A British naval officer closely associated with Adm. Horatio (afterward Viscount) Nelson, two of whose flagships he commanded during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
A sailor from 1781, he met Nelson in the mid-1790s, while the future hero of Trafalgar was still a captain. After Nelson’s victory over the French in the Battle of the Nile (Aug. 1, 1798), Hardy was made captain of Nelson’s flagship, the “Vanguard.”
He also was flag captain of the “Victory” during the Battle of Trafalgar (Oct. 21, 1805), in which a British fleet under Nelson defeated a Franco-Spanish force.
Hardy was at Nelson’s side when the admiral was mortally wounded in the battle.
Given a baronetcy in 1806, Hardy became first sea lord in 1830, and in 1837 he was appointed vice admiral. From 1834 until his death he was governor of the naval hospital at Greenwich.