William Thornton Bate

William Thornton Bate
Engraving of Bate (published 1862)
Born	31 January 1818 Chatham, Kent, England
Died	29 December 1857 (aged 38) Canton, Guangdong, China
Buried	Hong Kong Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1833–1857
Rank	Captain
Commands held	HMS Royalist HMS Bittern HMS Actaeon
Battles/wars	First Anglo-Chinese War Second Anglo-Chinese War

William Thornton Bate (31 January 1818 – 29 December 1857) was a British Royal Navy officer and surveyor. He served in First Anglo-Chinese War and Second Anglo-Chinese War. He died during the Battle of Canton in 1857.

Bate was born in 1818, the son of the Governor of Ascension Island. He entered the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth at the age of 13, spending two years studying there. He was then appointed as a midshipman aboard HMS Isis, and sailed with her to the Cape of Good Hope. He spent five years at the Cape, transferring to HMS Britannia and then, on his passing his lieutenant's exam, to HMS Blenheim. He sailed with the Blenheim to the China Station. While serving there, the First Opium War broke out. A party of men from Blenheim was landed to attack Chinese positions. Bate was one of those involved, helping to capture a fort, but being wounded in the neck as he did so. For his actions, he was promoted to lieutenant on 11 October 1841.

In autumn 1842, Bate was assigned to Commander Collinson on HMS Bentinck, who had been tasked with surveying the waters around the Chinese coast. In May 1842, he was involved in the attack on Chapu. Collinson was responsible for surveying the approaches to Chapu, and once the troops were landed, Bate accompanied them. He was involved in a hand-to-hand battle with a Chinese defender. Bate captured him, then opened the gates of the fort to the British, at which the Chinese fled. This earned him a Mention in Despatches from Vice Admiral William Parker who commanded the force. He returned to England in 1846, and took a series of scientific courses at the colleges at Woolwich and Portsmouth. He was promoted to Commander in 1848 and given command of HMS Royalist, with which he was to carry out further surveys of the Chinese coast. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society on 9 March 1849. He was taken ill with smallpox in 1852, but recovered and was able to complete his surveys, including one of the island of Palawan. After completing these tasks, Bate returned to England. In January 1856 he was appointed to command HMS Bittern, and to return to Chinese waters to conduct further surveys. He took command in April that year, but it was soon found that the Bittern was unsuitable to the task. Bate sent her back to Britain, transferring his command to the sixth rate HMS Actaeon, while he awaited the arrival of his new ship.