Sir Christopher Cole

Sir Christopher Cole (1770-1836) was entered on the books of the Royal Oak as a midshipman in 1780. After serving in the West Indies, Newfoundland and East Indies stations, he was made lieutenant in 1793. He was promoted to the rank of commander (1800) and later post-captain (1802) whilst serving in the West Indies under Lord Hugh Seymour and his successor, Sir John Thomas Duckworth. Cole's frigate, HMS Southampton, was paid off in September 1802, and in June 1804 he was appointed captain of HMS Culloden, the flagship of Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth (1757-1833), the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, whose squadron was then preparing to sail to Bombay.

Cole served as Pellew's flag captain at Bombay until March 1807, when, following a disagreement with his commander, he was given temporary command of the frigate Salsette, later renamed the Pitt, and subsequently the Doris . During 1808, Cole made several trips to the Persian Gulf in search of enemy cruisers and to accompany Sir John Malcolm's diplomatic mission to Persia (May 1808). In October 1808 he was sent to Prince Edward Island (Penang) as senior naval officer, where he was employed in cruising the Straits of Malacca and the China Seas.

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