English Captain: Owen Cox

Owen Cox was an energetic and competent captain who served the navy of Cromwell. From 1645 to 1646, he commanded the Royalist. From 1648 to 1650, he commanded the Phoenix. From 1648 to 1650, he commanded the Recovery (28 guns). Then from 1651 to 1652, he commanded the Constant Warwick (32 guns). He operated in the Mediterranean until the English were beaten and driven from the Mediterranean Sea after the Battle of Livorno (14 March 1653). During 1652-1653, the biggest diplomatic issue for both the Dutch and English was relations with the neutral Duchy of Tuscany, as Livorno was Tuscan. The Constant Warwick was in Henry Appleton’s squadron. Cox had created a diplomatic incident by taking a French ship outside the port. The Duke of Tuscany objected, and commanded that the French ship be released. When the Constant Warwick left for Genoa to careen, only two ships were left in the port under Appleton’s command (the Leopard was Appleton’s flagship).

Owen Cox was temporarily in command of the Bonaventure (44 guns) for a short period. During the Battle of Monte Christo (or Elba), the frigate Phoenix ended up in Dutch hands, after some peculiar circumstances. After the Phoenix was recovered from the Dutch, he commanded her until his death at the Battle of Scheveningen, in August 1653. The recapture of the Phoenix created another diplomatic problem, as they took her in Livorno by a boat attack. Cox's death at Scheveningen terminated a promising career, which might have continued after the Restoration. There is some indication that this is wrong and that he was an officer in the Swedish navy during 1658-1659, but I am not able to verify this.