Philip Westphal
Philip Westphal (178216 March 1866) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. He was designated a Person of National Historic Significance for Canada in 1945. Biography. Philip Westphal was born in 1782, the son of George Westphal and younger brother of Admiral George Augustus Westphal. He entered the North American station of the Royal Navy in 1794. Two years later he served in the Home Squadron on and before being transferred to in 1797. Westphal served in North America on the "Asia" for three years, until 1800. He served under Horatio Nelson on and participated in the Battle  of Copenhagen in April 1801. On 5 April Westphal was promoted to lieutenant of and in May of the following year he switched to , traveling from Toulon to the West Indies. In 1806 his ship captured the French schooner "Belle Poule" and Westphal refitted the ship and captained it back to England in an unofficial capacity. When he returned, the British Admiralty declined to make his rank official and he remained a lieutenant. He left the "Amazon" in 1812 for , serving off the coast of North America for three years. George Cockburn placed Westphal in service on Cockburn's flagship  in January 1815 and he was promoted to commander on 23 June. Westphal moved to in November 1828 and later to . He reached a 'post rank' on 22 July 1830 and retired in 1847. While on the retired list, he was promoted to rear admiral (27 September 1855), vice-admiral (4 October 1862), and admiral (2 April 1866). He died on 16 March 1880. When he died, Westphal was the oldest officer in the Royal Navy.