Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (29 May 1747 – 24 July 1812) was a French Navy officer and politician who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born in Auch, Gascony, after serving in the Indian Ocean under Suffren during the Revolutionary War he rose in rank during the early stages of the French Revolution. Villaret commanded the French navy at the Glorious First of June, where despite suffering a heavy tactical defeat at British hands he ensured the passage of a vital grain convoy to France.

Villaret led the French navy during the disastrous Croisière du Grand Hiver and failed to prevent a British fleet from successfully retreating, with his last battle being a defeat off Groix. He was relieved when he refused to serve for the disastrous French expedition to Ireland. Villaret was then elected at the Council of Five Hundred. He joined the Club de Clichy, a party which supported French colonialism and slavery and harboured Royalist sympathies. After the Coup of 18 Fructidor, Villaret was sentenced to be deported to Cayenne but went into hiding long enough for his sentence to be commuted to exile to Oléron, where he went willingly.

Reinstated in 1801, Villaret took command of the naval component of the Saint-Domingue expedition, and was appointed captain general of Martinique and Saint Lucia alongside the colonial prefect Charles-Henri Bertin. He served in this capacity until the British captured Martinique in 1809. Returned to France, Villaret fell in disfavour for his perceived weak defence during the invasion. After two years, Napoleon pardoned him and appointed him as governor of Venice. Villaret died there of edema in 1812.

Louis-Thomas Villaret was born in Auch, Gascony on 29 May 1747, the son of a fiscal officer. Unable to enter the elite naval schools, he entered the French Navy as a volontaire in 1768. Promoted to frigate lieutenant in 1773, he served as a lieutenant on the 32-gun frigate Atalante in the Indian Ocean. In 1778, unemployed in Pondicherry, he volunteered his services to Governor Guillaume de Bellecombe during the unsuccessful defence of Pondicherry against the British, earning the rank of fireship captain.

In 1781, Villaret commanded the fireship Pulvérisateur in Vice-admiral Pierre André de Suffren's fleet. He then served under Suffren, who made him his aide in 1782. He was later transferred to the frigate Dauphine, and became First Officer on Brillant in Suffren's squadron. After the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783, Suffren gave him command of the frigate Bellone.

A few months after, Suffren appointed Villaret to the 20-gun the corvette Naïade. He ordered him to sail to Madras and warn the French blockading squadron, composed of two ships of the line and two frigates, of the imminent arrival of a superior British force. Three days after her departure, on 11 April 1783, Naïade spotted the 64-gun HMS Sceptre, under Captain Samuel Graves; after trying without success to elude his much stronger opponent, Villaret was forced into battle, and struck his colours after a five-hour fight. When Villaret surrendered his sword, Graves allegedly told him "Sir, you have given us a fairly beautiful frigate, but you made us pay dearly for her!"; some authors add that Graves returned Villaret his sword.

Villaret was taken prisoner. Despite the loss of Naïade, the British squadron was unable to locate the French ships, which had already departed. Naïade was not commissioned in the Royal Navy and was sold. Villaret was released in June 1783, after the Treaty of Versailles, and was awarded the Order of Saint Louis. Villaret was promoted to Lieutenant in 1784 for his service. After the war, Villaret served in the harbour of Lorient.

In 1791, Villaret was appointed to command the frigate Prudente to transport troops to Saint-Domingue. Arriving shortly before the 1791 slave rebellion that launched the Haitian Revolution, he helped Governor Philibert François Rouxel de Blanchelande transport troops around the island. On 14 March 1792, he swore the "civic oath" to the French First Republic, while his brother emigrated. Promoted to ship-of-the-line captain in 1792, he was given the command of the 74-gun Trajan in 1793; in May 1793, part of a squadron under Morard de Galle, he was tasked with watching the coasts of Morbihan and Loire, to prevent the British from aiding the War in the Vendée.