Lawrence Halsted

Admiral Sir Lawrence William Halsted GCB (2 April 1764 – 22 April 1841) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Halsted was the son of a naval officer and served with his father during the first years of the war in America. After his father's death he served under Captain Richard Onslow and was present at the engagements with the Comte d'Estaing and the Comte de Grasse in the West Indies and off the coast of North America. He survived various battles and a hurricane in the Atlantic in 1782, and by the end of the wars had risen to lieutenant.

He received his first independent commands while serving in the East Indies in the inter-war years, and after spending time as a flag captain during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, moved on to command a number of frigates. Halsted went on to achieve particular success aboard , and was rewarded with command of a squadron. Ships under his overall command captured two Dutch ships and destroyed several others in the North Sea in 1796, and after a successful period against privateers off Ireland, he moved to the Mediterranean. Here he helped to capture or destroy several French frigates, and by 1805 had command of a ship of the line. He took part in the defeat of a French squadron that had escaped Trafalgar at the Battle of Cape Ortegal, before serving as a captain of the fleet to Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton. Halsted was soon advanced to flag rank himself, and served as commander in chief in the West Indies while a vice-admiral. After a long and distinguished career, Lawrence Halsted died in 1841 with the rank of admiral of the blue.

Family and early life Halsted was born in Gosport on 2 April 1764, the son of naval officer Captain William Anthony Halsted, and his wife Mary, née Frankland. Three of Lawrence's brothers had naval careers; Charles Halsted became a lieutenant and was lost with in 1780, John Halsted became a captain, and George Halsted rose to be a commander. The elder Halsted was appointed commander of the former 60-gun in March 1776. Jersey had been fitted out as a hospital ship and assigned to Lord Howe's fleet for service off North America, and Halsted took his son with him as a midshipman. Lawrence's good service was rewarded with his lieutenant's commission dated 8 December 1781 and an appointment to the newly commissioned Princess Caroline, now under Captain Hugh Bromedge.

First commands Halsted was at first engaged in surveying off the Indian coast, before being promoted to post-captain and given command of Crown. He remained in Crown for a brief period, before resuming his command of Atalanta in order to complete his survey work, also using the sloop for the purpose. He returned to England aboard Swan in early 1793 and paid her off in May. Halsted and Montagu took part in the naval manoeuvres of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, but were not directly engaged at the Glorious First of June, where the British fleet under Lord Howe defeated the French under Villaret de Joyeuse. Halsted was appointed to command the 32-gun in February 1795, and went on to serve in the Channel and in the North Sea. He took over the 36-gun in October that year, and spent the rest of the French Revolutionary wars in command.

HMS Phoenix

Phoenix and Argo

Phoenix was at first attached to the fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan, operating in the North Sea. Duncan despatched a squadron of his own to intercept them, consisting of Phoenix, the 50-gun , the 28-gun and the brig-sloop , and under the overall command of Halsted. The Dutch were intercepted at 5am of 12 May, with Phoenix and Leopard chasing Argo, while Pegasus and Sylph made after the brigs. The convoy, which was bound from Porto Ercole to Porto Longone, was carrying ordnance stores and provisions, and was escorted by the 40-gun frigate Carrère, herself carrying 300 barrels of gunpowder.

Phoenix continued off Elba, and on 31 August was observed alone anchored off Piombino, causing French General François Watrin to order the two French frigates anchored at Leghorn the Succès and Bravoure, to put to sea to attempt to capture her. The Succès was unable to keep up with Bravoure, and ran aground off Vada. Minerve fired a shot at her as she passed by in pursuit of Bravoure, at which Succès promptly surrendered. She was duly readded to the navy under her old name. She was assigned to Sir Richard Strachan's squadron, and while sailing off Cape Finisterre on 2 November, the squadron was joined by Halsted's old ship, Phoenix, now under Captain Thomas Baker. Baker reported that he had been chased by a squadron of four French ships of the line, and had lured them within range of Strachan's force. These four ships, under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, had escaped from the Franco-Spanish defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October and were making their way to Rochefort. Strachan immediately took the bulk of his force in pursuit. The British eventually closed on the fleeing French on 4 November, though Namur took some time to come into action. She eventually joined the British line astern of and ahead of Strachan's flagship . In the ensuing Battle of Cape Ortegal several frigates attacked one side of the French line, while the ships of the line engaged the other, until the French were forced to surrender.

Halsted and Namur were then assigned to Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron during the Atlantic campaign of 1806, until Namur was paid off in July 1807. Flying his flag during his time on the station aboard , he became a popular commander, and was rewarded with the thanks of the Jamaican House of Assembly and a service of plate from the merchants of the island at the end of his tenure. His youngest son, Lieutenant Lawrence G Halsted, died at Bombay on 7 November 1847 while aboard his ship, the steam sloop .