Charles Henry Coke

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Admiral Sir Charles H. Coke, 1917.
© National Portrait Gallery, London.

Admiral SIR Charles Henry Coke, K.C.V.O., R.N. (2 November, 1854 – 23 February, 1945) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life & Career

Coke was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant from the Victoria and Albert with seniority of 5 September, 1877.[1]

Coke was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1892.[2]

Coke was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 January, 1899.[3]

He was appointed command of the battleship Cornwallis on 14 January, 1905.[4]

Coke was appointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King dated 1 March, 1907, vice Reynolds.[5]

Flag Rank

Coke was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 18 May, 1908, vice King-Hall.[6] From 29 September to 22 January, 1909, he took the War Course. He was adjudged to be "Slow."[7] In May, 1909, he sought and received permission from the Admiralty to visit Chefoo (now Yantai), China, and returned home on 24 August.[8]

He was appointed Rear-Admiral, Queenstown, on 18 April, 1911.[9] On 12 July, on the occasion of King George V's visit to Dublin, Coke was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (K.C.V.O.) and knighted.[10] He was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 17 May, 1913, vice Callaghan.[11]

He was superseded on 21 April, 1914, and reappointed on 19 May.[12]

Great War

Coke gave up command on the Coast of Ireland on 22 July, 1915. On 12 February, 1917, he was granted a temporary commission as Captain, Royal Naval Reserve, and was appointed to H.M.C.S. Niobe for service under the Canadian Naval Board, as Commodore, Second Class, in command of the Newfoundland Patrol Service.[13] On 3 April he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, vice Poore[14] and was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 10 April.[15] He was superseded as Commodore of Patrols, Royal Canadian Navy, on 20 July, 1917.[16] In a letter to the Commander-in-Chief on North America and West Indies Station, Sir Montague E. Browning, the First Sea Lord, Sir John R. Jellicoe, noted, "I am sorry he was not up to the job, but he is of course aging rapidly."[17]

He died at Hughenden, Exmouth, on 23 February, 1945, aged ninety-one. He was interred at Littleham, Exmouth, on 27 February.[18] Cause of death was broncho pneumonia.[19]

Footnotes

  1. The London Gazette: no. 24501. p. 5151. 7 September, 1877.
  2. The London Gazette: no. 26309. p. 4187. 22 July, 1892.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 27040. p. 84. 6 January, 1899.
  4. "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Saturday, 31 December, 1904. Issue 37592, col F, p. 10.
  5. The London Gazette: no. 28004. p. 1832. 15 March, 1907.
  6. The London Gazette: no. 28140. p. 3883. 26 May, 1908.
  7. ADM 203/99. f. 31.
  8. ADM 196/38. f. 242.
  9. ADM 196/38. f. 242.
  10. The London Gazette: no. 28513. p. 5265. 14 July, 1911.
  11. The London Gazette: no. 28722. p. 3753. 27 May, 1913.
  12. ADM 196/38. f. 242.
  13. ADM 196/38. f. 242.
  14. The London Gazette: no. 30012. p. 3404. 10 April, 1917.
  15. The London Gazette: no. 30017. p. 3496. 13 April, 1917.
  16. ADM 196/38. f. 242.
  17. Jellicoe to Browning. Copy of letter of 7 July, 1917. Jellicoe Papers. British Library. Add MS 49036. f. 36.
  18. "Deaths" (Deaths). The Times. Monday, 26 February, 1945. Issue 50077, col A, p. 1.
  19. ADM 196/38. f. 242.

Bibliography

  • "Admiral Sir Charles Coke" (Obituaries). The Times. Monday, 26 February, 1945. Issue 50077, col E, p. 6.

Service Records


Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Sir Alfred W. Paget
Senior Officer on the Coast of Ireland
1911 – 1914
Succeeded by
Robert H. S. Stokes

Preceded by
Robert H. S. Stokes
Vice-Admiral Commanding on the Coast of Ireland
1914 – 1915
Succeeded by
Sir Lewis Bayly

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
William B. Fisher
Captain of H.M.S. Cornwallis
14 Jan, 1905 – ?
Succeeded by
William L. Grant

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