Vice Admiral Sir John Gregory Crace (6 February 1887 – 11 May 1968) was an Australian who came to prominence as an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(RN). He commanded the Australian-United States Support Force,

Task Force 44 Task Force 44 was an Allied naval task force during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The task force consisted of warships from the United States Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It was generally assigned as a striking force to d ...

, at the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

in 1942.

Early life

Crace was born to Kate Marion Crace and

Edward Kendall Crace Edward Kendall Crace (1844–1892) was an Australian pastoralist who owned extensive land holdings around Canberra. Crace was the son of the English interior designer John Gregory Crace (1809-1889) and his wife, Sarah Jane Hine Langley. Crace ...

Gungahlin The District of Gungahlin () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The Gungahlin Region is one of fastest growing regions within Australia. The district is subdivided into di ...

, New South Wales (now part of the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

). He was educated at The Kings School in

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

, before completing school in the UK in October 1899.

Naval career

Crace joined the Royal Navy as a cadet, aboard HMS ''Britannia'', in May 1902. After being trained as a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

officer, Crace served in the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

through much of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He travelled back and forth to Australia during the interwar years, and served in a series of sea and shore positions before being assigned command of the Australian Squadron in September 1939. Upon his arrival in Sydney, Crace grew increasingly dismayed at the state of the RAN fleet and attempted to resign.''Action Stations Coral Sea'', p.36 However, after war with Japan broke out, Crace was appointed commander of the Allied Naval Squadron,

ANZAC Force The ANZAC Squadron, also called the ''Allied Naval Squadron'', was an Allied naval warship task force which was tasked with defending northeast Australia and surrounding area in early 1942 during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The squadro ...

. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Crace narrowly escaped a Japanese air raid while patrolling south of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. He returned to Britain in June 1942 as a vice admiral, commanding the

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

. Crace was placed on the retired list in 1945, but remained in command at Chatham until July 1946. He was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1947. He had been appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in 1941. Sir John Crace died in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England in 1968. The suburb of

Crace, Australian Capital Territory Crace () is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the district of Gungahlin. It was named after Edward Kendall Crace an original settler in the Gungahlin area. Streets in Crace are named after parishes and land divisions from colonial times. It is ...

is named after Crace's father, Edward Kendall Crace.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Coulthard-Clark, Chris, ''Action Stations Coral Sea'', Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1991. *Parrish, Thomas and S. L. A. Marshall, ed. ''The Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia of World War II'', New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978. *Keegan, John, ed. ''The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of World War II''. New York: Rand McNally & Company, 1977.

External links