Juan Bautista Azopardo was born in Senglea, one of Malta's fortified cities within the Grand Harbour, on February 19th 1772, the son of Salvatore Giuseppe Ludovico Azopardo and Rosa Romano. It is possible that the family surname was originally Azzopardi and was changed through the years according to the need. He was baptised Giovanni Battista Fortunato Ignazio by the Reverend Salvatore Bonnici, Archpriest of the church of the Nativity of Our Lady, or as it is better known "Maria Bambina" in Senglea.

His family were the owners of a large mercantile fleet and Juan showed his love for the sea when still young. So strong was this attraction, that when still 15 years old, he received the consence of Grand Master de Rohan to study the art of naval construction in Toulon, France. Following six years of studies there, Azopardo was commissioned as a "Logotenente del Galieri" (Lieutenant of the Galleys) in the fleet of the Order of St. John and also a Lieutenant of the Cospicua Militia.

Because of his father's Republican sentiments, the family opted to leave Malta for France, were young Juan joined the French Navy. His surname was now Azopard and he took part in the French Colonial Wars, including Martinique and Guadeloupe. For his gallant conduct following 24 such engagements, he was promoted to Lieutenant Second Class. For some reason he had also given his services to Britain, which is rather controversial, but on the 16th October 1796, Vice Admiral Jervis issued a permit of free-passage for Azopardo's ship "San Antonio dell'Anime dell Porgatorio", on which he had taken part in the war against Holland.

South America.

During April 1806, Azopardo arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the "Queen Louise", a 20 gun corvette and manned by some 240 men, of whom he was second in command. He took part in the defence of this harbour under Santiago de Liniers, a French noble who was previously a knight of the Order of St. John and now an officer of the Spanish Forces in the South American colonies. Following various small, but bloody battles, the patriotic troops and Spanish fleet succeeded in repelling the British invaders. Towards the end of the same year the British invaded and succeeded in capturing Buenos Aires. Azopardo participated in the naval blockade of the British ships and saw action along the River Plate in his ship "Marca de Buenos Ayres".

Juan Bautista Azopardo was promoted to Captain of Artillery in 1807, commanding the Batteries stationed in the towns of Olivos and Esmeralda. He was also a Captain of the Urban Infantry Regiment. The British launched another attack on Buenos Aires in 1807 inwhich Azopardo took part in the defence of the city, this time land based. Commander de Liniers noticed the bravery of Azopardo and the way that he organised his troops, promoting him to Lieutenant Colonel of the Urban Militia of Buenos Aires on the 16th February 1808. The 1st January 1809 large riots erupted in Buenos Aires against the French advisors and Viceroy de Liniers, as Azopardo was in the French service and a supporter of Liniers he was stripped of his Spanish military rank, by the newly elected Viceroy Cisnernos.

After the revolution

Following the revolution of the 25th May 1810, Azopardo reappeared on the scene, when he was given the command of the Corps of Grenadiers by the republican Junta's President Saaverda. Regaining his former fame, and was later, on the 15th August 1810, made Commander of the Argentine First Naval Squadron , he was on the 10th February 1811, given command of all 5 naval squadrons that made the Patriotic Navy, his flagship being the "Invencible", with these ships he fought and caused devastation to the Royalist troops and ships along the Rivers Parana and Uruguay by supplying the troops under General Belgrano.

The three ships that were to be captured by the Royalist Navy at San Nicolás on the 2nd March 1811, were the "Invencible", "25th de Mayo" and the "Americana", the commander of the "Americana" Colonel Hubac was killed while both Azopardo and Hipólito Bouchard , the other ships captains were captured, Azopardo had tried to scuttle his ship but being threatened that all his crew would be killed rather than taken prisoner, he didn't. The prisoners were taken to Montevideo and Azopardo was accused of being one of the leaders of the rebellion against the Spanish Viceroy and Crown, he was sentenced to be imprisoned at Ceuta and later to Cadiz, where he was to remain until 1815.

Managing to return to the United Provinces of La Plata, it was not called Argentina until 1825, Azopardo was given the rank of Lieutenant in the Army with a special attachment to the navy on the 15th February 1821. During July of the same year he took part in the Battle of Colastine on the banks of the River Parana, on his return journey to Buenos Aires he was engaged in another action in the Province of Entre Rios, with these victories behind him he was promoted to Commander of the Port of Buenos Aires, or Harbour Master, initiating the construction of gunboats for coastal defence, they were 16 metres long by 4 metres beam, displacing about 45 tons and carrying one 18 pounder, these were normally rowed into action.

On the 7th May 1824 Azopardo was promoted to Coronel de Marina, or Naval Colonel, his final promotion in February 1826, as Captain of the brig "General Belgrano" and Admiral Brown's second in command, the Battle of Los Pozos on the 9th February, was to be his last action, Admiral Brown had accused both Azopardo and Captain Warnes of the "Sarandí" of not supporting him fully during the action, a criticism that was believed to be too harsh as Brown had wanted an early victory and used these two officers as scapegoats. Exactly a year later Juan Bautista Azopardo formally asked for permission to retire, following his long and excellent service to his adopted country he was allowed to retire officially, he was now nearing 60 years, and wished to dedicate more time to his family and other public matters.

His wife Maria Sandelia Perez Rico of Cadiz was most probably married on his release from prison in Spain which could explain his few years after 1815 that he was not in South America, they had a son named Luis Alberto. Juan Bautista Azopardo died on the 23rd October 1848 at the age of 76 and is regarded as one of Argentina's national hero's. In gratitude for his heroic actions in the Battle of Rio Parana, the town of San Nicolas built a monument in his honour and on the 23rd October 1948, exactly a hundred years after his death, his remains were transferred to this monument, where they remain to this day.

Remembrance

The Argentine Navy have remembered this prominent figure in it's history, giving his name to many of their ships, these include the naval transport and tug of 1885, while in 1923 another tug was named "Azopardo", later in 1953 a frigate was launched with this name. The Prefectura Naval forms part of the Coast Guard and a cutter was launched in 1962 and given the name "Juan Bautista Azopardo", the same name given to another cutter launched in 1982. The Prefectura Naval also has the tradition that every officer who reaches the highest position within it's ranks, that of Prefect General, is given a sword made exactly to that as carried by Azopardo.

The naval dockyard in Azul in the Province of Buenos Aires is named after him, as well as a town 100 kilometres north of Bahia Blanca, plus numerous streets, rivers, schools, hills and coastal villages. Although becoming famous away from her shores, Malta has also remembered and in his native city of Senglea they have recently renamed their Marina after him.