The community was named after Sir Christopher Cradock, the British commander of the North American and West Indian stations who died when his ship was sunk by German vessels during the 1914 Battle of Coronel off the coast of central Chile. It is unknown whether the the United States or the British Admiralty nominated Sir Cradock's name for this new community. What the naming of Cradock did was set the tone in naming future government-sponsored communities in the nation after military heroes.