Ajax Veterans Street Dedication: Coates of Arms Lane
Description
- Media Type
- Image
- Description
- Street Name: Coates of Arms Lane
Name of Veteran: Alfred James Coates July 26, 1939-July 29, 2021
Rank: Master at Arms
Ship Served: HMS Ajax Frigate
Date of Service on Ship: Dec. 4, 1974 to Dec. 1977
Year of Visit/Dedication: August 27, 2016
Veteran or Family Visit: HMS Ajax & River Plate Veterans Association on behalf of Fred Coates
Veteran of the Battle of the River Plate: No
Died at Battle: No
Fred Coates joined the Royal Navy on July 13, 1955 as a Boy Seaman and completed training at HMS St. Vincent in July 1956. He soon became qualified as a gunner at HMS Excellent and then joined the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in October 1956.
In January 1959 Fred joined the Royal Naval Barracks in Portsmouth and by May of the same year he was with HMS Adamant, a submarine depot ship in Faslane, Scotland.
In June 1960 Fred joined HMS Cavalier in Singapore, which was part of the 8th Destroyer Squadron based in the Far East. After that he changed branches at HMS Excellent and joined the Provost Staff, Portland as a Leading Patrolman in May 1962. By July 1965 he had joined HMS Terror, in Singapore, where he served in the Fleet Mail Office.
Fred returned to the United Kingdom in 1967 and was posted to HMS Condor. He served the Condor until May 1968 when he joined HMS Nubian, a Tribal Class Frigate serving mainly in the Middle East. He was also involved in the Rhodesia Sanctions enforcement patrol and fishery protection patrol off the coast of Iceland. During this time he was promoted to Regulating Petty Officer. He left HMS Nubian in 1971 and joined HMS Osprey, Portland. By October 1971 he took over as Coxswain onboard the survey ship HMS Beagle.
Early in 1974 after many years of service, mainly in the Indian Ocean, Fred returned to the United Kingdom to serve HMS Osprey, Portland. It was in December that he joined HMS Ajax as the Master at Arms and served her until December 1977.
Fred left the Royal Navy in 1979 and began a career with Her Majesty’s Prison Service, retiring in 1994. In July of that same year he left the United Kingdom in his 25 foot yacht and single handedly circumnavigated France. As a result he added his name to a small list of people who have done just that. By July, 1995 he had returned to Portland and settled down. In December 1997 Fred married Sue Marie Hawkins and enjoyed a peaceful life in a beautiful part of England.
Fred died on July 29, 2021, days after his 82 birthday.
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Original document and image located in the Ajax Archives.
- Contact
- Ajax Public LibraryEmail:libraryinfo@ajaxlibrary.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:55 Harwood Avenue S.
Ajax, Ontario
L1S 2H8
