Walter Cowan

Cowan was born in Crickhowell, in Brecknockshire, Wales, on 11 June 1871, the eldest son of Walter Frederick James Cowan, an officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. After his father's retirement from the British Army, the family settled in Alveston, Warwickshire, where his father became a justice of the peace. Cowan never went to school, but entered the Royal Navy in 1884 at the training ship, HMS Britannia, a classmate to fellow future admiral David Beatty. ==Early service career==

In 1886, as midshipmen, Cowan and Beatty joined , flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. Cowan saw service in Benin and Nigeria in 1887. He later took command of the destroyer and acted as second-in-command of the Devonport destroyer flotilla under Roger Keyes, who was then developing new destroyer tactics. They became firm friends. Cowan commanded several more destroyers, acquiring a widespread reputation as a destroyer captain, and then succeeded Keyes in command of the flotilla. In 1904 he was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order. In 1905 he took command of and he was promoted captain in 1906. He transferred to the cruiser in 1907. In 1908, he took command of all destroyers of the Channel Fleet. In 1909, he transferred to the Third Division of the Home Fleet with command of the nucleus-crewed , and in 1910 he became captain of the new light cruiser . In 1912, Cowan became Assistant to John de Robeck, who was then Admiral of Patrols. ==First World War==

In 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Cowan was given command of the old pre-dreadnought . Six months later he took over the 26,270 ton , as flag captain to Osmond Brock. He commanded her at the Battle of Jutland, where she was badly damaged. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1916. In June 1917 Cowan was made commodore of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, which he led at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight on 17 November 1917. In 1918 he was promoted rear admiral, staying in command of the squadron. ==The Baltic==

In January 1919 the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron was sent to the Baltic Sea. He was awarded the Cross of Liberty (VR I/1) of Estonia. ==Between the wars==

In 1921, Cowan was appointed to command the Battlecruiser Squadron, flying his flag in . He was unemployed from 1923 to 1925, although he was promoted vice admiral in 1923. In 1925 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland and, in 1926, Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station, holding the command until 1928, with his shore headquarters at Admiralty House Clarence Hill, across the mouth of the Great Sound from the station's base at the Royal Naval Dockyard in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. He was promoted admiral in 1927. His final appointment was as First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King in 1930. He retired in 1931. ==Second World War==

During the Second World War, Cowan was given a job by his old friend Roger Keyes, then head of the Commandos. Cowan voluntarily took the lower rank of commander and went to Scotland in 1941 to train the newly formed corps in small boat handling. Cowan also saw action subsequently at the Battle of Bir Hakeim, where, having attached himself to the Indian 18th King Edward VII's Own Cavalry, he was captured on 27 May 1942, Cowan retired once more in 1945. After the war he was invited to become the honorary colonel of the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry, and visited India to receive the post, which he considered the greatest he had attained in his extensive military career. ==Death and tribute==

Cowan died on 14 February 1956, in his 85th year. The Cowan Baronetcy became extinct on his death. In 2007 the Estonian Navy named a British-made minehunter of the the . The ship's crest is based on Cowan's family arms. Memorials in the Estonian capital Tallinn, in the Latvian capital Riga and in Portsmouth Cathedral commemorate the 110 men of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force killed in the Baltic action of 1919. ==Footnotes==