Christopher Cradock

Christopher Cradock
Christopher Cradock
Born	2 July 1862 Hartforth, Richmond, North Yorkshire
Died	1 November 1914(1914-11-01) (aged 52) Coronel, Chile
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1875–1914
Rank	Rear-Admiral
Battles/wars	Boxer Rebellion World War I Battle of Coronel
Awards	Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companion of the Order of the Bath Order of the Crown (Prussia)

Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher "Kit" George Francis Maurice Cradock KCVO CB SGM (2 July 1862 – 1 November 1914) was a British officer of the Royal Navy.

Early life and career

Cradock was born at Hartforth, Richmond, North Yorkshire.^[1] He earned a reputation for great gallantry.^[1]

He entered the Royal Navy in 1875, and saw action in the Mediterranean, serving with distinction.

In 1900 in China during the Boxer Rebellion, he commanded a mixture of British, German and Japanese sailors during the capture of the Taku forts, and was promoted Captain^[2] and received the Prussian Order of the Crown with swords as a result.

Cradock was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1910. He was involved in the sea rescue of the passengers and crew of the SS Delhi in December 1911. He was awarded the KCVO in 1912. In 1913, he was given command of the North America and West Indies Station.

Craddock was the author of three books, Sporting Notes in the Far East (1889),^[3] Wrinkles in Seamanship (1894)^[4] and Whispers from the Fleet (1908)^[5] which contained advice for naval officers.

He never married, but kept a dog which accompanied him at sea. He commented that he would choose to die either during an accident while hunting (this was his favourite pastime), or during action at sea.

Death at the Battle of Coronel

Monument to Sir Christopher Cradock in York Minster

With the start of the First World War, in August 1914, Cradock, commanding the 4th Squadron of the Royal Navy, was ordered to pursue and destroy Admiral Maximilian von Spee's fleet of commerce-raiding cruisers. Cradock's fleet was significantly weaker than Spee's, consisting of mainly elderly vessels manned by largely inexperienced crews.

Cradock found Spee's force off Chile and decided to engage it. In the resulting Battle of Coronel, Cradock's ships HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth were destroyed with the loss of all lives, including his own.

Departing from Port Stanley he had left behind a letter to be forwarded to Admiral Hedworth Meux in the event of his death. In this he commented that he did not intend to suffer the fate of Rear-Admiral Ernest Troubridge, who in August had been courtmartialled for failing to engage the enemy despite the odds being severely against him, during the pursuit of the German warships Goeben and Breslau.^[6] The Governor of the Falklands and the Governor's aide both reported that Cradock had not expected to survive.^[7][8]

A monument to Admiral Cradock was placed in York Minster. It is on the east side of the North Transept towards the Chapter House entrance. There is another monument to Cradock in Catherington churchyard, Hampshire. There is a monument and a stained glass window in Cradock's memory in his parish church at Gilling West.^[9] There is a neighbourhood in Portsmouth, Virginia named after him.

References

• "Good Hope Sunk". The Times (40689). 7 November 1914. p. 9 
• "The late Admiral Cradock". The Times (40696). 14 November 1914. p. 11 
• Robert Massie (2004). Castles of steel: Britain, Germany and the winning of the Great War at sea. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-04092-8. 
• Arthur Marder (1961-1970). From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow (5 Vols). London: Oxford University Press.  Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christopher Cradock.

• The Dreadnought Project: Christopher Cradock