How many of us remember as children watching at the cinema or on television, those tales of the sea, where Errol Flynn would lead his men in a desperate charge onto the decks of an enemy ship, heedless of the hail of musket fire or the seemingly insurmountable odds arrayed against his daring, and valour winning the day? He would forever fight corruption and injustice wherever he found it, no matter what it cost him. Not all such stories are fiction.

Such a man was Captain Lord Thomas Cochrane, later to become Admiral. A contemporary writer described him as "Tall and commanding in person, lively and winning in manner, prompt in counsel, and daring but cool in action". He was undoubtedly the most dashing and brilliant frigate commander of the Napoleonic era, and was named by his enemies 'The Sea Wolf. He was also one of Britain's most controversial characters, twice an MP, a reformist, who embarked on a one man crusade against the many abuses and excesses of corruption in the Royal Navy at this time-- much to the anger and embarrassment of the Admiralty. It was an attitude which earned him the enmity of many of his superiors, and would contribute ultimately to his fall from grace.

Thomas Cochrane was born on the 14th of December 1775 at Annsfield, Lanarkshire, first son of Archibald, 9th Earl of Dundonald. His father tried to guile him into a career in the army, but Cochrane's love was always the sea. At the age of seventeen and a half years, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman abroad the 'Hind' - captained by his uncle, the Hon. Captain Alexander Cochrane - on 27th of June 1793.

Commander of the 'Speedy'

By the year 1800, he had risen to the rank of commander, and was given his first vessel, the 'Speedy', an un-rated sloop of some 158 tons displacement and fourteen four pound guns. He was attached to Admiral Lord Keith's fleet in the Mediterranean. It is from this point on that the tale of his remarkable exploits really begins. In his thirteen month cruise with the Speedy, he captured over fifty enemy vessels, 122 guns and 534 prisoners, which is an incredible total by any standards. Lord Cochrane attributed much of his success to his tactic of staying out of sight of land during the day, and then running in close to shore during the night and picking off ships at anchor, many of his prizes actually being in French or Spanish harbours at the time of attack. In this way he was also able to avoid the French and Spanish Navies who were searching for him.

Several incidents during the cruise of the Speedy are worthy of note. The first, which demonstrates Cochrane's remarkable coolness under pressure occurred on the 21st of December 1800 then the Speedy gave chase to what appeared to be a large merchant vessel. As the Speedy closed with the vessel it's true identity was revealed. She was a large Spanish frigate, out-gunning Cochrane' s ship many times over, and had deliberately disguised herself in order to lure Cochrane into the attack. Realising that a single broadside from this ship would blow the Speedy from the water and that escape at this point was impossible, he immediately ordered the Danish flag to be run up and his Danish quartermaster to be brought on deck. Quickly fitting the man with the uniform of a captain, Cochrane sent him to speak to the Spanish as their launch pulled alongside. The quarantine flag was also raised and the quartermaster informed the Spanish that his ship was two days out of Algiers where the plague was still raging. The panic stricken Spanish declined his invitation to board and allowed the Speedy to proceed unmolested, completely unaware how close they had come to their prey.

Another incident involves a similar scenario with an entirely different ending. The Speedy was again being hunted by a large Spanish frigate, the 'El Gamo', which as before vastly out-gunned Cochrane' s ship. But this time instead of escaping by trickery, he ordered the decks cleared for action and made towards his antagonist. By superior seamanship, Cochrane avoided the broadside of the enemy vessel and maneuvered his ship in so close that the rigging of the two ships became entangled. At such close range, the main guns of the El Gamo were unable to bear on the Speedy as she was so low in the water compared to the other vessel, whilst Cochrane's broadside ripped through the decks of the El Gamo, killing her captain and boatswain. A musket battle then developed, with the crew of the Speedy, numbering only fifty four men, several times repelling boarding attempts by the 319 men of the El Gamo.

This stalemate continued for over an hour, before Cochrane, with his characteristic courage and unshakable self belief, led the charge of his small crew onto the decks of the enemy ship. A short and vicious hand to hand battle ensued before a famous victory was claimed as the El Gamo struck her colours to the Speedy. The Spanish crew had 56 dead and wounded, with the remaining 267 men being made prisoner, whereas the Speedy had been commanded with such skill that her crew had sustained only four casualties.

Also when in command of the Speedy, Lord Cochrane was involved in a brawl with a French officer whilst at a party in a neutral Fort. The Frenchman demand satisfaction, and this resulted in a 'pistols at dawn' duel, which concluded with Cochrane dropping his adversary with a shot to the thigh.

Capture of the 'Speedy'

Such was the success of Lord Cochrane and his little sloop that the French took the unprecedented measure of detailing three line of battle ships to find him. When this squadron finally found the Speedy, a day long chase ensued, with Cochrane throwing even the ships guns and supplies overboard in a vain attempt to escape capture. The Speedy was finally cornered and Cochrane surrendered his vessel to save what would have been pointless casualties to his gallant crew. Having surrendered Cochrane offered his sword to Captain Christie Palliere of the leading French ship 'Dessaux', who refused the gesture, stating that he would not take the sword of an officer who had for so lone struggled against the impossible.

Cochrane was exchanged for a French captain taken prisoner and once back in the service of the Royal Navy, he was exonerated of blame in the loss of the Speedy, for it was deemed that he had taken all possible measures to avoid her capture.

Although Lord Cochrane was then promoted to captain he had to wait overlong for his reward, whilst many commanders junior to him had been promoted earlier. This delay, at which he was justifiably aggrieved, was probably due to his father's overzealous lobbying of Admiral St. Vincent on his son's behalf, and more to the latter's personal dislike of Cochrane and his outspoken opposition to corruption in the Royal Navy. Cochrane wrote several letters of complaint regarding the matter to the Admiral, which due to their strong and direct content only served to aggravate the situation by increasing St. Vincent's enmity towards him, and forever placing him on the naval 'Blacklist'.

His next command was undoubtedly the result of upsetting his superiors and in what can only be described as a criminal waste of talent, he was given HMS Arab to command. This ship was really no more than a small floating hulk in which he was made to make a lengthy and pointless patrol of the North Sea. After a year in this vessel, good fortune befell him when St. Vincent retired and was succeeded by Admiral Lord Melville who saw fit to make more productive use of Cochrane's considerable talent and bravery.

Captain of the 'Pallas'

Lord Melville sent Cochrane to the West Indies in command of the new 32 gun frigate 'Pallas'. He immediately distinguished himself by capturing three Spanish treasure ships bound for Cadiz. The largest ship the 'Fortuna' was carrying four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in addition to other bounty. Attempting to escape with the treasure from these vessels the Pallas was sighted by three French line of battle ships which straight away gave chase. The Pallas ran so much sail in her attempt to escape that her quarter-deck was partially underwater as she was heeled over so far. As dusk fell the three French ships had closed in on their quarry which they continued to pursue throughout the night, only to find at dawn that they had been following a lantern floated on a barrel. The ingenious Cochrane had changed course after dark and was by now out of sight over the horizon.

After this Cochrane returned to England and during his breaks from service he twice became an MP, and took his crusade against corruption to Parliament where he sat as a radical, befriending the leading reformer Francis Burdett.

He returned to the Mediterranean in 1808 in command of the frigate Imperieuse. He was given a free reign of operations by Admiral Collingwood and proceeded to terrorize the coast of France and keep the garrisons there in a state of constant alarm. He destroyed many important French signal posts there, severely damaging their communications network. Cochrane also operated on the Iberian coast, helping wherever he could the now friendly Spanish in their resistance to the French occupation.

In October 1809 he landed at the Spanish Fort Trinidad which was under siege, and with the help of the marines from the Imperieuse, held onto the fort for seventeen days, in doing so tying down a French force of six thousand men. In a by now typical Cochrane incident, he raised the morale of the defending Spanish when he saved their colours, which had rather unfortunately been shot from the flagpole and had landed in a ditch in front of the fortress. Realising its importance to the superstitious defenders, he leapt over the wall, and under heavy fire made his way along the trench until having retrieved the flag, he returned to the cheers of the Spanish. When the fortress finally fell on November 5th it cost the French heavily in both men and ammunition, while Cochrane simply slipped back out to sea in his frigate.

Attack on the French Fleet

Later that year he was requested by Admiral Lord Melville to lead an attack on the French fleet at anchor at the Isle d'Aix, before it could slip out to make for the West Indies and disrupt British shipping.

Cochrane's appointment to this task angered many of his more senior colleagues who felt that they had been passed over for the command in favour of this arrogant young upstart. Lord Cochrane's plan was that the boom protecting the harbour should be blown up by the use of fire and explosive ships, which could then be sailed into the French fleet at anchor. The British fleet, under Admiral Lord Gambier, would then enter by the same way and engage the French while they were still in a state of confusion.

Leading from the front as ever, Cochrane placed himself in the foremost fire ship, and having broken the French boom with it, quickly evacuated back to the Imperieuse. The fire ships were guided towards the French fleet, who in panic cut their anchors and ran many of their ships aground. Inexplicably, Lord Gambier did not attack with the British fleet, and in a typical death or glory manoeuvre Cochrane attacked the entire French fleet of ten line of battle ships with his frigate, forcing Lord Gambier to advance in support or be criticised heavily if the Imperieuse be lost. Even so, the advance was slow, and only a few ships were committed. This allowed half of the French fleet to re-float and escape. Had Lord Gambler acted promptly, the entire French fleet could have been destroyed, and Cochrane was enraged by Gambler's overcautious approach.

Back in England, the operation was hailed as a success, and a vote of thanks was put forward in Parliament to the commending officer, Lord Gambier. Even having been warned by Admiral Lord Melville of the consequences of rash action, Cochrane never the less retook his seat in Parliament and objected to the vote of thanks on the grounds of Lord Gambier's lack of activity of any kind in regard to attaching the French fleet. In response to Cochrane's criticism, Lord Gambier demanded a court marshal as to his own conduct. In what can only be described as a thorough whitewash, Gambier was exonerated and Cochrane lost all credibility in the Royal Navy.

Ill-fortune continued to pursue him, and in 1814 he was implicated in the great stock exchange scandal of that year. A man of unquestionable integrity, he was almost certainly innocent but was convicted and received a prison sentence, and his name was struck from the Navy list, Refusing to be shackled, he escaped from prison and appeared again in the House of Commons to plead his innocence, but was captured and again imprisoned.

Cochrane afterwards left England and went to Chile where he commanded and helped to construct the Navy of that infant state. When he left Chile he performed similar services in the Navy's of Brazil, Peru, and Greece.

In 1832 he received a Royal pardon from King William IV, and returned to England where he was reinstated in the Royal Navy, and attained the rank of Rear Admiral of the Red. On the outbreak of the Crimean war, he offered himself for active service, but now at the age of seventy nine was considered too old. Lord Cochrane died in 1860 at the age of eighty five, but his memory lives on. A monument to him still stands in Westminster Abbey, along with many statues in Chile which remember the last great King of the seas in the lost age of sail: Admiral Lord Thomas Cochrane, the sea wolf.

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The Sea Wolf Abroad