Thomas Cochrane Earl of Dundonald

Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM (1775–1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval flag officer of the Royal Navy and radical politician. He was a daring and successful captain of the Napoleonic Wars, leading the French to nickname him Le Loup des Mers ('The Sea Wolf').

He was dismissed from the Royal Navy in 1814 following a conviction for fraud on the Stock Exchange. He helped organise and lead the rebel navies of Chile, Brazil, and Greece during their respective wars of independence through the 1820s. While in charge of the Chilean Navy, Cochrane also contributed to Peruvian Independence through the Freedom Expedition of Perú. In 1832, he was pardoned by the Crown and reinstated in the Royal Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue. After several more promotions, he died 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 inspired the naval fiction of 19th- and 20th-century novelists, particularly the figures of C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey.

AOS Naval Non-Fiction

Series: n/a
Year  Book  Comment
  The Autobiography of a Seaman The life and exploits of the author

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