Rear Admiral Nigel Stephen Coates, AM (8 March 1959 – 2 June 2010) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy.

Coates joined the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay in 1975 as a Junior Entry officer, where he completed his high school education.

Coates spent 18 months in Newport, Rhode Island, where he attended the US Naval War College and earned a Master of Arts (International Relations) from Salve Regina University.

In 2001, he was promoted to captain and assumed command of HMAS Anzac, which saw operational deployment in the Persian Gulf; Coates was subsequently appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for this service.

[citation needed] Coates was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer in late 2009, shortly after relinquishing command of the Australian Fleet.