Rear-Admiral John Bythesea /ˈbɪθsiː/[1] VC CB CIE (15 June 1827 – 18 May 1906) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

However, in 1872 he ruined his career when he put his battleship HMS Lord Clyde aground at Pantellaria, resulting in his dismissal from his ship; he was never employed at sea again.

[2] On 22 June 1850, he was posted to the 46-gun screw-frigate HMS Arrogant commanded by Captain Robert Spencer Robinson, Lisbon.

[7] On 12 March 1855, Lieutenant Bythesea was appointed captain of the paddle gun-vessel HMS Locust and served in the Flying Squadron in the Baltic.

On 10 May 1856 he was promoted to commander,[2] and on 20 May, Lieutenant John Bousquet Field replaced him as captain of Locust.

[2] In March 1872, Lord Clyde: The court-martial in April 1872 severely reprimanded Bythesea and the Navigating Officer, who were dismissed from their ship and neither of them were ever employed at sea again.

Bythesea married firstly Helen Dunbar Brogden (née Milne) on 7 July 1866 at the British Legation in Brussels.

[14] His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London.