Percy George Brown

Captain (retired) Percy George Brown, C.B.E, R.N. (9 December, 1874 – 24 May, 1954) served in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Born in Edinburgh, the son of Commander Brown.

Brown was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 October, 1896.

Brown was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1908.

Great War

On 25 August, 1914, Brown was superseded in the torpedo gunboat Hussar and returned to England. On 4 October, he was appointed to Portsmouth to superintend the fitting out of mine sweeping vessels. He married Mary Hatchins on 12 December, 1914 and remained in his Portsmouth duty until 18 April, 1915 when he was appointed in command of the armed merchant cruiser H.M.S. Patuca. After four months and a collision with a Swedish steamer on 1 July for which Brown was held to blame, he was appointed to the first class protected cruiser Ariadne, where he would remain until 5 May, 1916 when he would start a year in command of drifters based in the Nore.

On 19 July, 1917, Brown was appointed to take command of H.M.S. Champagne (formerly Oropesa) as Acting Captain. She would be lost to submarine attack along with over fifty lives under his command on 9 October, 1917. The Court Martial conducted thereafter noted that Brown had remained in the ship until she sank from under his feet, thereby eliciting Their Lordships' approval. Percy Brown was awarded the C.B.E. in recognition of this action, gazetted 11 June, 1919 and invested on 31 July, 1919.

Post-War

Brown was placed on the Retired List on 20 December, 1919 with the rank of Captain (retired) from 17 December, 1919. He was informed that his naval services were not needed in 1939 and that he was free to engage in other defence activities. Brown died in 1954 of a coronary thrombosis related to a prostatectomy.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia
• Findings of Court Martial on sinking of H.M.S. Champagne at TNA

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Cyril Corbett	Captain of H.M. T.B. 103 14 Dec, 1899 – 1 Feb, 1901	Succeeded by Walter P. Koe
Preceded by Leslie J. L. Hammond	Captain of H.M.S. Bittern 3 Jan, 1905 – 28 May, 1906	Succeeded by John R. Corner
Preceded by Walter R. G. Petre	Captain of H.M.S. Erne 28 May, 1906 – 10 Jul, 1906	Succeeded by Harold G. Innes
Preceded by Harold G. Innes	Captain of H.M.S. Osprey 10 Jul, 1906 – 21 Jan, 1909	Succeeded by George W. McO. Campbell
Preceded by Lionel G. Preston	Captain of H.M. T.B. 99 4 Jan, 1910 – 23 Apr, 1910	Succeeded by Alexander L. Fletcher
Preceded by Alexander L. Fletcher	Captain of H.M. T.B. 107 23 Apr, 1910 – 10 Jun, 1910	Succeeded by Alexander L. Fletcher
Preceded by Henry D. Pridham-Wippell	Captain of H.M. T.B. 104 10 Jun, 1910 – 22 Aug, 1910	Succeeded by Kenneth C. Helyar
Preceded by Charles H. Jones	Captain of H.M.S. Havock Sep, 1910 – 31 Oct, 1911	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Lionel G. Dawson	Captain of H.M.S. Bruizer 31 Oct, 1911 – 6 Jan, 1912	Succeeded by George P. England
Preceded by Hubert H. Holland	Captain of H.M.S. Circe 6 Jan, 1912 – 8 Apr, 1912	Succeeded by Henry C. Alcock
Preceded by Francis G. C. Coates	Captain of H.M.S. Jason 8 Apr, 1912 – Jun, 1913	Succeeded by Lionel G. Preston
Preceded by Neston W. Diggle	Captain of H.M.S. Hussar 10 Jun, 1913 – 25 Aug, 1914	Succeeded by James A. Rogers
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. Osiris 25 Aug, 1914 – 20 Sep, 1914	Succeeded by Claude A. Rombulow-Pearse
Preceded by James H. Neild	Captain of H.M.S. Patuca 18 Apr, 1915 – 19 Aug, 1915	Succeeded by Tristan Dannreuther
Preceded by Hugh S. Shipway	Captain of H.M.S. Ariadne 6 Sep, 1915 – 5 May, 1916	Succeeded by Pieter G. V. Vander Byl
Preceded by Norman L. Stanley as Captain of H.M.S. Oropesa	Captain of H.M.S. Champagne 19 Jul, 1917 – 9 Oct, 1917	Succeeded by Vessel Lost