MIDSHIPMAN CHRISTOPHER ARTHUR GRESHAM COOKE, ROYAL NAVY. ACCIDENTLY KILLED IN AN EXPLOSION,

MIDSHIPMAN CHRISTOPHER ARTHUR GRESHAM COOKE, ROYAL NAVY. ACCIDENTLY KILLED IN AN EXPLOSION, 9th JULY 1917 AGED 18.

Christopher Cooke was only 15 years old when he went to war in 1914. A cadet at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth on 4th August 1914 at the outbreak of war he was mobilised for service in the Royal Navy.

Born in Cambridge in 1899, Christopher, was the son of Arthur and Vivian Cooke. His father was amongst the preeminent surgeons in the country and was consultant at the famous Addenbrooke's Hospital. Arthur Cooke had lived for most of his childhood in Ilkley, his father was a wealthy woollen merchant who lived in a house called Summerfield. Raised in a prosperous household, young Christopher was able to spend his holidays boating on the Norfolk Broads, skiing in Switzerland or with his grandparents in Ilkley.

Christopher had been intent on joining the Royal Navy since early childhood and after finishing at St Peters Court Prep School in Kent he was sent, at the age of 13, to the Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight. From Osborne, he went on to the College at Dartmouth where, under normal conditions would have remained until he was 17 years old. However, the declaration of war interrupted Christopher’s education and despite being only a child of 15 years he was given just a few hours notice to pack his sea chest and report for sea duty on the armoured cruiser HMS Aboukir.

At the beginning of the war the Royal Navy despite being by far the largest in the world, needed to fulfil its extensive obligations by using ships that had been placed into 'Reserve'. The Aboukir, although, outdated under gunned and poorly armoured was taken out of 'mothballs' and placed into front line service. To man these ships the Admiralty called up large numbers of reservists and added naval cadets like Christopher to bolster their numbers.

In September 1914 the Aboukir along with two of her sister ships, HMS Cressy and HMS Hogue formed a small squadron which patrolled across the southern North Sea looking for enemy surface ships. At this stage of the war the Navy seemed to be unconcerned about the dangers posed by submarines and the three cruisers patrolled without any destroyer escort.

 On the morning of the 22nd September 1914 the three cruisers in line abreast were making their regular run off the coast of Holland at a position known as the 'Broad 14's' when they were spotted by Kapitanleutnant Otto Weddigen commanding the German submarine U9. Weddigen fired his first torpedo at 6.20am striking the Aboukir on the Starboard side and stopping her dead in the water. Thinking that they had struck a mine the Captain tried to stabilise the ship by counter-flooding compartments but it was to no avail and the ship began to sink. At 6.55am the order was given to abandon ship. Christopher who was asleep in his bunk having just come off duty ran to the quarter-deck and from there jumped into the sea and swam away from the ship just as she capsized. Both Cressy and Hogue not realising that their sister ship had been torpedoed steamed to save the Aboukir's crew. U9 now fired two more torpedoes which hit the Hogue and caused her to sink in less than 10 minutes followed by another torpedo which struck the Cressy sending her to the bottom of the North Sea. It was an hour before Dutch and British trawlers arrived on the scene and began rescuing the survivors, but despite their efforts over 1400 British seamen were lost.

Christopher, wearing only his pyjamas managed to cling onto some wreckage and remained in the water for nearly an hour before he was rescued by a British trawler and taken to Lowestoft. The disastrous loss of the three British ships was headline news but Christopher's parents had no idea that their son had survived until he arrived at Cambridge railway station two days later dressed only in a pair of oversized plus fours and a jacket.

The story of Christopher's remarkable survival and his clear youth were hailed in the newspapers and he became something of a celebrity in Cambridge. Yet within less than a month he was back at sea, this time in the new battleship HMS Vanguard and part of the Grand Fleet.

Life aboard the Vanguard must have been very different from the wretched conditions experienced on and old cruiser like the Aboukir. Based at the naval base at Scapa Flow the Vanguard never left harbour without a considerable escort of destroyers and its size could offer every comfort especially for officers.

On the 31st June 1916 Christopher was aboard HMS Vanguard during the Battle of Jutland when her guns sank the German cruiser SMS Wiesbaden. However, when not at sea he would have had time to relax at Scapa Flow and become involved in the numerous activities which were organised to keep the crew entertained such as boxing matches and trips ashore.

On the afternoon of the 9th July 1917 HMS Vanguard dropped anchor in the northern part of Scapa Flow. The ship continued with its routine and apart from the few men on lookout the crew would retire for the evening. At 11.20pm eyewitnesses reported a huge explosion as the Vanguard suddenly and unaccountably blew up, sinking within only two minutes and taking 843 of her crew of 845 to the bottom of Scapa Flow.

A board of enquiry surmised that raised temperatures had caused out of date and unstable cordite to combust in one of the ship's magazines and this resulted in a catastrophic explosion.

Midshipman Christopher Cooke was one of those killed in the explosion and his remains still lie at the bottom of Scapa Flow. Today he is commemorated on the Royal Navy Memorial to the Missing at Chatham as well as memorials in Cambridge. He is also remembered on the war memorial at St. Margaret's Church on Queens Road in Ilkley.