Chaloner Ogle

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Chaloner Ogle KB (1681 – 11 April 1750) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer during the Nine Years' War, a ship he was commanding was captured by three French ships off Ostend in July 1706 in an action during the War of the Spanish Succession. Ogle was given command of the fourth-rate HMS Swallow and saw action against the pirate fleet of Bartholomew Roberts in the Battle 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 the Golden Age of Piracy. In December 1741 Ogle was despatched with a fleet of some 30 ships to support Admiral Edward Vernon in his engagement with Spanish naval forces under Admiral Blas de Lezo off the coast of Colombia during the War of Jenkins' Ear. The attack on Fort San Lazaro was a disaster for the British forces and the Battle 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 be Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. Early career Born to John Ogle, a Newcastle barrister, and Mary (née Braithwaite) Ogle, Chaloner Ogle came from the Kirkley Hall branch of the prominent Northumbrian Ogle family of Northumberland. He joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in July 1697. He served in the third-rate HMS Yarmouth and then the third-rate HMS Restoration in Autumn 1697 during the Nine Years' War and then served in the fourth-rate HMS Worcester followed by the third-rate HMS Suffolk in 1698. Promoted to lieutenant on 29 April 1702, he joined the third-rate HMS Royal Oak later that month. Promoted to commander on 24 November 1703, Ogle was given command of the sloop HMS San Antonio which had been captured from Captain William Kidd. He transferred to the command of sixth-rate HMS Deal Castle in April 1705; his ship was captured by three French ships off Ostend in July 1706 in an action during the War of the Spanish Succession but he was acquitted at the subsequent court-martial and he was then given command of the sixth-rate HMS Queenborough. Promoted to captain on 14 March 1708, Ogle was given command of the fifth-rate in the Mediterranean where he took several prizes. He then transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Plymouth and then to the fourth-rate HMS Worcester both in the Baltic Sea.