Robert Cogan (1798 - November 26, 1847)

Robert Cogan (1798 - November 26, 1847) was a British naval officer active with the Indian Navy, the naval arm of the British East India Company, in the early to mid-19th century. Cogan achieved the rank of Lieutenant in Bombay in 1822 and the rank of Commander in January of 1830. From 1822 to 1828 he was assigned to various survey teams on the west coast of India. In 1829 he was assigned to complete a trigonometrical survey of Bombay Harbor - the first serious survey of the harbor since the 18th century. Most survey work by the Indian Navy terminated in 1837 when Sir Robert Oliver (1738 - 1848) became Superintendent of the Indian Navy. Oliver did not understand and had no use for Hydrographic surveys and under his leadership, most survey work stopped. Skilled surveyors working with the Indian Navy, Cogan among them, resigned in protest. Cogan subsequently earned the patronage of the Imaum of Muscat, who contracted him to Captain his warship, the Liverpool. On retirement from naval life, around 1840, he settled in Hammersmith, London.