Captain Nick Cooke-Priest: Who Is HMS Queen Elizabeth's Former Commanding Officer?

Captain Nick Cooke-Priest has been Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth since October (Picture: MOD).

The Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth has been removed from the aircraft carrier, during what was to be his one of his final journeys in command.

Last week the Royal Navy said Captain Nick Cooke-Priest was being "reassigned" following a dispute over the use of HMS Queen Elizabeth's official car.

He had been due to sail the aircraft carrier to Portsmouth from Rosyth this week, but the decision has been taken to remove him from the warship.

He will be succeeded by HMS Prince of Wales Commanding Officer, Captain Steve Moorhouse, later this month.

Captain Cooke-Priest's Career

Captain Cooke-Priest became Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth last October, taking over from Commodore Jerry Kyd.

After joining the Royal Navy in 1990 and specialising as a Lynx helicopter observer, he spent the following decade taking on a series of flying appointments, mainly at sea.

Said roles included also an instructional tour as Flight Commander of HMS Exeter.

In 2003, Captain Cooke-Priest joined HMS Marlborough as Operations Officer, after completing the Principle Warfare Officer Course where he specialised in anti-submarine warfare.

Two years on, the staff of Flag Officer Sea Training followed, prior to working on HMS Gloucester as the Executive Officer, featuring a deployment to the South Atlantic.

He was promoted to Commander in 2009, and that year in HMS Kent escorted Her Majesty the Queen during a royal tour.

On HMS Iron Duke, he deployed to the Arabian Gulf and in 2011 to Libya as part of Operation Ellamy.

In 2014, Capt Cooke-Priest was promoted to Captain and took command of HMS Bulwark the following year.

During this time he was part of Operation Weald, the UK’s response to the Migrant crises in the Mediterranean.

Capt Cooke-Priest was awarded an OBE in 2016.