Francis Laforey
| Sir Francis Laforey | |
|---|---|
| Born |
31 December 1767 Colony of Virginia |
| Died | 17 June 1835 (aged 67) Brighton, Sussex, England |
| Allegiance |
 Great Britain United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1780s–1835 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (1815) |
Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, 2nd Baronet, KCB (31 December 1767 – 17 June 1835) was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, whose distinguished service record included numerous frigate commands in Home waters and in the West Indies. He is best known however for his service in command of the ship of the line Spartiate at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. During the action, Laforey was heavily engaged and his ship suffered heavy casualties. Five years after Trafalgar, Laforey was promoted to rear-admiral and commanded the Leeward Islands squadron, before retiring in 1814.
Son of the notable and highly controversial naval officer Sir John Laforey, Francis Laforey joined the Navy at a young age and enjoyed patronage throughout his career. His exploits in command of frigates during the French Revolutionary Wars and his capture of Dutch colonies in South America garnered wealth and esteem among his colleagues, and his later success as a battleship captain only continued this trend.
Born in 1767 in Virginia into wealthy and respectable family, Laforey was destined to go to sea from an early age, his father being an officer himself, later to become Admiral Sir John Laforey, 1st Baronet of Whitby. Francis' father was a senior government official in Antigua at the time, and the family moved there soon afterwards, thus avoiding the American War of Independence, although the senior Laforey was heavily involved due to his naval duties. Sent to sea in the early 1780s as a teenager, Francis' rise was rapid due to his father's local influence, meaning that by 1791 Laforey was already a commander with his own sloop, Fairy.
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