Alfred Godsal

Alfred Edmund Godsal DSO, Croix de Guerre (1884 – 10 May 1918) was a British officer of the Royal Navy who commanded HMS Brilliant in the First Ostend Raid on 23 April 1918.

[2] Godsal was a cousin of Wilfred Parke an early naval aviator who was the first pilot to make an observed recovery from a spin and who was killed in 1912.

While there he was loaned for a time to the Yangtze River gunboat Kinsha, including a brief period in command whilst awaiting the arrival of the new captain.

HMS Kinsha, previously known as SS Pioneer had belonged to Samuel Cornell Plant but was requisitioned by the British navy during the Boxer Rebellion.

Several officers, led by Godsal and his first lieutenant, Victor Crutchley, urged Admiral Roger Keyes to allow a second attack.