William Wharton (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir William James Lloyd Wharton KCB FRS FRGS (2 Mar 1843, London – 29 Sep 1905, Capetown) was a British admiral and Hydrographer of the Navy.

He was born in London, the second son of Robert Wharton, County Court Judge of York. He was educated at Barney's Academy, Gosport and the Royal Naval Academy.

He joined the Royal Navy in August 1857 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1863. He was promoted to commander in 1872. As captain of Shearwater he carried out extensive surveying the Sea of Marmora and the Bosphorus. As captain of Fawn he surveyed the seas off East Africa and as captain of Sylvia took valuable longitudinal readings. He was promoted to captain in 1880 and on 1 August 1884 he was appointed to the post of Hydrographer of the Navy, which he held for the next twenty years. in 1895 he was promoted to rear-admiral.

He was made Knight Commander of the Bath on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1886. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Astronomical Societies.

He died in South Africa of enteric fever at the age of 62. Mount Wharton in Antarctica and Wharton Basin in the Indian Ocean are named in his honour.