Eric Longley-Cook Explained

Eric Longley-Cook
Birth Date:6 October 1898
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Serviceyears:1914–1951
Rank:Vice-Admiral
Commands:Director of Naval Intelligence (1948–51)
(1942–43)
(1939–40)
Battles:First World War
Second World War
Awards:Companion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches (3)
Legion of Honour (France)

Vice-Admiral Eric William Longley-Cook, (6 October 1898 – 20 April 1983) was a Royal Navy officer.

Naval career

Longley-Cook joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and was mobilised at the start of the First World War.[1] He saw action in the battleship in the British Adriatic Squadron.[1]

He served in the Second World War as commanding officer of the cruiser from July 1939,[2] as deputy director of Training and Staff Duties from October 1940 and as deputy director of Gunnery and Anti-Aircraft Warfare from July 1941.[3] He went on to be commanding officer of the cruiser from April 1942, Captain of the Fleet for the Mediterranean Fleet in January 1943 and Captain of the Fleet for the East Indies Fleet in January 1945.[3]

After the war he became Chief of Staff for the Home Fleet in November 1946 and Director of Naval Intelligence in May 1948.[3] In that capacity he warned the British Government that the United States "was set to bomb Russia first" and that "all-out war against the Soviet Union was not only inevitable but imminent".[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Private Papers of Vice Admiral E W Longley-Cook CB CBE DSO. Imperial War Museum. 14 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Captains commanding Royal Navy warships . 14 November 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150714184102/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/ROYAL%20NAVY%20WARSHIPS.pdf . 14 July 2015 .
  3. Web site: Senior Royal Navy appointments. 14 November 2015.
  4. Web site: US 'was set to bomb Russia first'. The Guardian. 16 June 2001. 14 November 2015.