20th Century Portraits Catalogue

Born in Richmond, Yorkshire and entered the training ship Britannia as a naval cadet in 1875; from 1884 Cradock served around the world, including in Egypt, at the battle of Tokar, and China; he received a promotion to captain in 1901 and was an aide-de-camp to Edward VII between 1909 and 1910; as rear-admiral in the Atlantic Fleet he was involved in the operations that rescued the princess royal and her husband, after the P. & O. Liner Delhi was wrecked on the Moroccan coast; in 1913, Cradock took command of the North America and West Indies station; at the start of the First World War, Cradock commanded the 4th squadron and was ordered to pursue and destroy Admiral Maximilian von Spee’s fleet of cruisers; his fleet was much weaker than Spee’s so in the eventual battle, the Battle of Coronel, Cradock’s ships were destroyed and all lives were lost; he died in 1914.