Captain John Hatley, RN (c. 1762 – 12 December 1832) was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Hatley, born in approximately 1762, joined the Royal Navy at a young age and in his first posting was attached to Captain James Cook's ship HMS Resolution.

The problems arose against the backdrop of the Spithead Mutiny in Britain, when malcontents in the Mediterranean Fleet, at this time stationed off Cadiz, were seized at the orders of Earl St Vincent.

The crew were strongly opposed to carrying out these executions on a Sunday and brought a petition to Captain Shuldham Peard, who passed it on to St Vincent.

[2] In the Napoleonic Wars, Hatley commanded the frigate HMS Winchelsea in the West Indies and later in the Mediterranean where he was awarded a gold medal for services to the Ottoman Empire.