Lieutenant
Gordon Evelyn Elliott
GRAY
Royal Navy
26
Gordon Gray was born on 19 December 1887, in Dhubri, Assam, British India, where his father, Major (later Lt Col) Malcolm Alexander Gray, Indian Staff Corps, was an Assistant Commissioner. Gordon had an older half-brother, Percy Vivian Gray (1879-1943) whose mother had died in 1882. Gordon’s mother, Helen Sophia Augusta (née Gordon), also suffered an early death in 1892, and in 1895 Major Gray was married a third time to Florence Mary (née Royle). The family returned to England and lived at Bedford, where Gordon attended Bedford School.
He joined HMS BRITANNIA on 15 September 1902 and was promoted Midshipman on 29 February 1904. After service in the cruisers HMS HOGUE, SUFFOLK, KENT, ROXBURGH and LEVIATHAN he was appointed to HMS MERCURY additional for instruction in submarines in August 1908. A first appointment to HMS FORTH for HMS B10 was recorded but cancelled and on 15 Feb 1909 he was appointed to HMS THAMES for HMS C5. He was promoted Lieutenant in July 1909, and in January 1911 appointed to command HMS A4, successively attached to depot ships HMS MERCURY and HMS ARROGANT.
In July 1911 he was appointed to HMS C10, but this command did not go well. In November 1911, C10 was involved in a collision with the destroyer HMS THRASHER, and he was noted as having committed an error of judgement in handling his boat. In July 1912, there was a collision between C10 and C8 and he incurred Their Lordships’ displeasure. Also in July 1912 was the beaching of HMS C10 at Harwich, for which he was recorded as being entirely at blame. This concluded Gordon Gray’s career in submarines and he was then attached to the Hydrographic Department.
Subsequent appointments were to HMS ENDEAVOUR and HMS MUTINE for surveying duties. His record notes that he was considered as having been appointed for specialist Navigator (N) duties. A week after the outbreak of war he was appointed as Assistant Navigator to the armoured cruiser HMS GOOD HOPE, the Flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock. Cradock was tasked with preventing the German East Asia Squadron from penetrating the South Atlantic. A small force led by Cradock located and bravely engaged the more powerful German squadron at the Battle of Coronel, off the Chilean coast, at sunset on 1 November 1914. But superior firepower prevailed and both GOOD HOPE and MONMOUTH were sunk with all hands.
Gordon Gray is also commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and at Bedford School.