Sub Lieutenant
Clement Fraser
COTTRELL
Royal Navy
20
Clement Cottrell was born in Islington, London on 28 June 1897, the son of Charles Cottrell-Dormer and Lucy Eleanor Tulloch Cottrell (nee Fraser). He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet in May 1910. He was promoted to Midshipman on 3 August 1914 and was appointed to the battleship HMS HANNIBAL on the same date. On 7 October 1914, he joined the battleship HMS BENBOW. Whilst serving in BENBOW he was present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May/1 June 1916. He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant on 15 February 1917.
He was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN for Submarine Training on 1 March 1917 and then appointed to HMS G9 as First Lieutenant on 1 July 1917. G9 was on patrol in the North Sea on 16 September 1917 and fired a torpedo at the destroyer HMS PASLEY, believing the destroyer to be a German. The torpedo did not explode, and HMS PASLEY rammed G9 which sank. There was only one survivor, but Clement Cottrell did not survive.
Clement Cottrell is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel No. 24.