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|battles = French Revolutionary Wars *Action of 7 May 1794 Napoleonic Wars *Invasion of Guadeloupe War of 1812 |battles_label = |awards = |relations = George Charles Hawker (son) |laterwork = |signature = }} Edward Hawker (7 November 1782 – 8 June 1860) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born the son of a naval officer in 1782, Edward Hawker was first entered in the books of a warship when just four years old. His actual seagoing service did not begin until 1792, after which he saw action in some of the early engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars. Commissioned a lieutenant at thirteen, he served with several relatives both in the West Indies and in the waters off the British coast. A commander at twenty-one, he captained his own ships at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars. Posted again to the West Indies, he endured several mishaps, including running his ship aground, and then having it struck by lightning and damaged. His travails with the weather there continued after his promotion to post-captain, including a severe hurricane that dis-masted his ship and nearly sank her. He was a successful frigate captain in the Caribbean, capturing a number of enemy privateers, and served at the capture of Guadeloupe in 1810. Rewarded with the command of ships of the line, he spent most of his time in North American waters or the Caribbean towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars and during the War of 1812. The end of the wars after 1815 left little opportunity for active service, but Hawker briefly commanded a ship as flag captain to the Earl of Northesk, and eventually reached flag-rank himself. He spent his retirement as a correspondent for ''The Times'', and died an admiral in 1860, one of the last surviving commanders of the wars with France. ==Family and early life== Edward Hawker was born on 7 November 1782, the son of Captain James Hawker, who had served during the American War of Independence. Hawker was nominally entered onto the books of the 28-gun by her captain, Prince William Henry, the future King William IV, in May 1786. Hawker was just four years old at the time, making this a fictitious entry to allow him to gain "sea time" and seniority. He did not begin his actual naval service for another six years, until he was ten years old. Serving during the French Revolutionary Wars, Hawker was aboard at the Action of 7 May 1794, when his ship captured the French frigate ''Atalante'', and took her captain, Charles-Alexandre Linois, prisoner.〔 Hawker was commissioned a lieutenant in 1796, at the age of thirteen, and went out to the West Indies with his brother-in-law, Captain Charles Boyles, and served on several of his ships.〔 He later served as a lieutenant aboard HMS ''Garland'', and aboard the 18-gun sloop , under the command of another brother-in-law, Michael Seymour.〔 Hawker's ships were active in operations against French and Spanish privateers and merchants, and he assisted in the capture of two large privateers. He then became first-lieutenant of the 32-gun , and commanded her boats in a successful cutting-out expedition against a Spanish privateer.〔 Hawker then left active service for a period on half-pay during the Peace of Amiens.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edward Hawker」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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