ClaesAlso written as Claas, Clas or Klas. Johansson Uggla (1614 – 1 June 1676) was a Swedish military officer of the 17th century, who served in both the army and the navy, reaching the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

before he was killed in action during the naval Battle of Öland.

Biography

Uggla was born in the village of Afverstad in Ölserud parish,

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

, the son of Colonel Johan Uggla and Margareta Gyllenmärs. As a young man he was a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

at the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

. During the Torstenson War of 1643-1645 he served as a volunteer in the navy, seeing action in the fleet under the command of Clas Fleming. From 1646 Uggla served in the Swedish army. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Prague in 1648, and was promoted to

captain lieutenant Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of navies worldwide and formerly in the British Army. Northern Europe Denmark, Norway and Finland The same rank is used in the navies of Denmark (), Norway () and Fin ...

. In 1650, he was promoted to captain in the Life Guards, accompanying

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

during the

Second Northern War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

. When the Dano-Swedish War broke out in 1657 Uggla returned to naval service. He was promoted to major and in November 1658 participated in the Battle of the Sound against the Dutch fleet. In December, he successfully evacuated the Swedes from Sønderborg Castle during its siege. In 1660, he was promoted to lieutenant admiral. During a three-year stay in

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

, he oversaw the construction of warships being built for the Swedish Navy. In 1670 he was promoted to admiral, and in 1676 was elevated to the status of Friherre. When further conflict broke out in 1675 in the

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

, Uggla was given command of a squadron under '' Generalamiral'' Lorentz Creutz.Hofberg (1906), p.652

Battle of Öland

On 1 June 1676, during the Battle of Öland, against the allied Danish and Dutch fleets under Niels Juel and

Cornelis Tromp Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as lieutenant-admiral general in the Dutch Navy, and briefly as a general admiral in the Royal Danish-Norwegian ...

, Creutz's flagship '' Kronan'' capsized, as a result of intemperately turning hard south, even though under full sail with open cannon ports. The Swedish fleet's line of battle was thrown into confusion, and the enemy, taking advantage of the situation, surrounded Uggla's 94-gun flagship ''Svärdet''. 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. Uggla finally surrendered to Tromp, but a Dutch fire ship failed to recognize that the ship had surrendered and attacked, and Uggla was killed when his ship blew up. Only 51 of the 670 crew survived.

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uggla, Claes 1614 births 1676 deaths Swedish admirals People from Säffle Municipality 17th-century Swedish nobility Claes 17th-century Swedish military personnel