Emmanuel Halgan ( Donges, 31 December 1771 - Paris, 20 April 1852) was a French Navy officer and admiral.

Biography

Born to the family of a bailiff, Halgan joined the French Royal Navy aged 16. He then served as a lieutenant and first officer on merchantmen. After rejoining the Navy, he served aboard the brig ''Curieux'', captured by a British frigate in 1793. Halgan was taken prisoner. Upon his return to France, he served on the ''Terrible'' and on a number of other ships. In 1798, Halgan received command of . The next year, ''Aréthuse'' was dismasted and captured by the 74-gun , off Portugal. The Royal Navy took ''Aréthuse'' into service as HMS ''Raven''. In 1800, Halgan was tasked with commissioning ''Clorinde'', and then served as first officer on ''Clorinde'' as she was sent to

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. Upon his return to France, Halgan received command of the brig ''Épervier'', with ensign

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1 ...

under his orders. In

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

, Halgan took temporary command of the 20-gun ''Berceau''. He sailed to France, and in 1803, sailed to the Indian Ocean to warn of the outbreak of the

War of the Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition) * In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...

. At

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, he joined up with Linois' squadron, engaging in commerce raiding. ''Berceau'' captured the 1500-ton and on 3 December along with

Motard Supermoto is a form of motorcycle racing held on race tracks that alternate between three kinds of track surfaces: the hard packed dirt of flat track, the irregular jumps and obstacles of motocross, and the paved tarmac of road racing. Supermo ...

's '' Sémillante'' destroyed outposts at Pulo Bay, which was about eight miles from Bencoolen. Sailing towards the Sea of China, Halgan persuaded Linois to sail through the

Gaspar Strait The Gaspar Strait ( id, Selat Gaspar) is a strait separating the Indonesian islands Belitung ( en, Billiton, link=no) and Bangka. It connects the Java Sea with the South China Sea. Etymology The strait is named after a Spanish captain, who pa ...

, of which he had studied recent maps. The French squadron then met a 26-ship convoy of the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, leading to the not quite-

Battle of Pulo Aura The Battle of Pulo Aura was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 14 February 1804, in which a large convoy of Honourable East India Company (HEIC) East Indiamen, well- armed merchant ships, intimidated, drove off and cha ...

. Promoted to ''capitaine de frégate'', Halgan was sent to France and received command of the frigate ''Cybèle'', but was then ordered to embark on the ''Vétéran'' instead, under Prince

. In 1809, Halgan captained the ''Heureuse'' during the

Battle of the Basque Roads The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads (French: ''Bataille de l'île d'Aix'', also ''Affaire des brûlots'', rarely ''Bataille de la rade des Basques''), was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in th ...

. ''Heureuse'' was amongst the survivors of the battle. In December 1813, with three companies of sailors and a fraction of the crews of his ships, Halgan defended the fortress of

Hellevoetsluis Hellevoetsluis () is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and it includes the population centres Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenh ...

, in Holland, against the attacks of several thousands insurgents. The French-held fortresses were later ordered abandoned due to the advances of the Allies, and the Meuse flotilla was scuttled in

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles p ...

. Halgan retreated to Anvers. When Anvers was shelled, he defended the harbour and helped preserve the ships and the naval installations. After the Bourbon Restauration, Helgan was given command of the ''Superbe'', sailing to the Caribbean. Halgan the supervised the naval divisions of the Levant and of America. In 1819, he was nominated director for personnel at the Ministry of the Navy. He later returned to Levant to command a squadron, before returning to his office at the Ministry in 1824 and serving at the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. From 1819 to 1830, he sited at the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

. In 1830, he presided the Commission of Naval Signals. In 1837, he was made general inspector of the Harbours of the Ocean, and a

Peer of France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...

. After retiring on 24 June 1841, by then a vice-admiral, Halgan was promoted to Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Halgania ''Halgania'' is a genus of small shrubs in the family Boraginaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species that are endemic to Australia. ''Halgania'' is named for Emmanuel Halgan, a vice-admiral in the French Navy. Features ''Halgania'' speci ...

of small shrubs in the family

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the orde ...

which are native to Australia was named in his honour. {{DEFAULTSORT:Halgan, Emmanuel French Navy admirals 1771 births 1852 deaths French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Peers of France French Governors of Martinique