After a period of schooling he rejoined the navy and served aboard a number of ships and under a variety of notable commanders of the age, until reaching the rank of lieutenant shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars.

[2] John Halsted also embarked on a naval career in 1776, joining his brother Lawrence aboard their father's ship, the 60-gun HMS Jersey, for service off North America.

Howe's fleet was then engaged with a Spanish force under Luis de Córdova at the Battle of Cape Spartel on 20 October 1782, in which Blenheim had two men killed and three wounded.

[3][a] He was then ordered to join the expedition against Manila, travelling to Calcutta to take command of the bomb vessel HMS Vulcan in July.

Rainier therefore asked Halsted to exchange with Murray and instead sail to take over Crescent on the Cape Station, and at the same time carry despatches to be forwarded back to Britain from there.

Halsted followed on, delivering his despatches, but to his "mortification", he found that the Admiralty would not confirm his post-rank, but only offered him the rank of commander, dated from June 1798, the time of his arrival in Britain.

He was finally given command of HMS Lord Nelson, a defence and storeship anchored in the Downs, in 1804, followed by the position of principal agent for transports for the expedition to Copenhagen in 1807.

[2][5] His service in the latter role was also marked with personal disappointment, as his contribution was overlooked and not reported back to the Admiralty by the expedition's captain of the fleet, Home Riggs Popham.

[2][5] He stepped down from his post with the Transport Board in 1809, and on 23 August 1810 succeeded Captain Samuel Warren as commander of the 74-gun HMS Bellerophon.

[7] He next commissioned the newly built 74-gun HMS Scarborough in February 1813, continuing in the North Sea and serving as flag captain to Rear-Admiral John Ferrier.

Of his sons, his eldest, Lawrence William, obtained a commission in the 87th Regiment of Foot, while George Anthony followed his father into the navy, having reached the rank of lieutenant by 1830.

[8][9] Due to his low position on the seniority lists, John Halsted did not live long enough to achieve flag rank.