Charles Frederick Roy Cowan DSO JP DL (18 September 1883 – 22 March 1958) was a Welsh-born English cricketer who played first-class cricket in 27 matches for Warwickshire between 1909 and 1921, and in two matches for armed forces cricket teams in 1919.[1] He was born at Glangrwyney, Crickhowell, Brecknockshire and died in hospital at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
Cowan was an amateur right-handed middle-order or opening batsman whose appearances in regular cricket were restricted by his career in the Royal Navy. He was educated at the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, Devon, passing out in 1899.[2] As a naval cadet, he was posted to HMS Crescent and then in 1902 as an acting sub-lieutenant to HMS Revenge, a pre-Dreadnought battleship.[3][4] The following year he was deployed as a full sub-lieutenant to the depot ship HMS Orion, based in Malta, for operation on the torpedo boat destroyer HMS Seal and he was still there when promoted to full lieutenant in 1905.[5] At the start of 1907, still lieutenant, he was sent to the newly commissioned HMS Hibernia, flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet, and then in 1911 he was posted to the refitted HMS Cumberland.[6][7] By the end of the First World War, Cowan had reached the rank of Commander and was in charge of HMS Nairana, a converted ferry used to launch seaplanes which was deployed off the northern coast of Russia during the North Russia Campaign of UK involvement in the Russian Civil War.[8] In retirement in 1928, he was promoted from the rank of Commander to Captain.[9]