Early Life
Born in Princess Anne County, Virginia, Walke was appointed a midshipman on February 1, 1827, and reported for duty at the Gosport Navy Yard, Virginia. He received his initial naval training at Gosport and, from July 1827 to November 1828, cruised the Caribbean in sloop Natchez in the campaign against pirates in that area. He made a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea on Ontario between August 1829 and November 1831. Walke received his warrant as a passed midshipman on July 12, 1833, and, after several months of post-sea duty leave, transferred to duty ashore at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on March 7, 1834. Between January 1836 and June 1839, he cruised the Pacific Squadron in the 74-gun ship of the line North Carolina, primarily along the western coast of South America protecting American commerce during a period of unrest caused by strained relations between the United States and Mexico and the war between Peru and Chile.
During service in the receiving ship at New York, Walke was promoted to lieutenant before reporting on board Boston on October 5, 1840. While Walke was assigned to that sloop of war, she made a cruise to the East Indies. Returning home in 1843, he went ashore for an extended leave before returning to sea in the brig Bainbridge in May 1844 for a cruise along the Brazilian coast.
He returned home early in 1846 and, after a year assigned to the receiving ship at New York, made an eight-month voyage in Vesuvius during which his ship participated in the Mexican–American War, blockading Laguna and supporting landings at Tuxpan and Tabasco. In October 1847, Lt. Walke went home for another extended leave after which he reported back to the receiving ship at New York on September 22, 1848.
On June 23, 1849, he returned to sea in Cumberland for a cruise to the Mediterranean Sea which lasted until mid-January 1851. Following a post-voyage leave, he reported to the Naval Observatory on April 22 for a very brief tour before beginning further duty in the receiving ship at New York Harbor. That tour lasted three years, from July 17, 1851 to July 17, 1854, but consisted of two distinct periods separated by a very short tour of duty in St. Mary's during September 1853.
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