Edward Coverley Kennedy

From The Dreadnought Project
Jump to navigationJump to search

Captain Edward Coverley Kennedy, R.N. (31 August, 1879 – 23 November, 1939) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Kennedy was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 9 November 1900.

Kennedy was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December 1912.

Kennedy was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1917.

He was appointed in command of the light cruiser Cassandra in May, 1918,[1] and was in her during the surrender of the German High Sea Fleet.

Post War

On 21 January 1919, he was appointed in command of the light cruiser Constance.[2]

Kennedy was reprimanded following a Court Martial in mid-1921 as he "did not take proper measures to suppress an outbreak of insubordination in Portsmouth Royal Fleet Reserve Battn. No. 2, then stationed at Newport, Monmouthshire." Kennedy had merely been appointed to Portsmouth for the Senior Officer's Technical Course at the time.

He retired as a captain on 1 March, 1923, but his naval story was far from finished.

World War II

On 2 September, 1939, a sixty year old Kennedy was appointed to command the armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi upon her commissioning. He would die on 23 November, fighting in her against German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau between Iceland and the Faeroes, having declined his chance to surrender. He was mentioned in despatches for this sacrifice.

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
John F. E. Green
Captain of H.M.S. New Zealand
13 Dec, 1917 – 17 Jan, 1918
Succeeded by
Richard Webb
Preceded by
Arthur J. Davies
Captain of H.M.S. Cassandra
May, 1918[3] – 5 Dec, 1918[4]
Succeeded by
Vessel Lost
Preceded by
Cyril S. Townsend
Captain of H.M.S. Constance
21 Jan, 1919[5] – late Sep, 1920[Inference]
Succeeded by
Arthur C. Strutt

Footnotes

  1. The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 753.
  2. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 764.
  3. The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 753.
  4. Hepper. British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era: 1860-1919. p. 147.
  5. The Navy List. (September, 1920). p. 751.