Bedford

Commanding Officer of HMS Hibernia, Admiral Lord Gardner's flagship of the Channel fleet blockading the French fleet in Brest.

He served with William Laurence on HMS Goliath during the Battle of the Nile. During a trip over the Channel Fleet to deliver dispatches from the Admiralty, Captain Bedford offended Laurence by calling Temeraire an "animal"; Laurence promptly excused himself back to Temeraire and headed back to the Dover covert.