Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland KCB (7 September 1777 – 30 November 1839) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and held a number of commands. The most famous event of his career occurred when Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to him aboard HMS Bellerophon, marking the final end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Maitland was promoted to lieutenant on 3 April 1795 and appointed to HMS Andromeda. He soon moved to HMS Venerable, which was then in the North Sea, serving as the flagship of Admiral Adam Duncan. Maitland then moved to the Mediterranean in April 1797, joining the fleet under John Jervis, Lord St Vincent. Jervis appointed him to the sloop HMS Kingfisher. Maitland was part of several successful cruises, and assisted in the capturing of several privateers. He quickly became noted for his courage, and the ships' company subscribed £50 to present him with a sword. He did not spend long with Kingfisher though, as she was wrecked on 3 December 1798 as she was leaving the Tagus. Maitland had been in temporary command at the time, and received the customary court-martial. He was honourably acquitted and appointed to serve at Gibraltar as flag lieutenant to Lord St Vincent.
The combined fleets of France and Spain were retiring from the Mediterranean by mid-1799, and on 7 July St Vincent ordered Maitland to go aboard the hired armed cutter Penelope with orders for her to carry out reconnaissance on the enemy fleets, as St Vincent put it, 'to go, count and dodge them'. When Maitland arrived however, he found the Penelope's lieutenant was sick and unable to take command. Maitland took over instead and attempted to follow his orders. He was apparently hampered by the cowardice and disobedience of the crew of the cutter, and the next day the Spanish captured Penelope and brought her into Cadiz as a prize. There Maitland met the Spanish admiral, Mazaredo. Mazeredo discovered that Maitland was Lord St Vincent's flag lieutenant. Being under an obligation to St Vincent, Mazaredo set Maitland free and returned him to Gibraltar without requesting an exchange.
On his return, St Vincent promoted Maitland to commander and gave him the sloop HMS Cameleon, with the promotion being backdated to 14 June. Maitland commanded her off the coast of Egypt, under Sir Sidney Smith until the signing of the convention of al-'Arish on 24 January 1800. Maitland was sent home overland with dispatches, but quickly returned to his command. He spent the rest of 1800 aboard the Cameleon, before Lord Keith moved him to the command of the storeship HMS Wassenar. The Wassenar was at that time moored at Malta, and had been deemed unfit for service. Maitland was given permission instead to accompany the expedition to Egypt. He was appointed to command the boats that were covering the landings and acquitted himself well. He then moved to support the army's right flank during operations on 13 March, and at the Battle of Alexandria on 21 March 1801. His service was specially acknowledged by the commanders-in-chief, and he was mentioned in Sidney Smith's report. These actions caused him to be rewarded with a promotion to post rank, dated to 21 March. He temporarily took command of the 74-gun HMS Dragon, but had moved to command HMS Carrère in August. He returned with her to England, and she was paid off in October 1802.