John Blankett
Rear-Admiral John Blankett, (c. 1740 – 14 July 1801) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth century who served in three major wars, but was best known for his service in the Red Sea during the late stages French Revolutionary Wars when he blocked French ambitions in the Indian Ocean. Life Blankett was born in approximately 1740 and by 1758 was a midshipman in the Royal Navy, serving in HMS Somerset at the Siege of Louisbourg and the capture of Quebec. In 1761 he wrote a report on the possibility of a Northwest Passage and was promoted to lieutenant. Shortly afterwards he was convicted of murder at Gibraltar and sentenced to death, but was later reprieved. In 1763 he traveled to Russia to obtain intelligence about the recent Russian exploration of the northern Pacific coast. In the early 1770s Blankett was again in Russia in preparation for an exploration mission to the Pacific, although this was later cancelled by Lord Sandwich. The aftermath of this caused Blankett to openly associate with Sandwich's political enemies, particularly Lord Shelburne, whom he supplied with naval information for use against Sandwich in Parliament. During the American Revolutionary War Blankett served on HMS