View source for John Hatley

:{{For|the US Army sergeant convicted of murdering four Iraqi War detainees|John E. Hatley}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= John Hatley
|birth_date=c. 1762
|death_date= 12 December 1832
|birth_place=
|death_place= [[Dover]], [[Kent]]
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]
|serviceyears=
|rank= [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]]
|branch=  [[Image:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|22px]] [[Royal Navy]]
|commands=
|unit=
|battles= 
{{tree list}}
* [[French Revolutionary Wars]]
* [[Napoleonic Wars]]
** [[Raid on Saint Paul]]
{{tree list/end}}
|awards=
|laterwork=
}}
Captain '''John Hatley''', [[Royal Navy|RN]] (c. 1762 – 12 December 1832) was an officer of the British [[Royal Navy]] during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Hatley is most noted for being one of the junior officers on board Captain [[James Cook]]'s third voyage in {{HMS|Resolution|1771|6}}, aged approximately 14. He later went on to serve in the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]], receiving promotion after helping to thwart a mutiny in 1797 and later commanding [[frigates]] in several campaigns.

==Military service==
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|1771|6}}. This vessel had secretly been ordered to search what is now the [[Alaska]]n Coast for the [[Northwest Passage]].<ref name="TGM656"/> Leaving Britain in 1776, the ship reached [[Tahiti]] the following year and returned [[Omai]], Captain Cook's translator and guide, to his home. From there, the vessel sailed north and visited the [[Hawaiian Islands]], the [[Hawaiian Islands|Sandwich Islands]] and was the first European ship to visit and chart the coastline from [[California]] to Alaska. During 1778, Cook's behaviour became gradually more unpredictable, until in 1779 he returned to Hawaii to effect repairs on his ship prior to returning to Europe. There he was killed by Hawaiian warriors during a dispute over stolen goods. The survivors of the expedition finally returned to Britain in 1780.

In 1782, in recognition of his service on the exploratory voyage, Hatley was promoted to lieutenant and ordered to join {{HMS|Active|1780|6}} for service in the [[East Indies]].<ref name="TGM656"/> He remained a lieutenant, serving in various ships, until 1797 when he was embroiled in a mutiny aboard {{HMS|St George|1785|6}}. 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 [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Earl St Vincent]]. These men were sentenced to death by [[court martial]] on Saturday and due to be executed on the Sunday morning. ''St George'' was chosen as the vessel on which the sentences would be carried out. 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. The admiral's reply was that the sentences were justified and must be carried out with alacrity.<ref name="WJ2:61"/><ref name="Tuck310">{{Cite book | last = Tucker| first = Jedediah Stephens | title = Admiral the Right Hon The Earl of St Vincent GCB &C. Memoirs| volume = 1| page = 310|publisher = Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street| year =1844| isbn = 9780598397638 |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=CNABAAAAMAAJ&q=Life+and+Correspondence+of+John,+Earl+of+St+Vincent+vol+1|oclc= 6083815}}</ref> Infuriated, sections of the crew prepared to seize the ship and gathered on deck, where they were met by Peard and Hatley, the ship's second in command. Addressing his men, Peard attempted to calm them but without effect. Seeking to prevent a mutiny and ensuing massacre, Peard and Hatley then charged the mass of sailors and seized two ringleaders. The next day the scheduled executions were carried out and a week later the two men captured by Peard and Hatley were similarly hanged. For his services on this occasion, Hatley was promoted to commander.<ref name="WJ2:61">James, Vol. 2, p. 62</ref>

In the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Hatley commanded the frigate {{HMS|Winchelsea|1764|6}} in the [[West Indies]] and later in the [[Mediterranean]] where he was awarded a gold medal for services to the [[Ottoman Empire]]. At the funeral of [[Horatio Nelson]], Hatley formed part of the procession that accompanied the coffin to [[St. Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name="TGM656"/> In 1808, Hatley commanded the frigate {{HMS|Boadicea|1797|6}} during the campaign in the [[Indian Ocean]] and participated in the [[Raid on Saint Paul]].<ref name="WJ5:197">James, Vol. 5, p. 197</ref> The following winter he switched with Commodore [[Josias Rowley]] and took command of the [[ship of the line]] {{HMS|Raisonnable|1768|6}} which was returning to Britain for a refit. He retired at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and died in [[Dover]], [[Kent]] on 12 December 1832 and was remembered as the last survivor of Captain Cook's voyages.<ref name="TGM656">''The Gentleman's Magazine'', July to December 1832 Vol. 102 (25 of a new series), pp. 655–56</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

;References
* {{cite journal
 | title = Obituary: Kent
 | journal  = The Gentleman's Magazine
 | date=July–December 1832
 | volume=102
 | pages=655–56
 | access-date=26 October 2008
 | url   = https://books.google.com/books?id=d_gRAAAAYAAJ&q=captain+%22John+Hatley%22+1832&pg=PA655
}}
* {{Cite book
 | last = James
 | first = William
 | author-link = William James (naval historian)
 | year = 2002 |orig-year=1827
 | title = The Naval History of Great Britain
 | publisher = Conway Maritime Press
}}{{ISBN?}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatley, John}}
[[Category:1760s births]]
[[Category:1832 deaths]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]