John Rhodes Cobb was a British racing motorist. He made money as a director of fur brokers Anning, Chadwick and Kiver and could afford to specialise in large capacity motor-racing. He was born and lived in Esher

Esher

Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, near the Brooklands

Brooklands

Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...

 race track.

Racing career

He held the ultimate lap record at the track, driving the 24-litre Napier Railton

Napier Railton

The Napier-Railton is an aero-engined race car built in 1933, designed by Reid Railton to a commission by John Cobb, and built by Thomson & Taylor...

 at an average speed of 143.44 mi/h achieved on 7 October 1935, regaining it from his friend Oliver Bertram

Oliver Bertram

Oliver Henry Julius Bertram was an English racing driver who held the Brooklands race track record for 2 months 2 days during 1935. He was twice awarded the BRDC Gold Star....

.

Driving the piston-engined

Reciprocating engine

A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...

, wheel-driven Railton Special he broke the land speed record

Land speed record

The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...

 at Bonneville

Bonneville Speedway

Bonneville Speedway is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records....

 on August 23, 1939, achieving a mark of 367.91 mi/h. Without this being beaten he raised the record to 394.19 mi/h in 1947.

During the Second World War he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, and between 1943 and 1945 in the Air Transport Auxiliary

Air Transport Auxiliary

The Air Transport Auxiliary was a British World War II civilian organisation that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units , scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields—but not to...

. He reached the rank of group captain

Group Captain

Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...

.
He died in 1952, attempting to break the world water speed record

Water speed record

The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle. The current record of 511 km/h was achieved in 1978....

 at Loch Ness

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...

 in the jet speedboat Crusader at a speed in excess of 200 mi/h. There is a memorial to him erected nearby by the people of Glenurquhart. He is buried at Christ Church, Esher.

Personal life

John Cobb married twice, first to Elizabeth Mitchell-Smith in 1947. After her death in 1948 he married Vera Victoria Henderson (1917-2007) in 1950.

Awards

He was awarded the Segrave Trophy

Segrave Trophy

The Segrave Trophy is awarded to the British national who accomplishes the most outstanding demonstration of the possibilities of transport by land, sea, air, or water. The trophy is named in honour of Sir Henry Segrave, and has been awarded in most years since 1930.A subsidiary award, the Segrave...

 in 1947.

On 27 March 1953 he was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct

Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct

Instituted in 1939 by King George VI as the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct acknowledged brave acts by civilians and members of the military in non-warlike circumstances during a time of war or in peacetime where the action would not otherwise be...

 - John Rhodes Cobb (deceased), Racing Motorist. For services in attempting to break the world's water speed record, and in research into high speed on water, in the course of which he lost his life.

External links

• The Reluctant Hero by David Tremayne
• John Cobb's Gravesite
• Location and Google Street View of John Cobb Memorial