John Walter Roberts | |
|---|---|
_(attributed_to)_-_Commander_or_Captain_John_Walter_Roberts_(1792%E2%80%931845)_-_BHC2784_-_Royal_Museums_Greenwich.jpg) Portrait by Samuel Lane, c.1823–25 | |
| Born | 1792 |
| Died | 2 October 1845 Petersham, London |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1804–1845 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Commands | HMS Shearwater HMS Thracian HMS Tyne |
| Battles / wars | |
| Spouse(s) | Frances Sargent |
| Relations | William Hayward Roberts (grandfather) Sir John Gore (uncle) John Sargent (father-in-law) |
Captain John Walter Roberts (1792 – 2 October 1845) was a Royal Navy officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and in the subsequent peace. Supported by his uncle, the Royal Navy officer Sir John Gore, Roberts served as a junior officer on ships in the English Channel and Mediterranean Sea before being promoted to commander in 1814. He received his first command, HMS Shearwater, in 1820, serving at St Helena as well as off the coast of Africa where he made an aborted attempt to find the missionary Heinrich Schmelen in 1821.
Roberts took command of HMS Thracian in 1822, serving on the West Indies Station. Sent to hunt for pirates off Cuba, on 31 March 1823 boats from Thracian and HMS Tyne captured the pirate ship Zaragozana. Roberts was subsequently given command of Tyne and rewarded for his part in the capture with promotion to captain later in the year. He received no further commands in the Royal Navy after decommissioning Tyne, and died, still a captain, in 1845.