Edgar Christopher Cookson
Lieutenant-Commander Edgar Christopher Cookson, V.C., D.S.O. (13 December, 1883 – 28 September, 1915) served in the Royal Navy. He would prove a problematic officer early in his career, but his virtues came to light in the heat of conflict, meriting him a D.S.O. and a posthumous V.C..
Life & Career
Born in Rock Ferry, the son of deceased Captain W. E. de C. Cookson, R.N..[1]
In 1903 or so, when he was supposed to be confined in college, Cookson ventured out to a Music Hall in Portsmouth where he created a disturbance and used obscene language in the streets. He was tried by the Portsmouth Magistrate, lost three months' seniority and accorded the severe displeasure of the Admiralty.[2]
After twice failing to pass in gunnery, he was afforded a third opportunity to pass and warned that a further failure would precipitate his dismissal from the service. Luckily for him, he passed this examination in October 1903 with 701/1,000 marks.[3]
Cookson was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 September, 1905.[4]
Though he was nominally in command of T.B. 33 at the time, Cookson was warned to be more careful following a 1907 collision between T.B. 41 and T.B. 50. In 1908, he was found to have slept ashore and to have allowed his entire crew to do the same without first obtaining permission to do so from any senior officer. In consequence, he was to be relieved in command of T.B. 033 and was not to receive further appointment in command of a small ship. Cookson therefore spent August 1908 through April 1911 in the pre-dreadnoughts H.M.S. Venerable and Implacable. He evidently felt this service had redeemed his good name, and applied for command of a T.B.D., but the Admiralty's memory was keen and he was refused. On 25 April, 1911, he was appointed to the scout cruiser Sentinel, which was attached to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, as first officer.[5]
Cookson left Sentinel and took passage in H.M.S. Talbot to the China Station, where he was appointed to the sloop Clio as first officer in September, 1912.[6]
Cookson was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 30 September, 1913. When war erupted, Clio would eventually find her way to the Mesopotamia and become involved in riverine operations on the Tigris.[7]
In April or May 1915, Cookson was seriously wounded in the chest while in command of the river steamer Shushan during a reconnaissance of E[illeg] C[illeg] North B[illeg] near Kurna.
Cookson grounded Clio, of which he was in temporary command, on 17 June, 1915.[8]
Cookson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, when at age 31 he ordered his river gunboat Comet placed alongside an obstruction in the River Tigris as the scene was swept by machine gun fire. In the heat of the maelstrom, Cookson, with an axe in hand, jumped onto a dhow to attempt to sever hawsers binding her to other small craft. He was shot multiple times and died soon thereafter.[9]
See Also
Bibliography
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by Frederic Giffard as Captain of H.M. T.B. 33 |
Captain of H.M. T.B. 033 12 Mar, 1907[10] – c. Jul, 1908[11] |
Succeeded by Montague R. Bernard |
Footnotes
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
- ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1908). p. 400.
- ↑ Cookson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/22. f. 24.
