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Edward Codrington had never served with Nelson before September 1805 and yet he quickly became an admirer. Moreover, he showed by his actions at Trafalgar that he both understood, and fully supported, Nelson’s battle plan and style of fighting. Alone of all the Trafalgar captains, he later commanded a British fleet in battle, at Navarino in 1827.
The son of a landowner and grandson of a baronet, he was born on 27 April 1770 and educated at Harrow before joining the Royal Navy in 1783. He became a lieutenant in 1793 and was signal officer of Admiral Lord Howe’s flagship, hmsQueen Charlotte, at the Glorious First of June in 1794. A personal protégé of Howe, he was given the honour of taking home the admiral’s duplicate dispatches and, as was customary, was rewarded with promotion to the rank of commander. The following year he was made a captain and was present, in command of the frigate La Babet, at Bridport’s action off Groix on 23 June.
He remained in frigates until May 1805, when he was appointed to command the battleship hmsOrion (74) and, after a short spell with the Channel Fleet, was detached to reinforce Collingwood off Cadiz. He found Collingwood’s rather dour regime uncongenial and was delighted when Nelson was appointed to command the fleet. At their first meeting, Nelson bound the young captain to him with one of his characteristic gestures – he handed Codrington a letter from his wife saying that ‘being entrusted with it by a lady, he made a point of delivering it himself’.
At Trafalgar, the Orion was towards the rear of Nelson’s line and so did not arrive in the thick of the fighting until about two hours after the first shot was fired. Codrington planned his approach carefully, holding his fire so as not to obscure his view with smoke, and even when he reached the action, he passed through the clusters of ships until he came across a suitable victim. She was the French Swiftsure into whose stern the Orion’s gunners poured a series of murderous broadsides, forcing her to surrender. Codrington then attempted to take on the Principe de Asturias, flagship of the Spanish commander-in-chief, Don Frederico Gravina, but she pulled away, so he moved on northwards to assist the British ships there in repelling the attack by Dumanoir and the French van. The Orion then played a key role in the capture of the gallantly-defended L’Intrepide, sailing right round the stricken ship pouring in a deadly, accurate fire from close quarters. It was a classic demonstration of the sort of mobile, intelligent fighting that Nelson wanted. Like the other captains, Codrington was rewarded with the naval gold medall and a sword from the Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund.
Having remained with Collingwood in the Mediterranean until December 1806, Codrington eventually returned home. He continued in active service throughout the rest of the war, serving in the disastrous amphibious attack on the Dutch island of Walcheren in 1809 and off the coast of Spain, commanding a squadron supporting Wellington’s land campaign, during 1811–13. Promoted rear admiral in 1814, he was captain of the fleet to the commander-in-chief of the North American station, Sir Alexander Cochrane, during the closing stages of the war with America, and took part in operations in the Chesapeake River and in the attack on New Orleans.
In 1826, by then a vice admiral, he became commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, with his flag flying in hmsAsia. At that time, the Greeks were in open revolt against their Turkish overlords. Britain, although not formally at war with Turkey, was generally sympathetic to the Greek cause, which placed Codrington in a difficult position politically. The growing tension eventually led to a full-scale battle in the Bay of Navarino in southern Greece, on 20 October 1827, where the Turkish fleet was annihilated by a combined British, French and Russian fleet under Codrington’s command, thus paving the way for Greek independence, which came two years later. It was the last major naval battle fought wholly under sail.
Although the victory was popular with the people of Britain, the government was embarrassed by such overt intervention and recalled Codrington ‘for explanations’. However, he was cleared of blame and received the Grand Cross o the Bath. He continued to serve in the Navy, commanding the Channel squadron in 1831/2 and ending a long and distinguished career as commander-in-chief at Plymouth during 1839–42. He lived lon enough to claim the Naval General Service Medal with four clasps in 1848 and eventually died at his home in Eaton Square, London, in 1851. He was buried in St Peter’s, Eaton Square, but when the crypt wsa cleared in 1953, the body was moved with others to Brookwood Cemetery and its exact whereabouts are now unknown. He is, however, memorialised in St Paul’s Cathedral, his own church of St Mary’s, Dodington, and, most appropriately, at Pylos in Greece.
CSW
Memorials
Type: Wall Plaque Material: White marble Location: St Mary’s Church, Dodington Park, S. Glos. Set on right side of entrance above an interior door. Click here to read more…
Type: Memorial Tablet Material: Marble Location: Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, London Click here to read more…
Type: Monument Location: Pylos, Greece, in the centre of the main town square, to celebrate the victory of the battle of Navarino, 1827. Click here to read more…