Early career Born the eldest son of Commander Osmond de Beauvoir Brock and Lucretia Jenkins (née Clark), Brock was educated at
Windlesham House School,
Brighton from 1878 to 1881, from where he passed second out of 100 competitors for Royal Naval cadetships. On 1 January 1882 he joined the Royal Navy as a
cadet in the training ship
HMS Britannia. Promoted to
midshipman on 18 August 1884, he was posted to the
corvette in the
Mediterranean Fleet, to the
barbette battleship also in the Mediterranean Fleet and then to the
frigate on the
Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station. Brock joined the battleship ,
flagship of the Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, in April 1890. he became
executive officer in the battleship in the
Channel Squadron in January 1901 and executive officer in the battleship , flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, in August 1901. but the appointment was cancelled the following week. He was briefly posted to , serving in the
Home Fleet, in early November 1902, but in January 1903 he became commanding officer of the despatch vessel , serving on the China station. Promoted to
captain on 1 January 1904, Brock left the
Alacrity after a year in January 1904, and became commanding officer of the newly commissioned Admiralty
yacht in May 1904. He subsequently became Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in the battleship in May 1905.
First World War , in which Brock saw action at the
Battle of Heligoland Bight,
Battle of Dogger Bank and
Battle of Jutland During the
First World War, Brock commanded HMS
Princess Royal at the
Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 and the
Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915. he became commander of the
1st Battlecruiser Squadron with his flag in HMS
Princess Royal and saw action in that capacity at the
Battle of Jutland in May 1916. At Jutland, Brock played an important role repeating messages from Vice Admiral
Sir David Beatty, Commander of the Battlecruiser Fleet, whose radio was out of action. When Beatty was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the
Grand Fleet in November 1916, he took Brock with him as his chief of staff. advanced to
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George on 1 January 1918, and to
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 5 April 1919.
After the war Brock became
Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff and a
Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty in July 1919 with promotion to
vice admiral on 3 October. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet with his flag in the battleship in April 1922. For his diplomatic handling of the
Chanak Crisis, Brock was commended by
Leo Amery, the
First Lord of the Admiralty, in the
House of Commons in 1923. he moved his flag to the battleship later that year. he retired in July 1934. He attended the funeral of
King George V in January 1936, and died at his home in
Winchester on 14 October 1947. ==Family==