An officer of considerable ability, he won a noteworthy victory against a stronger French opponent, before embarking on a period of distinguished service off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, working closely with the British generals fighting the Peninsular War, and markedly contributing to their success.

His good service led to a prime posting in command of a squadron despatched to hunt down and neutralise the American super frigates during the War of 1812.

The years of peace that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars saw him rewarded with a baronetcy, and he continued to serve in the navy where he was tasked with the suppression of the slave trade.

The publishing of William James's account of the War of 1812, which lambasted him for incompetence and cowardice in his failure to catch the Constitution, broke his personal peace.

[2] This was likely to have been only a nominal entry to gain seniority, and Collier's naval service probably actually began three years later in January 1787, when he joined the 28-gun frigate HMS Carysfort at the rank of midshipman.

[2] He moved in June 1790 to take up a position aboard Captain Edward Pellew's 50-gun HMS Salisbury and spent the rest of that year serving on the Newfoundland station.

[2] Before they could reach friendly soil the Portuguese ship was captured by a French privateer and Collier and his fellow survivors were sent to Île de France as prisoners.

[2] By now the French Revolutionary Wars had broken out, and after a period spent recuperating from his several ordeals, Collier joined Commodore Peter Rainier's flagship HMS Suffolk in June 1795.

[3] Rainer sent him to the Cape of Good Hope, but shortly after his arrival, the commander of the station, Admiral Thomas Pringle ordered that Suffolk Tender be surveyed.

[3] Collier duly arrived in England in May 1799, and on 2 July that year received an appointment to the 64-gun HMS Zealand, which was then under the command of Captain Thomas Parr.

The channel was very narrow, and the wind unfavourable, but Collier managed to warp the Victor into the harbour, and with the aid of her staysails, closed on the French ship.

[3] He was active off the coast of Spain that year, supporting the guerrillas in the countryside under Admiral Sir Home Popham, and was personally involved in some of the land-based operations of the Peninsular War.

[7] The boat proved extremely useful after tests aboard the Surveillante, especially at being able to land safely on a flat beach to give close support.

[5] On 15 March 1814 Collier received command of the 50-gun HMS Leander and was sent to North America to deal with the American super frigates that were causing losses to British merchant shipping.

[8] Collier continued to cruise in the area, but before he had another opportunity to pursue the Constitution, news reached him that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed and that the war was over.

[5] James claimed Collier's incompetence had allowed the Constitution to escape from Boston, while his failure to bring her to action when his squadron later sighted her was attributed to what amounted to cowardice on his part.

[5] James summed up the episode with Most sincerely do we regret...that this last and most triumphant escape of the Constitution, the first frigate of the United States that had humbled the proud flag of Britain, had, not long ago, been brought under the scrutiny of a court-martial.

[14] His brother took the precaution of removing the razors from his home, but Collier appears to have smuggled one to his room, and used it to cut his own throat early in the morning on 24 March 1824.