Background
Blake was born at Alverstoke in Hampshire, the son of Thomas Blake and Fanny Leatry.
Blake was born at Alverstoke in Hampshire, the son of Thomas Blake and Fanny Leatry.
As a boy, he attended Winchester College before entering the Royal Navy in 1897.
He served in World War I and at the Battle of Jutland, Blake served as gunnery commander aboard HMS Iron Duke. In 1919, he was appointed naval attaché in Washington Doctorate. C., a position he held until 1921. He was given command of HMS Queen Elizabeth in 1921 and then became Deputy Director of the Royal Navy Staff College in 1925 going on to be Director of the College in 1926.
He became Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport in 1932 and Vice Admiral commanding the Battlecruiser Squadron and Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet with his flag in HMS Hood in 1936.
He also served in World World War II as an Additional Assistant Chief of Naval Staff from 1940 and as Flag Officer, Liaison to the United States Navy in Europe from 1942 to 1945. In retirement he became Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.
He was appointed Chief of the Naval Staff for the Atlantic Fleet in 1927 and First Member of the New Zealand Naval Board and Commodore commanding the New Zealand Division in 1929.