John Francis Coates, OBE (30 March 1922 – 10 July 2010) was a British

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture occupations Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role ...

best known for his work on the study of construction of the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

trireme A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...

. His research led to the construction of the first working replica of triremes, the fastest and most devastating warship of Classical Mediterranean empires, and gave a greater understanding of how they were built and used. He also carried out research into the use of shipping in Northern Europe during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, in particular the Ferriby Bronze Age boat and the Dover Boat.

Career

Coates was born and raised in Swansea, the son of chemists Ada and Joseph E. Coates, Professor of Chemistry at the University College of Swansea. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

and took Engineering Science at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

. He joined the

Royal Corps of Naval Constructors The Royal Corps of Naval Constructors (RCNC) is an institution of the British Royal Navy and Admiralty for training in naval architecture, marine, electrical and weapon engineering. It was established by Order in Council in August 1883, on the r ...

and in 1943 saw sea service on the Arctic convoys. After the war, he continued to work in the Admiralty. An early project was the design of new inflatable life jackets and life rafts for which he was appointed OBE in 1955. He was the leading ship design architect for the

County-class destroyer The County class was a class of British guided missile destroyers, the first such warships built by the Royal Navy. Designed specifically around the Seaslug anti-aircraft missile system, the primary role of these ships was area air defence aro ...

s. Coates remained in Admiralty service until 1979 when he retired from the post of Chief Naval Architect.

Trireme Reconstruction

In 1982 he was approached by Professor John Morrison of

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates. The college also admits "mature" undergraduates (aged 21 and above), with around ...

to assist with research into the design of the

. Together they and others founded the Trireme Trust, and created a series of scale models and a full scale cross section based on historical records, archaeological evidence and the science of naval architecture. Coates developed a complete design, encompassing more than 40 sheets of plans and 100 pages of specifications, which enabled the construction of a full-scale replica, the Olympias, funded by the Greek government's Ministries of Defense and Tourism in 1987. John F. Coates actively oversaw the accuracy of the construction, including the manner in which the hull shell was held together by 20,000 pinned mortise and tenon joints. In 1989, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. He also researched the archaeological remains of Bronze Age seagoing ships in Northern Europe, exploring their seaworthiness.

Personal life

Coates married Jane Waymouth in 1954, she predeceased him in 2008. He died on 10 July 2010, leaving two sons and five granddaughters. Coates' elder brother, chemist Geoffrey E. Coates, died in Laramie, Wyoming, in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, John 1922 births People educated at Clifton College Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford British naval historians 2010 deaths British naval architects Royal Navy personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Swansea