John Wells (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir John Wells GCB (1763 – 19 November 1841) was a Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He was the son of Sarah Wells, who was mistress to Rear-Admiral Augustus Keppel. After joining the Royal Navy Wells was promoted to lieutenant in 1779 and commander in 1782. He was then given his first command, the sloop HMS Raven. He served in her on the Leeward Islands Station until he was captured by two French frigates in 1783. He was then promoted to post captain and given command of the frigate HMS Boreas upon his release later in the year. He left Boreas in 1784 and did not receive another command until 1797 when he commissioned the ship of the line HMS Lancaster.

While fitting out Lancaster the ship was caught up in the Nore Mutiny and Wells was forced to escape her through a gun port, but was later able to re-join the ship and accept the surrender of the mutineers. Lancaster joined the North Sea Fleet after this and fought at the Battle of Camperdown, for which Wells received the Naval Gold Medal. After briefly serving on the Irish Station in 1798 Wells left Lancaster in early 1799 and did not receive a command again. By seniority he was promoted to flag rank in 1805 and was knighted in 1820. He died at his home near Cuckfield in 1841 at the age of seventy-eight.