| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | River gunboat |
| Class | Insect |
| Pennant | T 72 |
| Built by | Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Ordered | 9 Feb 1915 |
| Laid down | Feb 1915 |
| Launched | 17 Dec 1915 |
| Commissioned | Apr 1916 |
| End service | |
| History | Sold for scrap in 1949. |
Commands listed for HMS Cockchafer (T 72)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. John Andrew Agnew, RN | 25 Dec 1938 | 16 Apr 1940 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Hugh Forbes Robertson-Aikman, RN | 16 Apr 1940 | 19 Jun 1941 |
| 3 | Lt. Robert Stewart Blacker, RN | 19 Jun 1941 | mid 1943 |
| 4 | T/Lt. Arthur William Dow, RNVR | mid 1943 | Oct 1944 |
| 5 | Lt.Cdr. Edward Bernard Tancock, DSC, RN | Oct 1944 | Jan 1945 |
| 6 | T/Lt. Basil Guy Pritchard de Mattos, RNVR | Jan 1945 | 28 Jul 1945 |
| 7 | Lt. Edward Austin Tyrer, DSC, RN | 28 Jul 1945 |
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Notable events involving Cockchafer include:
4 Mar 1940
HMS Dauntless (Capt. G.D. Moore, RAN) made rendezvous with the river gunboats Cockchafter (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Agnew, RN) and HMS Gnat (Lt.Cdr. S.R.H. Davenport, RN) to escort them to Singapore. (1)
6 Mar 1940
HMS Dauntless (Capt. G.D. Moore, RAN), Cockchafter (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Agnew, RN) and HMS Gnat (Lt.Cdr. S.R.H. Davenport, RN) arrived at Singapore. (1)
22 Apr 1940
The river gunboats Cockchafter (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Agnew, RN), HMS Gnat (Lt.Cdr. S.R.H. Davenport, RN) departed Nancowry for Colombo. They were escorted by the heavy cruiser HMS Kent (Capt. D. Young-Jamieson, RN, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral A.J.L. Murray, DSO, OBE, RN).
HMS Kent was relieved around midnight during the night of 22/23 April 1940 by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Cathay (Capt.(Retd.) B.W.L. Nicholson, DSO, RN).
HMS Kent proceeded to Colombo with despatch.
(2)
Sources
- ADM 53/111934
- ADM 53/112524 + ADM 199/382
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.