Ernest Edwin Tucker (sometimes recorded as Ernest Edward Tucker) was born on 15 September, 1881, at Ramsgate, in Kent, the fourth of eight children to George Walter Tucker, a dockyard labourer, and Elizabeth Tucker (formerly Relf). The family moved to Portsmouth where it resided at 23 Hampshire Street, in Landport.

He had six brothers and one sister: George Walter (1876), who served as a ship's cook in the Royal Navy; Henry Wallace (1878), who served as a petty officer in the Royal Navy; James Frederick (1880); Frank Oliver (1882), who served as a private in the Essex Regiment, Northamptonshire Regiment and Labour Corps; Elizabeth Jessie (1884); Arthur Frederick (1885); and Herbert Victor (1898).

He married Ellen Eliza Chalmers at St. Mark's Church, in Portsmouth, on 20 November, 1909. They were to have just one son, Leslie Ernest (1914), and lived at 54 Sultan Road in Landport.

As Ernest Edwin Tucker, he enlisted in the Royal Navy on 23 August, 1897, as a boy 2nd class, no. 195629. He was one month short of his 16th birthday and described as being: 5' 1½" tall; with dark brown hair; blue eyes; and a fresh complexion. Two years later, on reaching 18, he was 5' 3½" tall, when he engaged to serve for 12 years.

He first went to the training ship, HMS St. Vincent until December, 1898, being advanced to boy 1st class in May, 1898. He then joined his first ship, HMS Agincourt, for just two months, before joining the battleship, HMS Resolution, in January, 1899, serving with the Channel Squadron until June, 1899, when he joined the cruiser, HMS Endymion.

HMS Endymion was serving on the China Station, where Ernest Tucker was advanced to ordinary seaman in September, 1899.

Endymion participated in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, and Ernest Tucker was part of the naval brigade engaged in operations to relieve Peking, which earned him the China War Medal, 1900, with clasp 'Relief of Pekin'. He was advanced to Able Seaman in February, 1901, and awarded his first good conduct badge in September, 1902.

He returned to England and went to the gunnery training establishment, HMS Excellent, in October, 1902, followed by HMS Duke of Wellington in May, 1903, and HMS Firequeen in the October. He then joined the cruiser, HMS Good Hope in August, 1904, serving aboard her until March, 1905, when he returned briefly to the Firequeen, before passing quickly through HMS Victory I, HMS Excellent and HMS Victory I again, before going aboard the cruiser, HMS Powerful, in October, 1905.

Ernest Tucker served aboard HMS Powerful, the flagship on the Australia Station, for two years, near the end of which, in September, 1907, he was granted his second good conduct badge. He then passed quickly through HMS Europa, HMS Edgar and HMS Excellent again, until he joined the cruiser, HMS Furious in June, 1908. Seven months later he joined the battleship, HMS Dreadnought, flagship of the Home Fleet.

He served aboard her for his last 2 years and 8 months service before being discharged to the shore, his 12-year engagement having expired, on 14 September, 1911.

On 29 June, 1912, Ernest Edwin Tucker enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve, and served with the Portsmouth Division, no. B5398, as an able seaman. He was mobilised on 2 August, 1914, and joined one of his previous ships, HMS Good Hope.

Good Hope was re-commissioned in mid-1914 with a crew composed mainly of naval reservists and was briefly assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron in August, before being transferring the 4th Cruiser Squadron. She rendezvoused at Halifax, Nova Scotia, with HMS Suffolk, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, who transferred his flag to Good Hope.

Cradock's command was despatched to the coast of South America to hunt for the German ships preying upon British merchant ships. He moved his squadron further south in late September to search for the East Asia Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, in the vicinity of Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan.

At the end of September, Cradock made his first fruitless search of the Tierra del Fuego area and later detached three of his ships to search up the Chilean coast. The Good Hope returned to Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, to re-coal and to re-establish communications with the Admiralty.

He received word on 7 October that Spee's ships were definitely bound for the Cape Horn region and sailed on 22 October, going around Cape Horn. Good Hope rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron on 27 October, off Chile. They departed two days later, and he sent the light cruiser HMS Glasgow to scout ahead and to enter Coronel, Chile.

The cruiser began to pick up German radio signals from the light cruiser SMS Leipzig on the afternoon of 29 October, and delayed entering Coronel for two days to avoid being trapped by the fast German ships.

Glasgow departed at 9.15 am on 1 November, and rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron four hours later. Cradock ordered his ships to form line abreast with an interval of 15 nautical miles between ships to maximise visibility at 1.50 pm, and steered north.

At 4.17 pm the Leipzig spotted Glasgow, the easternmost British ship, to its west and she spotted Leipzig's funnel smoke three minutes later.

At 5.10 pm Cradock ordered his ships to head for Glasgow, the closest ship to the Germans. Once gathered together, he formed them into line astern, with Good Hope in the lead, steering south-easterly at 16 knots at 6.18 pm.

As the sixteen 8.3-inch guns aboard the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were only matched by the two 9.2-inch guns on Good Hope, Cradock needed to close the range to bring his more numerous 6-inch guns to bear.

The Force 7 winds and high seas, however, prevented the use of half of those guns as they were too close to the water. He also wanted to use the setting sun to his advantage so that its light would blind the German gunners.

Spee was well aware of the British advantages and refused to allow Cradock to close the range. His ships were faster than the British, and he opened up the range to 18,000 yards until conditions changed to suit him.

The sun set at 6.50 pm, which silhouetted the British ships against the light sky while the German ships became indistinguishable from the shoreline behind them. Spee immediately turned and signalled his ships to open fire at 7.04 pm, when the range closed to 12,300 yards.

Spee's flagship, Scharnhorst, engaged Good Hope while Gneisenau fired at Monmouth. Cradock's flagship was hit by the Scharnhorst's third salvo, when shells knocked out her forward 9.2-inch turret and set her forecastle on fire.

Cradock, knowing his only chance was to close the range, continued to do so despite the battering that Spee's ships inflicted.

By 7.23 pm the range was almost half of that when the battle began and the British ships bore onwards. Spee tried to open the range, fearing a torpedo attack, but the British were only 5,500 yards away by 7.35 pm.

Seven minutes later, Good Hope charged directly at the German ships. Spee ordered his armoured cruisers to concentrate their fire on the British flagship and she soon drifted to a halt with her topsides all aflame.

At 7.50 pm her forward magazine exploded, severing the bow from the rest of the ship, and she later sank in the darkness. Spee estimated that his flagship had made 35 hits on Good Hope, which sank with all hands, a total of 926 officers and ratings, one of whom was Able Seaman Ernest Edwin Tucker.

Able Seaman Ernest Edwin Tucker was discharged dead on 1 November, 1914, having been lost when HMS Good Hope was sunk in action off the Chilean coast.

He was aged 35, and had served in the Royal Navy for 14 years and 27 days, and 2 years and 125 days in the Royal Fleet Reserve.

His service earned him the China Medal, 1900, with clasp 'Relief of Pekin'; the1914-15 Star; British War Medal, 1914-20; and Victory Medal, 1914-19, which were issued to his widow.