33-780: Admiral of the Fleet The Honourable Sir Henry Keppel GCB , OM (14 June 1809 – 17 January 1904) was a Royal Navy officer. His first command was largely spent off the coast of Spain, which was then in the midst of the First Carlist War . As commanding officer of the corvette HMS Dido on the East Indies and China Station he was deployed in operations during the First Opium War and in operations against Borneo pirates. He later served as commander of
66-869: A property in Winkfield in Berkshire , and made it his home. He was among the original recipients of the Order of Merit (OM) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902, and received the order from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902. Sir Henry Keppel died in London on 17 January 1904 and was buried at the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in Winkfield. On 25 February 1839 Keppel married Katherine Louisa Crosbie, daughter of General Sir John Crosbie. Keppel's relationship with Lady Grey
99-635: A second admiral of the fleet, to balance the Duke of Wellington ' s promotion as a second Field Marshal in the British Army. In 1830 King William IV increased the number of admirals of the fleet to three, though these additional lifetime postings subsequently lapsed. Between 1854 and 1857 there was no admiral of the fleet at all as the most senior naval officer of the time – Admiral of the Red Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin –
132-549: A stretch of water at the southern tip of Singapore , was named in his honour as he had been instrumental in clearing the straits of pirates. The tower of St Mary's Church, Bishopstoke was built in 1909 to commemorate Keppel. Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy) Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the Royal Navy , formally established in 1688. The five-star NATO rank code
165-650: Is OF-10 , equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force . Apart from honorary appointments, no new admirals of the fleet have been named since 1995, and no honorary appointments have been made since 2014. The origins of the rank can be traced back to John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick , who was appointed ' Admiral of the King's Southern, Northern and Western Fleets ' on 18 July 1360. The appointment gave
198-643: The London Gazette that "His Majesty [has] been pleased to order the Rank of Admirals of the Red to be restored" in His Majesty's Navy..." as a separate role. The same Gazette promoted 22 men to that rank. From the nineteenth century onward there were also occasional variations to the previous requirement that only one Admiral of Fleet could serve at one time. In 1821 George IV appointed Sir John Jervis as
231-714: The North America and West Indies Station in February 1830 and to the fifth-rate HMS Magicienne on the East Indies and China Station in July 1831. Promoted to commander on 30 January 1833, Keppel became commanding officer of the brig HMS Childers in May 1834. His first command was largely spent off the coast of Spain, which was then in the midst of the First Carlist War . He was deployed in operations in support of
264-823: The White Sea in 1855 during the Crimean War . On 2 December 1856, James Robert Drummond was appointed captain of Maeander , for coast guard service. George Fowler Hastings succeeded Drummond. In September 1857 an advertisement seeking a 'seaman schoolmaster' to instruct the boys of the Maeander in the 3Rs. was placed in the name of 'Captain the Hon. G F Hastings CB'. Hastings was appointed superintendent of Haslar Hospital in January 1858. In 1859 Commander Malcolm MacGregor assumed command of Maeander . In 1860 her armament
297-795: The naval brigade besieging Sebastopol during the Crimean War . After becoming second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station , he commanded the British squadron in the action with Chinese pirates at the Battle of Fatshan Creek when he sank around 100 enemy war-junks . He subsequently took part in the capture of Canton during the Second Opium War . Keppel went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station , then Commander-in-Chief, South East Coast of America Station , Commander-in-Chief, China Station and finally Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth . Keppel
330-851: The naval brigade besieging Sevastopol in August and September 1855. He transferred to the command of the second-rate HMS Colossus in the Baltic Fleet in January 1856 and then assisted with the re-embarkation of the British troops in the Crimea . For his part in the Crimean War Keppel was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 5 February 1856, appointed a member of the French Legion of Honour on 2 August 1856 and awarded
363-474: The British. Keppel became commanding officer of the steam line-of-battle ship HMS St Jean d'Acre in May 1853. When the Crimean War broke out on 1854, HMS St Jean d'Acre formed part of the Baltic Fleet and the ship was deployed to the Black Sea . Keppel swapped commands with the captain of the sailing line-of-battle ship HMS Rodney , whose crew were all ashore, in July 1855 and served as commander of
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#1732790191015396-666: The East Indies, cooperating with James Brooke in the suppression of piracy. Next, in September 1849 she sailed from Singapore via Batavia for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific coast of America; United States Army Lieutenant George H. Derby , in his "Report of the Expedition of the U.S. Transport Invincible" notes that Keppel with the Maeander was in the Mexican port of Guaymas on 5 February 1851. After twelve months on
429-524: The Fleet. Appointments were for life, remunerated via a £5 daily stipend and an annual allowance of £1,014 for the hiring and maintenance of servants. It was intended that only one officer would hold the rank at any time, with their presence aboard any naval vessel to be denoted by the flying of the Royal Standard from the main mast . The ranks of Admiral of the Fleet and Admiral of the Red were formally separated from 1805, with an announcement in
462-597: The Order of the Bath on 12 September 1857. He also took part in the capture of Canton in December 1857 during the Second Opium War . The prevalence of peace gave Keppel no further chance of active service. Promoted to rear admiral on 22 August 1857, he was appointed a Groom in Waiting to the Queen on 24 September 1859 and became Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station , with his flag in
495-636: The Prince of Wales (now King Charles III ) became an honorary admiral of the fleet (as well as field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force ), in recognition of his support to Queen Elizabeth II in her role of as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. In 2014, Lord Boyce , a former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff, was also appointed an honorary admiral of the fleet. HMS Maeander (1840) HMS Maeander
528-519: The Turkish Order of the Medjidie , 2nd class, on 3 April 1858. Promoted to commodore , Keppel became second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station, with his broad pennant in the frigate HMS Raleigh , in September 1856. HMS Raleigh was lost on an uncharted rock near Hong Kong, and, although Keppel was subsequently court-martialed , he was honourably acquitted for the loss of
561-713: The Valparaiso station, Maeander then returned to Britain with $ 860,000 in bullion via the Straits of Magellan. (At the time she was thought to have been the largest vessel to have passed through the straits.) She was in the straits for over nine days in May 1851, anchoring every night because of the difficulty of the passage). On 14 July 1852 Captain Charles Talbot took command of Maeander . On 30 May 1854 Captain Thomas Baillie took command. She served in
594-545: The command of the English navy to one person for the first time; this evolved into the post of Admiral of the Fleet. In the days of sailing ships the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy included distinctions related to the fleet being divided into three divisions – red, white, or blue. Each division was assigned at least one admiral , who in turn commanded a number of vice-admirals and rear admirals . While
627-516: The creation of the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, the five naval officers appointed to that position became admirals of the fleet. Recognizing the reduced post– Cold War size of the British Armed Forces, no further appointments were made to the rank after 1995 when Sir Benjamin Bathurst was appointed admiral of the fleet on his retirement as First Sea Lord. The rank was not abolished and in 2012
660-491: The frigate HMS Forte , in May 1860. During the sea passage out to this station he was accused of developing a relationship with Lady Grey , the wife of Sir George Grey , the Governor of Cape Colony , and was hastily transferred to become Commander-in-Chief, South East Coast of America Station instead. Promoted to vice admiral on 11 January 1864, Keppel went on to be Commander-in-Chief, China Station , with his flag in
693-562: The full admirals were nominally equals, tradition gave precedence to the Admiral of the White who held the fleet rank in addition to his substantive role. The Restoration era brought a general reorganisation of naval ranks and structure, including formalisation of the admiral of the fleet role. In a break with tradition the rank was awarded to the most senior Admiral of the Red, who retained this substantive rank while also serving as Admiral of
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#1732790191015726-532: The liberal forces of Maria Christina , the Regent of Spain at the time of the minority of Isabella II , who had faced a revolt by Carlos, Count of Molina . He was then engaged with the West Africa Squadron in operations to suppress the slave trade . Promoted to captain on 5 December 1837, Keppel became commanding officer of the corvette HMS Dido on the East Indies and China Station and
759-528: The release of an English prisoner, James Summers , having been rebuffed, he led a rescue party to make an assault on the gaol where Summers was being held. The raid was successful but a Portuguese soldier, Roque Barrache, died in the skirmish, three others were injured, and the daughter of a gaoler fell 20 feet to the ground, suffering severe injuries. The Queen of Portugal was appalled at Britain's affront to her de facto sovereignty over Macao and tempers cooled only after an apology proffered and reparations made by
792-571: The second-rate HMS Rodney , in January 1867. Promoted to full admiral on 12 July 1869 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 20 May 1871, he took up his last command when he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in November 1872. Keppel was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 5 August 1877, appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the Queen on 9 March 1878 and retired in June 1879. In 1883 he bought Grove Lodge,
825-480: The ship. He then transferred his pennant to the sixth-rate HMS Alligator . After commandeering the chartered steamer Hong Kong , he commanded the British squadron, which consisted of the Hong Kong and seven gun boats, in the action with Chinese pirates at the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857 when he sank around 100 enemy war-junks . For his part in this action Keppel was advanced to Knight Commander of
858-552: The two World Wars a number of serving officers held active commissions as admirals of the fleet, as well as the First Sea Lord—e.g. Sir John Tovey . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was created an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1954, following the coronation of his wife Elizabeth II as Queen. This promotion was to a New Zealand rank, separate from the Royal Navy rank. Following
891-469: Was a Seringapatam -class sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy . Her service included the suppression of piracy, the Crimean War , and support for the suppression of slavery with the West Africa Squadron . She was wrecked in a gale in 1870. Maeander was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 5 May 1840. From 1 November 1847 to 1851 her captain was Henry Keppel . Maeander served in
924-545: Was born to William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle , and Elizabeth Southwell Keppel, daughter of Edward Southwell, 20th Baron de Clifford . He joined the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth as a cadet in February 1822, and was appointed a midshipman in the sixth-rate HMS Tweed on the Cape of Good Hope Station . Promoted to lieutenant on 28 January 1829, he transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Galatea on
957-416: Was deployed in operations during the First Opium War and in operations against Borneo pirates. He went on to commanding officer of the fifth-rate HMS Maeander in November 1847 and was again deployed in operations against Borneo pirates. Keppel was the cause of a tense diplomatic stand-off between Portugal and Britain in 1849 when, as captain of HMS Maeander , his request to the Governor of Macao for
990-547: Was discovered by her husband Sir George Grey in 1860, and this, together with accusations of infidelity against Sir George Grey, led to the breakdown of their marriage. Keppel married Jane Elizabeth West, daughter of Martin John West on 31 October 1861. By his second wife, he had one son, Colin Richard Keppel , and one daughter, Maria Walpole Keppel, who married Admiral Sir Frederick Tower Hamilton . Keppel Harbour ,
1023-438: Was mentally ill and had not served at sea for forty-five years. In deference to Gosselin's seniority the position was instead left vacant until his death in 1857, whereupon it was filled by Admiral Charles Ogle . The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, though the rank of admiral of the fleet was maintained. The title of First Naval Lord was renamed First Sea Lord in 1904. During
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1056-760: Was reduced to ten guns as part of her conversion into a storeship. She then joined the West Africa Squadron at Ascension Island as a replacement for Tortoise . From 1 November 1859 to July 1861 Maeander was under the command of Captain William Farquharson Burnett . On 23 February 1861 Captain Frederick Lamport Barnard took command. From 24 December 1864 to January 1866 her commander was Captain Joseph Grant Bickford. In July 1870 Maeander
1089-509: Was wrecked in a gale in the South Atlantic Ocean off Ascension Island . Her remains are at a depth of 14 metres (46 feet) in position 07°54′45″S 14°24′24″W / 7.91250°S 14.40667°W / -7.91250; -14.40667 , bows on to the shore. She lies on her port side and has opened up. Timber , copper sheathing , knees supporting her gun deck, and her tiller have been located. A memorial tablet to
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