Trafalgar Accidental deaths in Bermuda Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars