Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald

Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald (14 December 1775–October 31 1860) was a politician and naval adventurer. He was one of the most daring and successful captains of the Napoleonic Wars, leading the French to nickname him "le loup des mers" ("the sea wolf").

Thomas Cochrane, was the son of Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald. He was commissioned into the Royal Navy as a child but officially joined in 1793 at the age of 17 on the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. He first served aboard on HMS Hind and in 1795 he was appointed "acting lieutenant" on HMS Thetis. The following year he was confirmed in the rank. In 1798 he transferred to HMS Barfleur. During his service on this ship he was court-martialled for being disrespectful to Lieutenant Philip Beaver, escaping with a reprimand.

In 1800 he was appointed to command the sloop HMS Speedy in which he achieved his most famous exploit, the capture of the Spanish xebec El Gamo, 32 guns and 319 men compared to Speedy's 14 guns and 54 men on May 6, 1801. On August 8, 1801 he was promoted to the rank of Post-Captain. He served with distinction in the frigates HMS Pallas and HMS Imperieuse. On April 11, 1809 he was responsible for the destruction of much of the French fleet in the Basque Roads at Rochefort using fireships.

He pursued a very active political career, serving as Member of Parliament for Honiton from 1806 to 1807 and for Westminster from 1807 to 1815, and campaigning for parliamentary reform in Britain, being allied with such Radicals as William Cobbett and Henry Hunt. His outspoken criticism of the conduct of the war and the corruption in the Navy made him powerful enemies in the government, and his criticism of Admiral Gambier's conduct in the Basque Roads operation (so severe as to require a court-martial of Gambier) made him enemies in the Admiralty. Perhaps as a consequence, he was tried and convicted as a conspirator in a Stock Exchange fraud in 1815, sentenced to the stocks and a year's imprisonment, and expelled from Parliament and the Navy.

He left England in disgrace, but went on to command the Chilean (1817–1822), Brazilian (1823–1825) and Greek (1826–1828) navies in those countries' wars of independence. In 1828 he returned to Britain to appeal for a pardon and a return to the Royal Navy. In 1832 he was successful and was appointed a Rear Admiral. He later became Vice Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the North American station and in 1851 rose to the rank of Admiral. He died on October 31 1860 in Kensington.

His career inspired the fictional careers of Horatio Hornblower in the novels by C. S. Forester and of Jack Aubrey in the Aubrey–Maturin series; of novels by Patrick O'Brian.