Sébastien-Nicolas-Joachim Lespès (13 March 1828 – 24 August 1897) was a French admiral who played an important role in naval operations during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), as second-in-command of Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron. Early career Sébastien Lespès was born on 13 March 1828 at Bayonne (Basses-Pyrénées). He attended the École Navale, passing out as a midshipman (aspirant) on 1 August 1846. In 1850, after serving successively on the warships Inflexible, Friedland, Océan and Psyché with the escadre d'évolution, he took part in the Senegal campaign aboard the brig Aigle. He received his promotion to enseigne de vaisseau during the course of this campaign, on 26 October 1850. During the Crimean War (1854-6) he saw service aboard the warship Valmy in the Black Sea, and also distinguished himself ashore with the French naval batteries at the Siege of Sebastopol. He was promoted lieutenant de vaisseau on 2 December 1854, and was also made a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour. He was posted to the Far East in 1857 and saw active service in the Second Opium War and the Cochinchina campaign, serving successively aboard the warships Audacieux, Némésis, Dordogne and Duchayla. He was present with Némésis at the attack on the Pei-ho forts and at the capture of Da Nang (September 1858), and with Duchayla at the capture of the Kien Chan forts during the Siege of Tourane (18 November 1859). In April 1860 he was appointed to the command of the aviso Norzagaray and given the task of scouting the river routes of Cambodia. He was promoted capitaine de frégate on 27 January 1864 and took part in the Iceland campaign, for two summers, as second officer of Pandore. He was then appointed by Commandant Jules d'Ariès as chief of staff of the West Coast naval division (division navale du littoral ouest de la France). In 1869 he sailed for Shanghai with the corvette Dupleix as flag captain and chief of staff to Rear Admiral Krantz, who had recently assumed command of the China and Japan Seas naval division. He therefore saw no action during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). In the early 1870s Dupleix left the division to undergo repairs, and was replaced by Montcalm. Lespès remained in command of Montcalm until 1876. During this tour of duty in the Far East, on 20 May 1873, Lespès was promoted capitaine de vaisseau.