Royal Naval Biography/Locke, Walter
WALTER LOCKE, Esq
Rear-Admiral of the Red.
From the period of the Spanish armament, in 1790, to the commencement of the war with the French republic, this officer commanded the Cockatrice cutter, of 14 guns, stationed in the Channel. He served as Lieutenant of the Queen Charlotte, bearing the flag of Earl Howe, in the glorious battle of June 1, 1794[1]; soon after which he was made a Commander in the Charon hospital-ship, attached to the Channel fleet; and in that vessel was present at the action off l’Orient, June 23, 1795[2]. He obtained post rank on the 22d Sept. in the same year; and subsequently commanded the Ville de Paris, of 110 guns, and the Prince of Wales, a second-rate.
Early in the late war we find Captain Locke employed in the Sea Fencible service at Berwick, and afterwards in the Isle of Wight. At the beginning of the year 1811, he was appointed Agent for Prisoners of War at Portchester; and on the 4th June, 1814, he became a Rear-Admiral. Our officer has a numerous family; his son James, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, fell a victim to the climate of the West Indies, in 1808.
Residence.– Ryde, Isle of Wight.