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Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes

Admiral of the Fleet the Right Honourable
The Lord Keyes
GCB, KCVO, CMG, DSO
Sir Roger Keyes.jpg
Vice Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, 1918
Member of the House of Lords
as Baron Keyes
In office
22 January 1943 – 26 December 1945
Preceded by Peerage created
Succeeded by Roger George Bowlby Keyes
Member of Parliament
for Portsmouth North
In office
19 February 1934 – 22 January 1943
Preceded by Sir Bertram Falle
Succeeded by Sir William James
Personal details
Born (1872-10-04)4 October 1872
Punjab, British India
Died 26 December 1945(1945-12-26) (aged 73)
Tingewick, United Kingdom
Political party Conservative
Relations Sir Charles Patton Keyes (father)
Geoffrey Keyes (son)
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1885–1935
1940–1941
Rank Admiral of the Fleet
Commands HMS Opossum (1898–99)
HMS Hart (1899–00)
HMS Fame (1900–01)
HMS Bat (1901)
HMS Falcon (1902)
HMS Sprightly (1902)
HMS Venus (1908–10)
Commodore-in-Charge, Submarine Service (1912–14)
HMS Centurion (1916–17)
Dover Patrol (1917–18)
Battlecruiser Squadron, Atlantic Fleet (1919–21)
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet (1925–28)
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth (1929–31)
Director of Combined Operations (1940–41)
Battles/wars Boxer Rising
First World War
Second World War
Awards Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order

Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, GCB, KCVO, CMG, DSO (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Early in the Boxer Rebellion, he led a mission to capture a flotilla of four Chinese destroyers moored to a wharf on the Peiho River. He was one of the first men to climb over the Peking walls, to break through to the besieged diplomatic legations and to free the legations.

During the First World War Keyes was heavily involved in the organisation of the Dardanelles Campaign. Keyes took charge in an operation when six trawlers and a cruiser attempted to clear the Kephez minefield. The operation was a failure, as the Turkish mobile artillery pieces bombarded Keyes' minesweeping squadron. He went on to be Director of Plans at the Admiralty and then took command of the Dover Patrol: he altered tactics and the Dover Patrol sank five U-Boats in the first month after implementation of Keyes' plan compared with just two in the previous two years. He also planned and led the famous raids on the German submarine pens in the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend.

Between the wars Keyes commanded the Battlecruiser Squadron, the Atlantic Fleet and then the Mediterranean Fleet before becoming Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. During the Second World War he initially became liaison officer to Leopold III, King of the Belgians. He went on to be the first Director of Combined Operations and implemented plans for the training of commandos and raids on hostile coasts.


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