A half-length, almost full-face portrait of Hallowell, showing him in his rear-admiral's full dress uniform of the 1833-43 pattern, wearing the KCB, Nile medal, Order of St Ferdinand and Order of Merit.
On 31 August 1781, Sir Samuel Hood appointed Benjamin Hallowell (Carew) acting lieutenant of the ‘Aclide’; he saw action off the Chespeake in early September that year. He was then in the ‘Alfred’ and was finally confirmed in his rank on 25 April 1783. Hallowell was promoted commander on 22 November 1790. He commanded the ‘Scorpion’ on the Africa coast and then went to the Mediterranean in the storeship ‘Camel’. He was made post captain on 30 August 1793 in temporary command of the ‘Robust’, 74 guns. He served as a volunteer in the sieges of Bastia and Calvi and was noticed by Nelson, who acknowledged his zeal in action. He was appointed to the frigate ‘Lowestoft’ and then to the ‘Courageux’, which he commanded in the action off the Hyères Islands on 13 July 1795. On 19 December 1796, as part of Jervis’s fleet, the ‘Courageux’ was blown from her anchors in a heavy gale in Gibraltar Bay. The ship was driven on to the Moroccan coast and dashed against the rocks at the foot of Apes’ Hill. Only about 120 of the crew of 600 escaped the wreck; Hallowell was absent attending a court martial.
Temporarily in the ‘Victory’, he was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797. He returned to Britain but was again to the Mediterranean, this time in the ‘Lively’ before being transferred to the 74-gun ‘Swiftsure’ off Cadiz and part Captain Troubridge’s squadron. Hallowell was reported to have been a giant of man and immensely strong, apparently quelling signs of mutiny in the ‘Swiftsure’ by use of his fists. In May 1798 the ‘Swiftsure’ was attached to Nelson’s fleet and saw action at the Battle of the Nile. He later joined Nelson off Palermo on 20 March 1799, having remained off the Egyptian coast after the battle. It was here that Hallowell, intent on responding to the flattery received by his commander, surprised the fleet by sending Nelson a coffin made of wood and iron from the ‘L’Orient’ with the following note (23 May 1799): ‘My lord, herewith I send you a coffin made of part of L’Orient’s mainmast, that when you are tired of this life you may be buried in one of your own trophies; but may that period be far distant is the sincere wish of your obedient and much obliged servant, Ben. Hallowell.’
After time on the coast of Italy, Hallowell and the ‘Swiftsure’ were attached to Duckworth’s fleet at Minorca and later at Lisbon and off Cadiz. The ship was captured by the French off the North African coast on 24 June 1801. Hallowell was absolved of blame at a court marital. He then commanded the ‘Argo’ and saw action in the capture of St Lucia and Tobago in June 1803. He was then in command of the ‘Tigre’ and detached to Gibraltar on 3 October 1805, thereby taking no part in the Battle of Trafalgar. He achieved flag rank on 1 August 1811, and was in the Mediterranean in the ‘Malta’ from 1812 until the end of the war. Hallowell was made KCB in January 1815, was commander-in-chief on the coast of Ireland, 1816–18, and promoted vice-admiral on 19 August 1819. He was finally commander-in-chief at the Nore, from 1821 to 1824, with his flag in the ‘Prince Regent’. He attained the rank of admiral on 22 July 1830.