Rear-Admiral John William Spranger (died 1822) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer active during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He was appointed Lieutenant on 23 August 1790, and Commander on 7 June 1794.''Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815'', vol. 3. ed. David Syrett In 1795, he commanded the sloop in the expedition to capture

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He commanded a battalion of sailors from the fleet at the

Battle of Muizenberg The Invasion of the Cape Colony, also known as the Battle of Muizenberg, was a British military expedition launched in 1795 against the Dutch Cape Colony at the Cape of Good Hope. The Dutch colony at the Cape, established and controlled by th ...

, and was mentioned in both the Army and Navy despatches from this engagement. He was later recorded as a captain with seniority from 1795, suggesting his appointment to post was made after this engagement; it is certainly known that the promotion of Temple Hardy, the commander of the other sloop at the Cape, was made the day before the despatches were published. On 2 December 1796, in command of the frigate , he led a squadron which destroyed a French settlement in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and captured five merchant vessels. In 1799 he briefly commanded before she became a troopship, and in 1801 took command of the newly commissioned frigate , serving in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

and then to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. In May 1805 he was in command of the frigate , cruising off the

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

, and from the records of one of his crew, it appears he was appointed to the command of , a 74-gun third-rate, with effect from 12 July 1806.Survey of the career of Frederick Franks
/ref> ''Warrior'' served first in the Channel squadron and then later in the Mediterranean. Whilst commanding ''Warrior'' in the Mediterranean in 1809, he led the naval portion of the force which captured the Ionian Islands. After ''Warrior'' had returned to Chatham for repairs in 1811, he was given command of (74) in 1812, again operating off the Texel. On 4 June 1814 he was appointed Rear-Admiral of the Blue. He died on 9 February 1822, at Albany in Piccadilly. His will was proven on 2 May 1822, giving his final residence as

Pinner Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011. Originally a med ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

.''Will of John William Spranger, Rear Admiral in His Majesty's Navy'' at the National Archives, catalogue reference PROB 11/1657

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spranger, John William Royal Navy rear admirals 1822 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Year of birth unknown