"... In the year 1759 he quitted his grandfather's paternal roof, and embarked on the stormy ocean of his career under the protection of his relation the late Nathaniel Smith, Esq., who is still remembered, not less as one of the ablest Officers of his time in the Indian service, than for his distinguished merits during the many successful periods in which he presided in the Court of Directors. Under him he served a strict but salutary apprenticeship to the profession of a Seaman, and laid the foundation of that nautical science to which the country is indebted for his brilliant achievement on the China Seas. From the year 1759 ti 1787, he passed successively through all the graduations of professional service, under the unremitting protection of his first and only patron, to the rank of a Commander. During this period he made eight entire voyages to India, one to the Mediterranean, and one to the West Indies, besides a part of one to the East in 1780, when he was among the number of those captured by the combined Fleets of France and Spain, in which latter country he remained six months a prisoner on his parole. In January 1787, he sailed as Commander of the Lord Camden, in which Ship he made four voyages; and, in January 1803, he sailed for China in a new Ship, the Earl Camden, of 1200 tons burthen, and carrying 36 18-pounders. On the 5th February, 1804, he left Canton on his return to Europe, having bee appointed, by right of seniority, Commodore of the whole Fleet; and on the 14th, he fell in with the Squadron under Admiral Linois. ..."

Command of the 1804 China fleet was given to Commadore Nathaniel Dance in the East Indiaman Earl Camden. The fleet departed Canton in late January 1804. It contained a cargo of tea, silk and porcelain valued at over 8,000,000 pounds. By the time it reached the Straits of Malacca, the fleet consisted of 16 East Indiamen, 11 country ships, a Portugese merchant ship and a vessel from Botony Bay in New South Wales. At 08:00 on 14 February 1804, with the island of Pulo Aura within sight to the south-west near the eastern entrance to the Straits of Malacca, the Indiaman Royal George raised a signal describing three sail approaching the convoy from the direction of the island. This was a French squadron commanded by Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois, which had been cruising in the area for the previous month in anticipation of the convoy's arrival. Dance ordered the brig Ganges and the Indiamen Alfred, Royal George, Bombay Castle and Hope to approach the strange vessels and investigate, rapidly discovering that they were enemy warships. By 13:00, Dance had readied his guns and reformed his convoy, with the large Indiamen formed up in line of battle to receive the French attack as if they were warships. During the late afternoon, Linois's squadron fell in behind the slow line of merchant ships and Dance expected an immediate attack, but Linois was cautious and merely observed the convoy, preferring to wait until the following morning before engaging the enemy. Dance made use of the delay to gather the smaller country ships on the opposite side of his line from the French, the brig Ganges shepherding them into position and collecting volunteers from their crews to augment the sailors on board the Indiamen. Linois later excused his delay in attacking the merchant convoy by citing the need for caution; If the bold front put on by the enemy in the daytime had been intended as a ruse to conceal his weakness, he would have profited by the darkness of the night to endeavour to conceal his escape; and in that case should have taken advantage of his manoeuvres. But I soon became convinced that this security was not feigned; three of his ships constantly kept their lights up, and the fleet continued to lie to, in order of battle, throughout the night. This position facilitated my gaining the wind, and enabled me to observe the enemy closely. —Linois, quoted in translation in William James' The Naval History of Great Britain during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Volume 3, 1827. At dawn on 15 February, both the British and French forces raised their colours. Dance hoped to persuade Linois that his ships included some fully armed warships and he therefore ordered the brig Ganges and the four lead ships to hoist blue ensigns, while the rest of the convoy raised red ensigns. By the system of national flags then in use in British ships, this implied that the ships with blue ensigns were warships attached to the squadron of Admiral Rainier, while the others were merchant ships under their protection. Dance was unknowingly assisted by the information that had reached Linois at Batavia, which claimed that there were 23 merchant ships and the brig in the convoy. Dance had collected six additional ships during his journey, and the identity of these were unknown to the French, who assumed that at least some of the unidentified vessels must be warships, particularly as several vessels had been recently painted at Canton to resemble ships of the line. At 09:00 Linois was still only observing the convoy, reluctant to attack until he could be sure of the nature of his opponents. Dance responded to the reprieve by reforming the line of battle into sailing formation to increase his convoy’s speed with the intention of reaching the Straits ahead of Linois. With the convoy a less intimidating target, Linois began to slowly approach the British ships. By 13:00 it was clear that Linois's faster ships were in danger of isolating the rear of the convoy, and Dance ordered his lead ships to tack and come about, so that they would cross in front of the French squadron. The British successfully executed the manoeuvre, and at 13:15 Linois opened fire on the lead ship, Royal George, under the command of John Fam Timmins. The Royal George and the next four ships in line, the Indiaman Ganges, Dance's Earl Camden, the Warley and the Alfred, all returned the fire, Ganges initially attacking the Royal George in error. Captain James Prendergrass in Hope, the next in line, was so eager to join the battle that he misjudged his speed and collided with Warley, the ships falling back as their crews worked to separate their rigging. Shots were then exchanged at long range for 43 minutes, neither side inflicting severe damage. Royal George had a sailor named Hugh Watt killed, another man wounded, and suffered some damage to her hull. None of the other British ships or any of the French reported anything worse than superficial damage in the engagement. At 14:00, Linois abandoned the action and ordered his squadron to haul away with the wind and sail eastwards, away from the convoy, under all sail. Determined to maintain the pretence of the presence of warships, Dance ordered the ships flying naval ensigns, including his flagship Earl Camden, to chase the French. None of the merchant ships could match the French speed, but an attempt at a chase would hopefully dissuade the French from returning. For two hours, Dance's squadron followed Linois, Hope coming close to catching Aventurier but ultimately unable to overtake the brig. At 16:00, Dance decided to gather his scattered ships and return to his former heading rather than risk attack from other raiders or lose sight of his convoy in the darkness. By 20:00, the entire British convoy had anchored at the entrance to the Straits of Malacca. On 28 February the British ships of the line HMS Sceptre and HMS Albion joined them in the Strait and conducted them safely to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, from where the convoy returned to Britain without further incident. Nathaniel Dance was created Knight Bachelor on 25 July 1805. In July or August 1806 Dance received a letter written on behald of Linois requesting information about the number of guns and men Dance had at his disposal in the battle.