British naval flag officer of the Royal Navy and radical politician
1775 CE
to 1860 CE
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM (December 14, 1775 – October 31, 1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, is a British naval flag officer of the Royal Navy and radical politician.
He is a daring and successful captain of the Napoleonic Wars, leading Napoleon to nickname him Le Loup des Mers ('The Sea Wolf'). He is successful in virtually all his naval actions.
He is dismissed from the Royal Navy in 1814 following a controversial conviction for fraud on the Stock Exchange.
He helps organize and lead the rebel navies of Chile and Brazil during their respective successful wars of independence through the 1820s.
While in charge of the Chilean Navy, Cochrane also contributes to Peruvian Independence through the Freedom Expedition of Perú.
He is also asked to help the Greek Navy but is prevented by events from having much impact.
In 1832, he is pardoned by the Crown and reinstated in the Royal Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue.
After several more promotions, he dies in 1860 with the rank of Admiral of the Red, and the honorary title of Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom.
His life and exploits inspire the naval fiction of nineteenth- and twentieth-century novelists, particularly the figures of C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's protagonist Jack Aubrey.
