John Carter Allen

Admiral John Carter Allen (19 January 1724 – 2 October 1800) was a Royal Navy officer.

Life and career

He was born in London on 19 January 1724 the son of Carter Allen and his wife Emma Hay. He was baptised at St Dunstan in the East. He was educated at Westminster College where he befriended Augustus Keppel.

On 14 June 1745 he appears as a commissioned lieutenant in the Royal Navy lists. He served on HMS Gosport under Captain Thomas Pye which served in Nova Scotia returning to England in 1752. He also served on HMS Swan 1750/51.

On 21 March 1758 he was promoted to Captain and transferred to command of the infamous HMS Experiment which in December 1758 was involved in the capture of Goree alongside his friend Commodore Keppel, at which Experiment was damaged and paid off. In 1758/9 he temporarily replace Captain John Strachan on HMS Sapphire, capturing the French privateer "Le Saint Michel" on 1 February 1759. Due to his success on Experiment, in August 1759 he was given command of the newly captured 32-gun French frigate HMS Repulse in which he was part of force sent to destroy the Fortress of Louisbourg alongside Captain John Byron. He was then part of the British action at Chaleur Bay aka the Battle of Restigouche involving 4 British ships and 3 French ships.

On Royal William on 20 October 1782 he took an active part in the Battle of Cape Spartel. He was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White in September 1787 and passed command of Royal William to Captain George Gayton in 1790.

In 1795 he was promoted to full Admiral. He retired in February 1799 and died on 2 October 1800.