Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)

Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....

 (John) Gervaise (Beresford) Cooke CB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 DSC

Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...

 (19 October 1911 – 1976) was a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 officer who became Naval Secretary

Naval Secretary

The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RN. It is a senior RN appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Rear-Admiral. The Naval Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is...

.

Naval career

Educated at Marlborough College

Marlborough College

Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

 and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth

Britannia Royal Naval College

Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...

, Cooke joined the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in 1925 and specialised in gunnery. He served in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s and at the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

. After the War he was given command of the sloop HMS Modeste and then the destroyer HMS Finistere

HMS Finisterre (D55)

HMS Finisterre was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy . She was named after one of the battles of Cape Finisterre.Finisterre was built by Fairfields of Govan on the Clyde. She was launched on the 22 June 1944 and commissioned on 11 September 1945.She first joined the Home Fleet upon her...

 and then moved to the Naval Ordnance Department of the Admiralty. He was given command of the destroyers HMS Broadsword

HMS Broadsword (D31)

HMS Broadsword was a Weapon-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy....

 and then HMS Battleaxe

HMS Battleaxe (D118)

HMS Battleaxe was a Weapon class destroyer of the Royal Navy, completed just after the Second World War....

 between 1950 and 1951 and then joined the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet

Mediterranean Fleet

Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...

 in 1952. He went on to be Deputy Director of Naval Ordnance at the Admiralty in 1955, Commander of the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment in 1959 and Assistant Naval Attaché

Attaché

Attaché is a French term in diplomacy referring to a person who is assigned to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency...

 in Washington D. C. in 1961. His last appointments were as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Warfare) at the Admiralty in 1963 and as Naval Secretary

Naval Secretary

The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RN. It is a senior RN appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Rear-Admiral. The Naval Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is...

 in 1966 before he retired in 1968.

In retirement he lived in Owlesbury in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

.