Thomas Cochrane
From WikiPOBia
Thomas Alexander Cochrane, (1775]] - 1860), was the eldest son of the 9th Earl of Dundonald, and was known as Lord Cochrane until he inherited the title in 1831. He was a naval officer and a radical politician. His career as one of the most daring and successful captains of his times led to him becoming an inspiration for C. S. Forester's and Patrick O'Brian's naval fiction.
After being convicted of involvement in an attempt to rig the Stock Exchange, he was dismissed the service and later helped create the independent navies of Chile and Brazil during the colonists rebellions against Spain. He also aided the Greeks in their fight to throw off the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Eventually he was reinstated in the Royal Navy and became an admiral.
His uncles included Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. Through the influence of his uncle, he was listed as a member of the crew on the books of four Royal Navy ships although he probably never served aboard them. He joined the Royal Navy in 1793 at the advanced age of seventeen upon the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars.
Service in the Royal Navy
In 1799 Cochrane briefly commanded the captured French battleship Genereux. In 1800 Cochrane was appointed to command the sloop HMS Speedy. Later that year he was almost captured by a Spanish warship concealed as a merchant ship. He escaped by flying a Danish flag and dissuading an attempt to investigate by claiming his ship was plague-ridden. Chased by an enemy frigate, and knowing it would follow him in the night by the light from the Speedy, he placed a light on a barrel and let it float away. The enemy frigate followed the barrel and Speedy escaped.
One of his most famous exploits was the capture of the Spanish xebec frigate El Gamo, on 6 May 1801. El Gamo carried 32 guns and 319 men, compared with the 14 guns and 54 men on Speedy. Cochrane flew an American flag to get close, finally approaching so closely to Gamo that its guns could not depress to fire on the Speedy's hull. This left only the option of boarding, but whenever the Spanish were about to board Cochrane would pull away briefly, and fire on the concentrated boarding parties with his ship's guns. Cochrane then boarded the Gamo, despite still being outnumbered about five to one, and captured her. St Vincent, not wishing to enrich an officer recently reprimanded, refused to purchase the Gamo for the royal navy: as a result Cochrane and the crew of the Speedy received no prize money.
However, in August 1801 he was promoted to Post-Captain.
On a subsequent cruise he was trapped by three French battleships and he was captured and witnessed the Battle of Algeciras Bay from the French ship Desaix, he was exchanged for a French captain after the battle.
Following the resumption of war after the Peace of Amiens, St Vincent assigned him to command of a converted collier, HMS Arab. This ship was posted to the North Sea and afforded Cochrane no opportunities for glory.
