John Talbot (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir John Talbot GCB (c. 1769 – 7 July 1851) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in which he fought at several prominent single-ship actions, all of which were successful.

In August Talbot was promoted to post captain in the sixth rate HMS Eurydice in which he remained for four years in the West Indies and English Channel.

Eurydice was present at the Saint Marcou Islands for the Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf in 1798, although the lack of wind prevented her from engaging the French attackers.

[1] On 10 November 1799 near Beachy Head she surprised a schooner L'Hirondelle from Calais (14 guns) Captain Pierre Merie Dugerdin attacking a British brig the Diana of Sunderland which was putting up fierce resistance.

In February 1812, Victorious was dispatched to the Adriatic Sea, to intercept the French ship of the line Rivoli recently constructed at Venice.

The ensuing five-hour duel caused heavy casualties on both ships, including Talbot who was badly wounded in the head by a large splinter.

[1] Talbot, recovered from his wound, was presented with a gold medal and in November 1812 took the repaired Victorious to the West Indies and then to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States during the opening months of the War of 1812.

For the next thirty years, Talbot lived as a country gentleman, steadily advancing in rank until at his death in 1851 he was a full admiral and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.