Charles Chapman was born on 11 August 1889, the son of Commander and Mrs F Hay Chapman. He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet and, after time in HMS BERWICK and HMS QUEEN, he joined submarines in January 1911 as a Sub Lieutenant.

He was then appointed to various unspecified submarines, before promotion to Lieutenant and appointment to HMS E9 as First Lieutenant to Max Horton, firstly for North Sea patrols and then in the Baltic. As a result, Chapman was awarded the DSC.

After returning from the Baltic, he took command of HMS C30 in February 1916. Next, after a spell as First Lieutenant of J6, he commanded G11, resulting in his being awarded a Bar to his DSC. Command of L55 followed, during which time the submarine was deployed to the Baltic in 1919 during the Russian Intervention.

During operations against the Russian Fleet on 9 June 1919, L55 was hit by shellfire from Russian surface warships. The pressure hull was not penetrated, but the submarine was lost with all hands after striking a mine on the edge of a British minefield.

Charles Chapman is buried in the Haslar Naval Cemetery in the L55 Grave.