Lawrence William Halsted | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 April 1764 Gosport, Hampshire |
| Died | 22 April 1841 (aged 77) Stoke, Devon |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1776–1841 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | HMS Atalanta HMS Crown HMS Hector HMS London HMS Venus HMS Phoenix HMS Namur West Indies Station |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
| Relations | John Halsted (brother) |
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 HMS Phoenix, 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.