Ferdinand Alphonse Hamelin

Ferdinand Alphonse Hamelin (born Sept. 2, 1796, Pont l’Évêque, France—died Jan. 16, 1864, Paris) was a French naval officer who was an early advocate of armour for naval vessels. Hamelin’s naval career began in 1806 when he served as shipboy aboard the frigate Vénus, commanded by his uncle, Baron Jacques-Félix-Emmanuel Hamelin. He later took part in the expedition to Spain in 1823 and distinguished himself in the action at Algiers in 1830. In the later...