Sir Chaloner Ogle | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Ogle | |
| Born | 1681 |
| Died | 11 April 1750 (aged 68–69) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | England Great Britain |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1697–1750 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands | HMSSan Antonio HMSDeal Castle HMSQueenborough HMS Tartar HMSPlymouth HMSWorcester HMSSwallow HMSBurford HMSEdinburgh Jamaica Station The Nore |
| Battles / wars | Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession War of Jenkins' Ear |
| Awards | Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Admiral of the FleetSir Chaloner OgleKB (1681 – 11 April 1750) was aRoyal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer during theNine Years' War, a ship he was commanding was captured by three French ships offOstend in July 1706 in an action during theWar of the Spanish Succession. Ogle was given command of the fourth-rateHMSSwallow and saw action against the pirate fleet ofBartholomew Roberts in theBattle of Cape Lopez in February 1722. The action was to prove a turning point in the war against the pirates and many consider the death of Roberts to mark the end of theGolden Age of Piracy.
In December 1741, Ogle was despatched with a fleet of some 30 ships to support AdmiralEdward Vernon in his engagement withSpanish naval forces under AdmiralBlas de Lezo off the coast ofColombia during theWar of Jenkins' Ear. The attack on Fort San Lazaro was a disaster for the British forces and theBattle of Cartagena de Indias ultimately proved a decisive Spanish victory: 50 ships were lost, badly damaged or abandoned, and 18,000 soldiers and sailors died. Ogle went on to beCommander-in-Chief, The Nore.
Born to John Ogle, aNewcastlebarrister, and Mary (née Braithwaite) Ogle,[1] Chaloner Ogle came from theKirkley Hall branch of the prominent NorthumbrianOgle family of Northumberland.[2] He joined theRoyal Navy as a volunteer in July 1697.[1] He served in thethird-rateHMSYarmouth and then the third-rateHMSRestoration in Autumn 1697 during theNine Years' War and then served in thefourth-rateHMSWorcester followed by the third-rateHMSSuffolk in 1698.[3] Promoted tolieutenant on 29 April 1702, he joined the third-rateHMSRoyal Oak later that month.[3]
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Promoted tocommander on 24 November 1703, Ogle was given command of thesloopHMSSan Antonio which had been captured from CaptainWilliam Kidd.[3] He transferred to the command ofsixth-rateHMSDeal Castle in April 1705; his ship was captured by three French ships offOstend in July 1706 in an action during theWar of the Spanish Succession but he was acquitted at the subsequentcourt-martial and he was then given command of the sixth-rateHMSQueenborough.[3] Promoted tocaptain on 14 March 1708, Ogle was given command of thefifth-rateHMS Tartar in theMediterranean where he took several prizes.[3] He then transferred to the fourth-rateHMSPlymouth and then to the fourth-rateHMSWorcester both in theBaltic Sea.[3]
Ogle was given command of the fourth-rateHMSSwallow in March 1719 and saw action against the pirate fleet ofBartholomew Roberts in theBattle of Cape Lopez in February 1722.[3] Ogle spotted three of Roberts' ships at anchor and initially pretended to flee: the pirate shipRanger under CaptainJames Skyrme gave pursuit and was captured by HMSSwallow. Ogle then went after Roberts' flagshipRoyal Fortune which was anchored atCape Lopez: Roberts tried to escape butRoyal Fortune received abroadside from HMSSwallow as she passed and Roberts was killed in the action.[3] Ogle was appointed aKnight Companion of the Order of the Bath in April 1723, the only British naval officer to be honoured specifically for his actions against pirates.[4] The action was to prove a turning point in the war against the pirates[5] and many consider the death of Roberts to mark the end of theGolden Age of Piracy.[4]
Ogle was given command of the third-rateHMSBurford in theChannel Fleet in 1729 and of third-rateHMSEdinburgh in the Mediterranean in 1732.[3] Promoted tocommodore later that year he became Commander-in-Chief of theJamaica Station with hisbroad pennant in the fourth-rateHMSKingston.[3][6]
Promoted torear-admiral on 11 July 1739,[7] Ogle became second-in-command in the Mediterranean under AdmiralNicholas Haddock, with his flag in the fourth-rateHMSAugusta later that year, but then transferred to become third-in-command in the Channel underSir John Norris, still with his flag in HMSAugusta, in 1740[8]
In December 1741, Ogle was despatched with a fleet of some 30 ships to support AdmiralEdward Vernon in his engagement withSpanish naval forces under AdmiralBlas de Lezo off the coast ofColombia during theWar of Jenkins' Ear. Ogle arrived in April 1742 and, after a week of bombardment of theCity of Cartagena, the British made preparations to land near an access channel, Boca Chica, with 300 grenadiers. The Spanish defenders of two small, nearby forts, San Iago and San Philip, were driven off by a division of three ships of the fleet under Ogle but the British naval force suffered some 120 casualties with the third-rateHMSShrewsbury alone losing 100 killed and wounded as well as taking serious damage from cannon fire from Fort San Luis.[9] Although the grenadiers landed, the subsequent attack on Fort San Lazaro was a disaster for the British forces and theBattle of Cartagena de Indias ultimately proved a decisive Spanish victory: 50 ships were lost, badly damaged or abandoned, and 18,000 soldiers and sailors died.[10] In the recriminations after the battle Ogle was accused of an assault uponEdward Trelawny,Governor of Jamaica in August 1742; he was tried in court but no judgement was given.[11] Vernon was recalled and Ogle became Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station again.[8][6]
Promoted tovice-admiral on 11 August 1743,[12] Ogle presided at the courts-martial of the captains accused of cowardice at theBattle of Toulon in February 1744.[8] Promoted to fulladmiral on 23 June 1744,[13] he becameCommander-in-Chief, The Nore in September 1745.[1] He was electedMember of Parliament forRochester in November 1746[14] and promoted toAdmiral of the Fleet on 1 July 1749.[15] After his retirement, he lived at Gifford Lodge inTwickenham.[16] He died in London on 11 April 1750 and was buried atSt Mary's, Twickenham.[17] The monument was sculpted byJohn Michael Rysbrack.[18]
In October 1714, Ogle married Henrietta Isaacson. After the death of his first wife, he married Jane Isabella Ogle (a cousin) in October 1737; there were no children from either marriage.[1]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station 1732–1736 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station 1737–1739 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station 1742–1744 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forRochester 1746–1750 With:David Polhill | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Admiral of the Fleet 1749–1751 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
