Edward Keble Chatterton
Encyclopedia
Edward Keble Chatterton (September 10, 1878 – December 31, 1944) was a prolific writer who published around a hundred books, pamphlets and magazine series, mainly on maritime and naval themes.

Biography

Born at number 76, Rock Street, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, he attended Sheffield Royal Grammar School followed by St Paul's School, then located in Hammersmith, London. He took a B.A. at St. Stephen's House, Oxford, before beginning to write theatre and art reviews for various magazines. In 1905, he edited The Lady's Realm for a number of issues.

He undertook a number of small-boat voyages through the English Channel and the Netherlands; out of these voyages came magazine articles and books describing the passages as well as several books on the maritime art collections of the Low Countries.

At the outbreak of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Chatterton joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (R.N.V.R.), ultimately commanding a Motor Launch flotilla at Queenstown, now Cobh
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...

, in Ireland. He describes these years in Q-Ships and their Story (1922), The Auxiliary Patrol (1924) and Danger Zone: The Story of the Queenstown Command (1934). He left the service in 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

In the inter-war years, his output was continuous, and included a series of monographs on model ships, many narrative histories of naval events, and a number of juvenile novels. Most of his books were republished in the United States and several were translated into French and German editions.

A member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club
Royal Thames Yacht Club
The Royal Thames Yacht Club is the oldest sailing club in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are located at 60 Knightsbridge, London, England, overlooking Hyde Park....

 for many years, he carried out a multi-season voyage to the Mediterranean through the French canals. He described these in a further series of books: his journeys on the Canal de Nantes à Brest
Canal de Nantes à Brest
The Nantes-Brest canal is a French canal which links the two cities of Nantes and Brest through inland Brittany. It was built during the 19th century and its total length is 385 km with 238 locks from coast to coast...

 are outlined in Through Brittany in "Charmina": From Torbay to the Bay of Biscay in a 6-Tonner (1933), journeys on the Canal du Midi
Canal du Midi
The is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...

 are described in To the Mediterranean in "Charmina" (1934), and journeys along the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...

 are described in "Charmina" on the Riviera (1937).

After 1939, his writings focused on the conflict with Germany. Hutchinsons published a series documenting the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 at war, which was completed by Kenneth Edwards following Chatterton's death in 1944.

External links

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