Captain Archibald Cochrane was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer of the early nineteenth century, who served in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. His most noticeable activity came early in his career as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

aboard HMS ''Speedy'', which was then captained by his brother, Commander Thomas Cochrane (known as Lord Cochrane). Aboard ''Speedy'', Cochrane participated in the engagement and capture of the Spanish frigate ''Gamo'', which was more than three times the size of the British ship. Although captured by the French shortly afterwards, Cochrane's career continued successfully and he was promoted to lieutenant in 1804, sailing to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

on HMS ''Victor'' and rapidly gaining promotion to post captain in the frigate HMS ''Fox''. In 1811, Cochrane returned to Europe and did not serve again, retiring to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and dying in 1829.

Life

Archibald Cochrane was born in 1783, the son of Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald and his first wife Anna Gilchrist. Archibald had two elder brothers, Thomas Cochrane and

William Erskine Cochrane William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

, both of whom would have successful military careers, Thomas in the

and William in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

.Captain Hon. Archibald Cochrane
''peerage.com'', Daryl Lundy, Retrieved 1 October 2009 Sent to sea at a young age, by 1799 Archibald was serving alongside Thomas, styled Lord Cochrane, as a

in the

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

HMS ''Barfleur'', flagship of

Lord Keith Baron Keith was a title that was created three times in British history, with all three creations in favour of the same person, Admiral the Honourable Sir George Keith Elphinstone. He was the fifth son of Charles Elphinstone, 10th Lord Elphinsto ...

in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. Following the capture of the French ship of the line ''Genereux'' in February 1800, Lord Cochrane was placed in temporary command of the prize and took his younger brother aboard as part of the prize crew. The ship passed through a severe storm on the voyage to

Port Mahon A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, and was almost sunk, the Cochrane brothers forced to climb the mainmast alone at the height of the storm to reef the sails. For his exertions, Lord Cochrane was promoted to commander and given command of the 14-gun

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

HMS ''Speedy'', again taking his brother aboard. Archibald Cochrane was involved in most of his brother's successful operations during the following year, including the capture of the Spanish frigate ''Gamo'' on 6 May 1801. Attacked by the much larger warship, Cochrane took his tiny vessel alongside, and the Spanish sailors could not depress their guns sufficiently to open fire on it. Leading a boarding party, Archibald assisted in the fighting on deck and the successful capture of the ship. He later participated in a landing operation at

Oropesa del Mar Oropesa del Mar ( ca-valencia, Orpesa) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Plana Alta in the Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. ...

, but was captured when ''Speedy'' was seized by a French squadron under

Charles Linois Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

on 3 July 1801.''The Gentleman's Magazine'', July 1837, p. 173 In 1804, during the

, Cochrane was promoted to lieutenant, sailing for the

in the sloop HMS ''Victor''. Rapidly promoted, by 1807 he was post captain in command of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

HMS ''Fox'' and participated in the

Raid on Griessie The Raid on Griessie was a British attack on the Dutch port of Griessie (later renamed Gresik) on Java in the Dutch East Indies in December 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars. The raid was the final action in a series of engagements fought by the ...

against the Dutch port of Griessie on

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

in December. Cochrane remained in the East Indies until 1811, when he returned to Britain and was not employed at sea again. He married in 1812 to Jane Mowbray and had six children, the family retiring to

, where he was respected in the community. He died in 1829 in Paris.

Notes

References

* Retrieved on 1 October 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, Archibald Royal Navy officers Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 1783 births 1829 deaths Younger sons of earls Archibald, 1783