| Claes Uggla | |
|---|---|
Claes Uggla |
|
| Born | 1614 |
| Died | 1 June 1676 |
| Allegiance | Sweden |
| Service/branch | Swedish Navy |
| Years of service | c.1644-1676 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Admiral |
| Battles/wars | Thirty Years' War Dutch–Swedish War Scanian War |
Claes[1] Uggla (1614–1676) was a Swedish Admiral of the 17th century.
After serving as a soldier in the Thirty Years' War, in 1644 he entered the Navy, and served with distinction against the Dutch in the battle of Øresund in 1658. Two years later he was appointed Lieutenant Admiral, and commanded one of the squadrons in the disastrous Battle of Öland on 1 June 1676, against the allied Danish and Dutch fleets under Niels Juel and Cornelis Tromp.
As a result of intemperately ordering his ship to turn hard south, even though he was under full sail and had open cannon ports, the Swedish commander Lorentz Creutz's ship Kronan capsized, throwing the Swedish fleet's line of battle into confusion. The enemy, taking advantage of the situation, surrounded Uggla's 94-gun flagship Svärdet, and he found himself attacked by four enemy vessels simultaneously, including both the Danish and Dutch flagships.
After a fierce battle lasting two hours Uggla's ship was dismasted and holed below the waterline. However even when a fire broke out aboard his ship Uggla refused to surrender. Finally, when he saw that the flag that he refused to strike had been burned, he jumped overboard and was drowned along with the large majority of the crew, who went down with the ship when it finally exploded.