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{{Short description|Royal Navy admiral}} |
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{{Infobox military person |
{{Infobox military person |
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| honorific_prefix = Admiral |
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|name= Sir Colin Richard Keppel |
| name = Sir Colin Richard Keppel |
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|image= CommodoreColinRichardKeppel.jpg |
| image = CommodoreColinRichardKeppel.jpg |
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|caption= Commodore Colin Keppel, taken at the inspection of the fleet off Cowes 1907 |
| caption = Commodore Colin Keppel, taken at the inspection of the fleet off Cowes 1907 |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1862|12|03|df=yes}} |
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|birth_place= |
| birth_place = |
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|death_place= [[Winkfield]], Berkshire |
| death_place = [[Winkfield]], Berkshire |
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|nickname= |
| nickname = |
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|allegiance= United Kingdom |
| allegiance = United Kingdom |
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|branch= [[Royal Navy]] |
| branch = [[Royal Navy]] |
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|serviceyears= 1875–1913 |
| serviceyears = 1875–1913 |
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|rank= [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] |
| rank = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] |
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|unit= |
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| unit = |
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|commands= [[Royal Yacht Squadron|Rear Admiral Commanding HM Yachts]] (1905–09)<br/>[[HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)|HMY ''Victoria and Albert'']] (1905)<br/>{{HMS|Implacable|1899|6}} (1904–05)<br/>{{HMS|Grafton|1892|6}} (1901–03)<br/>{{HMS|Warspite|1884|6}} (1900–01)<br/>{{HMS|Rainbow|1891|6}} (1900)<br/>{{HMS|Harrier|1894|6}} (1897)<br/>{{HMS|Skipjack||6}} (1896–97) |
| commands = [[Royal Yacht Squadron|Rear Admiral Commanding HM Yachts]] (1905–09)<br/>[[HMY Victoria and Albert (1899)|HMY ''Victoria and Albert'']] (1905)<br/>{{HMS|Implacable|1899|6}} (1904–05)<br/>{{HMS|Grafton|1892|6}} (1901–03)<br/>{{HMS|Warspite|1884|6}} (1900–01)<br/>{{HMS|Rainbow|1891|6}} (1900)<br/>{{HMS|Harrier|1894|6}} (1897)<br/>{{HMS|Skipjack||6}} (1896–97) |
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|battles= [[Mahdist War]] |
| battles = [[Mahdist War]] |
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|awards= [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]<br/>[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]<br/> |
| awards = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]<br/>[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]<br/>Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Order of Saint Stanislaus|Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class]] (Russia)<br/>[[Order of the Red Eagle|Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class]] (Prussian Empire) |
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[[Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]] (Kingdom of Italy) |
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| spouse = Mary Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell |
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}} |
}} |
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[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''Sir Colin Richard Keppel''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCVO|KCIE|CB|DSO}} (3 December 1862 – 6 July 1947)<ref name |
[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''Sir Colin Richard Keppel''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCVO|KCIE|CB|DSO}} (3 December 1862 – 6 July 1947)<ref name=ThePeerage>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p8343.htm#i83428|title=ThePeerage: Admiral Sir Colin Richard Keppel|accessdate=16 December 2006}}</ref> was a British sailor and [[Extra Equerry]] to four kings. |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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He was the son of Admiral [[Henry Keppel|Sir Henry Keppel]], younger son of [[William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle]], and his second wife Jane Elizabeth West, daughter of Martin John West.<ref name = Armorial>{{cite book | last = Fox-Davies | first = Arthur Charles | title = Armorial Families | location = London | publisher = Hurst & Blackett | volume = |
He was the son of Admiral [[Henry Keppel|Sir Henry Keppel]], younger son of [[William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle]], and his second wife Jane Elizabeth West, daughter of Martin John West.<ref name = Armorial>{{cite book | last = Fox-Davies | first = Arthur Charles | title = Armorial Families | location = London | publisher = Hurst & Blackett | volume = II | year = 1929 | pages = 1092 }}</ref> His paternal uncles were [[Augustus Keppel, 5th Earl of Albemarle]] and [[George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle]], his maternal uncle was [[Algernon Edward West|Sir Algernon Edward West]].<ref name = ThePeerage/> He was educated at [[Temple Grove]] and entered the Royal Navy as cadet on the training ship [[HMS Britannia (1820)|HMS ''Britannia'']] in 1875.<ref name = AIM25>{{cite web | url = http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=537&inst_id=21&nv1=search&nv2= | title = AIM25 – KEPPEL, Adm Sir Colin (Richard) (1862–1947) | accessdate =26 July 2009 }}</ref> |
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==Naval career== |
==Naval career== |
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===Early years=== |
===Early years=== |
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Keppel served on [[HMS Sultan (1870)|HMS ''Sultan'']] in the [[British Mediterranean Fleet]] until 1878 and was then transferred as midshipman to [[HMS Black Prince (1861)|HMS ''Black Prince'']], the world's second ship with an iron hull.<ref name = AIM25/> He was aboard on [[HMS Wolverine (1863)|HMS'' Wolverine'']] in [[Sydney]] in the next year and was with [[HMS Inconstant (1868)|HMS ''Inconstant'']] in Asia until 1882.<ref name = AIM25/> |
Keppel served on [[HMS Sultan (1870)|HMS ''Sultan'']] in the [[British Mediterranean Fleet]] until 1878 and was then transferred as midshipman to [[HMS Black Prince (1861)|HMS ''Black Prince'']], the world's second ship with an iron hull.<ref name = AIM25/> He was aboard on [[HMS Wolverine (1863)|HMS'' Wolverine'']] in [[Sydney]] in the next year and was with [[HMS Inconstant (1868)|HMS ''Inconstant'']] in Asia until 1882.<ref name = AIM25/> Keppel served as midshipman on HMS ''Inconstant'' during the 1882 Egypt campaign. |
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At the time of the outbreak of the [[Mahdist War]], he moved to [[HMS Duke of Wellington (1852)|HMS ''Duke of Wellington'']], the Commander-in-Chief's flagship in Portsmouth, then to [[HMS Iris (1877)|HMS ''Iris'']], one of the first all steel ships, until 1884.<ref name="AIM25" /> |
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| ⚫ | In October |
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In December 1884 Keppel was appointed to the 2nd Division of the Naval Brigade under Sir Charles Beresford serving on the Nile for the relief of Khartoum. As such, he was with Beresford on the Nile paddle gunboat ''Safia'' which had to run upriver to rescue Sir Charles Wilson and the men with him from the wrecked gunboat ''Talahawijeh'' and the ''Bordein'', the latter having grounded on Mernat island during its return run (under fire) from Khartoum. It was during this journey that Wilson had established that Khartoum had fallen to the Mahdi and that, in all probability, Gordon was already dead.<ref>Official History; Sir Charles Wilson "Korti to Khartoum"</ref> |
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Keppel was slightly wounded in the successful but dangerous and arduous attempt to rescue Wilson and his men and get them back to the British base at Metemma; he was highly commended for his conduct and promoted to lieutenant. (Beresford : "I consider that we owe our safety on the steamer, as well as the safety of Sir C. Wilson and his party, who undoubtedly would have been killed if the steamer had been destroyed, to the untiring energy of Sub-Lieut. Keppel.")<ref>Official History; Sir Charles Wilson "Korti to Khartoum".</ref> |
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A year later, Keppel was appointed equerry and flag lieutenant to [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] until 1893 and was then transferred to [[HMS Pearl (1890)|HMS ''Pearl'']].<ref name = AIM25/> He was with [[HMY Royal George|HMY ''Royal George'']] in Portsmouth until 1895, became afterwards commander and sailed with [[HMS Skipjack|HMS ''Skipjack'']] to Gibraltar and with the torpedo gunboat {{HMS|Harrier|1894|6}} to Crete in 1897.<ref name = AIM25/> |
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| ⚫ | In October 1897, on loan to the Egyptian Government, Keppel commanded three gunboats on the Nile, which were despatched from the town of [[Berber, Sudan|Berber]], recently captured by British forces commanded by [[Herbert Kitchener]], south to attack Metemmeh on the Nile, which was held by Dervishes.<ref name = Churchill/> At dawn on 16 October the ships attacked enemy troops at [[Shendi]], before shelling three forts on the bank of the Nile near Metammeh, capturing some ships loaded with grain and then retiring.<ref name = Churchill/> They returned the following day to discover the defences had been reinforced with more artillery, but continued the bombardment from beyond range of the enemy guns.<ref name = Churchill/> Estimated Arab losses were 500 men, with one Soudanese soldier being killed on one of the gunboats.<ref name = Churchill>{{cite book | author = Winston Churchill | author-link = Winston Churchill | title = [[The River War]] (Volume 1)| publisher = Longmans Green and Co. | year = 1899 | place = London | pages = 347–350 }}</ref> |
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Keppel eventually commanded the entire Nile gunboat flotilla and played a major part in the successful British advance along the Nile, leading to the overwhelming victory at Omdurman and the occupation of Khartoum in September 1898. As a reward for his service with the gunboats, Keppel was decorated with the [[Distinguished Service Order]] and appointed Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]].<ref name = Whitaker>{{cite book | title = Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companioage | publisher = J. Whitaker & Sons | year = 1923 | pages = 460 }}</ref> |
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At the end of the campaign (which took Khartoum in September 1898), Keppel was instrumental in helping to deal with the diplomatically tricky situation upriver at Fashoda, where a French expedition under Major J. B. Marchand had established itself on the Nile. The confrontation, the famous "Fashoda Crisis", briefly looked as if it might cause a war with France, but was successfully and amicably settled. |
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===Admiral=== |
===Admiral=== |
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Apart from the decorations he received for his services in [[Sudan]], Keppel received the thanks of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] in June 1899<ref name = "Who'sWho">{{cite book | title = Who is Who 1947 | publisher = Adam & Charles Black Ltd. | location = London | year = 1947 | pages = 1518 }}</ref> and became captain<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 27087 |page=3588 | date = 6 June 1899 }}</ref> commanding [[HMS Wildfire (1888)|HMS ''Wildfire'']].<ref name = AIM25/> Keppel was transferred to [[HMS Spartan (1891)|HMS ''Spartan'']] in the same year and to newly launched cruiser {{HMS|Rainbow|1891|6}} in 1900.<ref name = AIM25/> He subsequently commanded [[HMS Warspite (1884)|HMS ''Warspite'']], and when that ship was relieved as flagship on the [[Pacific Station]] by [[HMS Grafton (1892)|HMS ''Grafton'']] in March 1902, he transferred to ''Grafton'' as flag captain to [[Andrew Bickford|Sir Andrew Bickford]], Commander-in-Chief of that station.<ref name = AIM25/><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence|date=14 December 1901 |page=12 |issue=36638}}</ref> In 1905 he commanded the battleship [[HMS Implacable (1899)|HMS ''Implacable'']]<ref name = AIM25/> and was appointed [[Flag Officer, Royal Yachts|Commodore, Commanding Royal Yachts]].<ref name = Whitaker/> Keppel was awarded a Commander of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] in 1906 and,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 27918 |page=3843 | date = 1 June 1906 }}</ref> after being promoted to rear admiral in 1908,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28164 |page=5731 | date = 4 August 1908 }}</ref> he was advanced to a Knight Commander.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28151 |page=4644 | supp = y | date = 23 June 1908 }}</ref> He became second in command of the [[British Atlantic Fleet]] in 1909 and was first on [[HMS Albemarle (1901)|HMS ''Albemarle'']], later on [[HMS London (1899)|HMS ''London'']].<ref name = AIM25/> In 1911, he commanded [[RMS Medina (1911)|RMS ''Medina'']] in the squadron which took King George V and Queen Mary to India for their joint coronation as Emperor and Empress of India and as a result he was afterwards invested a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]].<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28559 |page=9631 | date = 8 December 1911 }}</ref> Keppel was promoted vice admiral in 1913,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28780 |page=9083 | date = 9 December 1913 }}</ref> retiring few days later.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue = 28783 |page=9338 | date = 19 December 1913 }}</ref> He was made a full admiral in 1917.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 30037 |page=3955 | date = 27 April 1917 }}</ref> Keppel received the 1st Class of the Russian [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (Imperial House of Romanov)|Order of St Stanislaus]] and the 2nd Class of the Prussian [[Order of the Red Eagle]].<ref name = Armorial/> |
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==Further career== |
==Further career== |
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Keppel served as [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[King Edward VII]] from 1907 until the following year and as Extra Equerry from 1909.<ref name = ThePeerage/> After the king's death in 1910, Keppel was Extra Equerry to his successor [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] until 1912.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28383 |page=4075 | date = 10 June 1910 }}</ref> Keppel was nominated [[Equerry-in-Ordinary]] in 1913,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28678 |page=37 | date = 3 January 1913 }}</ref> fulfilling this office for two years until his relinquishment in 1915, when he was again appointed Extra Equerry.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 29177 |page=5205 | date = 1 June 1915 }}</ref> Subsequently he held this post also to [[King Edward VIII]]<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 34306 |page=4664 | date = 20 July 1936 | supp = y }}</ref> and [[King George VI]] until 1937.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 34376 |page=1406 | date = 2 March 1937 }}</ref> |
Keppel served as [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[King Edward VII]] from 1907 until the following year and as Extra Equerry from 1909.<ref name = ThePeerage/> After the king's death in 1910, Keppel was Extra Equerry to his successor [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] until 1912.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28383 |page=4075 | date = 10 June 1910 }}</ref> Keppel was nominated [[Equerry-in-Ordinary]] in 1913,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 28678 |page=37 | date = 3 January 1913 }}</ref> fulfilling this office for two years until his relinquishment in 1915, when he was again appointed Extra Equerry.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 29177 |page=5205 | date = 1 June 1915 }}</ref> Subsequently, he held this post also to [[King Edward VIII]]<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 34306 |page=4664 | date = 20 July 1936 | supp = y }}</ref> and [[King George VI]] until 1937.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 34376 |page=1406 | date = 2 March 1937 }}</ref> |
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Keppel became [[Serjeant-at-Arms]] of the [[British House of Commons]] in 1915,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 29133 |page=3718 | date = 16 April 1915 }}</ref> resigning after twenty years.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 34203 |page=6136 | date = 1 October 1935 }}</ref> In 1929, he was appointed a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]].<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 33566 | supp = y |page=6 | date = 31 December 1929 }}</ref> |
Keppel became [[Serjeant-at-Arms]] of the [[British House of Commons]] in 1915,<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 29133 |page=3718 | date = 16 April 1915 }}</ref> resigning after twenty years.<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 34203 |page=6136 | date = 1 October 1935 }}</ref> In 1929, he was appointed a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]].<ref>{{ London Gazette | issue = 33566 | supp = y |page=6 | date = 31 December 1929 }}</ref> |
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==Family== |
==Family== |
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On 6 June 1889, he married Mary Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, daughter of Major General Richard Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, and had by her two daughters.<ref name = Armorial/> Marie, the older, |
On 6 June 1889, he married Mary Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, daughter of Major General Richard Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, and had by her two daughters.<ref name = Armorial/> Marie, the older, became the wife of Charles Marsham, 6th Earl of Romney, while her younger sister Melita married [[Maurice Hely-Hutchinson]].<ref name=Whitaker/> Keppel died at his country residence, Grove Lodge, at [[Winkfield]] Row in [[Berkshire]], aged 84 in 1947; his wife died ten years later. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Commons category|Colin Richard Keppel}} |
{{Commons category|Colin Richard Keppel}} |
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{{s-start}} |
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{{s-gov}} |
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{{s-bef|before=[[David Erskine (serjeant-at-arms)|Sir David Erskine]] }} |
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons|Serjeant-at-Arms<br/>of the House of Commons]]|years=1915–1935}} |
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{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Howard (serjeant-at-arms)|Sir Charles Howard]]}} |
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{{s-end}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keppel, Colin Richard}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keppel, Colin Richard}} |
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[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] |
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] |
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[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]] |
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]] |
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[[Category:Equerries]] |
[[Category:Equerries]] |
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[[Category:Keppel family|Colin Richard Keppel]] |
[[Category:Keppel family|Colin Richard Keppel]] |
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[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] |
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] |
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[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian)]] |
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian)]] |
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[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]] |
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[[Category:Royal Navy admirals of World War I]] |
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals of World War I]] |
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[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Mahdist War]] |
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Mahdist War]] |
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[[Category:People from Winkfield]] |
[[Category:People from Winkfield]] |
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[[Category:Serjeants at arms of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] |
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Latest revision as of 07:05, 16 August 2024
Admiral Sir Colin Richard Keppel | |
|---|---|
 Commodore Colin Keppel, taken at the inspection of the fleet off Cowes 1907 | |
| Born | 3 December 1862 |
| Died | 6 July 1947 (aged 84) Winkfield, Berkshire |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1875–1913 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | Rear Admiral Commanding HM Yachts (1905–09) HMY Victoria and Albert (1905) HMS Implacable (1904–05) HMS Grafton (1901–03) HMS Warspite (1900–01) HMS Rainbow (1900) HMS Harrier (1897) HMS Skipjack (1896–97) |
| Battles / wars | Mahdist War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class (Russia) Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class (Prussian Empire) Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Kingdom of Italy) |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell |
Admiral Sir Colin Richard Keppel GCVO, KCIE, CB, DSO (3 December 1862 – 6 July 1947)[1] was a British sailor and Extra Equerry to four kings.
Background
[edit]He was the son of Admiral Sir Henry Keppel, younger son of William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle, and his second wife Jane Elizabeth West, daughter of Martin John West.[2] His paternal uncles were Augustus Keppel, 5th Earl of Albemarle and George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle, his maternal uncle was Sir Algernon Edward West.[1] He was educated at Temple Grove and entered the Royal Navy as cadet on the training ship HMS Britannia in 1875.[3]
Naval career
[edit]
Early years
[edit]Keppel served on HMS Sultan in the British Mediterranean Fleet until 1878 and was then transferred as midshipman to HMS Black Prince, the world's second ship with an iron hull.[3] He was aboard on HMS Wolverine in Sydney in the next year and was with HMS Inconstant in Asia until 1882.[3] Keppel served as midshipman on HMS Inconstant during the 1882 Egypt campaign.
At the time of the outbreak of the Mahdist War, he moved to HMS Duke of Wellington, the Commander-in-Chief's flagship in Portsmouth, then to HMS Iris, one of the first all steel ships, until 1884.[3]
In December 1884 Keppel was appointed to the 2nd Division of the Naval Brigade under Sir Charles Beresford serving on the Nile for the relief of Khartoum. As such, he was with Beresford on the Nile paddle gunboat Safia which had to run upriver to rescue Sir Charles Wilson and the men with him from the wrecked gunboat Talahawijeh and the Bordein, the latter having grounded on Mernat island during its return run (under fire) from Khartoum. It was during this journey that Wilson had established that Khartoum had fallen to the Mahdi and that, in all probability, Gordon was already dead.[4]
Keppel was slightly wounded in the successful but dangerous and arduous attempt to rescue Wilson and his men and get them back to the British base at Metemma; he was highly commended for his conduct and promoted to lieutenant. (Beresford : "I consider that we owe our safety on the steamer, as well as the safety of Sir C. Wilson and his party, who undoubtedly would have been killed if the steamer had been destroyed, to the untiring energy of Sub-Lieut. Keppel.")[5]
A year later, Keppel was appointed equerry and flag lieutenant to Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha until 1893 and was then transferred to HMS Pearl.[3] He was with HMY Royal George in Portsmouth until 1895, became afterwards commander and sailed with HMS Skipjack to Gibraltar and with the torpedo gunboat HMS Harrier to Crete in 1897.[3]
On the Nile Again
[edit]In October 1897, on loan to the Egyptian Government, Keppel commanded three gunboats on the Nile, which were despatched from the town of Berber, recently captured by British forces commanded by Herbert Kitchener, south to attack Metemmeh on the Nile, which was held by Dervishes.[6] At dawn on 16 October the ships attacked enemy troops at Shendi, before shelling three forts on the bank of the Nile near Metammeh, capturing some ships loaded with grain and then retiring.[6] They returned the following day to discover the defences had been reinforced with more artillery, but continued the bombardment from beyond range of the enemy guns.[6] Estimated Arab losses were 500 men, with one Soudanese soldier being killed on one of the gunboats.[6]
Keppel eventually commanded the entire Nile gunboat flotilla and played a major part in the successful British advance along the Nile, leading to the overwhelming victory at Omdurman and the occupation of Khartoum in September 1898. As a reward for his service with the gunboats, Keppel was decorated with the Distinguished Service Order and appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath.[7]
At the end of the campaign (which took Khartoum in September 1898), Keppel was instrumental in helping to deal with the diplomatically tricky situation upriver at Fashoda, where a French expedition under Major J. B. Marchand had established itself on the Nile. The confrontation, the famous "Fashoda Crisis", briefly looked as if it might cause a war with France, but was successfully and amicably settled.
Admiral
[edit]Apart from the decorations he received for his services in Sudan, Keppel received the thanks of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in June 1899[8] and became captain[9] commanding HMS Wildfire.[3] Keppel was transferred to HMS Spartan in the same year and to newly launched cruiser HMS Rainbow in 1900.[3] He subsequently commanded HMS Warspite, and when that ship was relieved as flagship on the Pacific Station by HMS Grafton in March 1902, he transferred to Grafton as flag captain to Sir Andrew Bickford, Commander-in-Chief of that station.[3][10] In 1905 he commanded the battleship HMS Implacable[3] and was appointed Commodore, Commanding Royal Yachts.[7] Keppel was awarded a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1906 and,[11] after being promoted to rear admiral in 1908,[12] he was advanced to a Knight Commander.[13] He became second in command of the British Atlantic Fleet in 1909 and was first on HMS Albemarle, later on HMS London.[3] In 1911, he commanded RMS Medina in the squadron which took King George V and Queen Mary to India for their joint coronation as Emperor and Empress of India and as a result he was afterwards invested a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire.[14] Keppel was promoted vice admiral in 1913,[15] retiring few days later.[16] He was made a full admiral in 1917.[17] Keppel received the 1st Class of the Russian Order of St Stanislaus and the 2nd Class of the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle.[2]
Further career
[edit]Keppel served as Aide-de-Camp to King Edward VII from 1907 until the following year and as Extra Equerry from 1909.[1] After the king's death in 1910, Keppel was Extra Equerry to his successor King George V until 1912.[18] Keppel was nominated Equerry-in-Ordinary in 1913,[19] fulfilling this office for two years until his relinquishment in 1915, when he was again appointed Extra Equerry.[20] Subsequently, he held this post also to King Edward VIII[21] and King George VI until 1937.[22]
Keppel became Serjeant-at-Arms of the British House of Commons in 1915,[23] resigning after twenty years.[24] In 1929, he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.[25]
Family
[edit]On 6 June 1889, he married Mary Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, daughter of Major General Richard Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, and had by her two daughters.[2] Marie, the older, became the wife of Charles Marsham, 6th Earl of Romney, while her younger sister Melita married Maurice Hely-Hutchinson.[7] Keppel died at his country residence, Grove Lodge, at Winkfield Row in Berkshire, aged 84 in 1947; his wife died ten years later.
References
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Colin Richard Keppel.
- ^ a b c "ThePeerage: Admiral Sir Colin Richard Keppel". Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ a b c Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929). Armorial Families. Vol. II. London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 1092.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "AIM25 – KEPPEL, Adm Sir Colin (Richard) (1862–1947)". Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ Official History; Sir Charles Wilson "Korti to Khartoum"
- ^ Official History; Sir Charles Wilson "Korti to Khartoum".
- ^ a b c d Winston Churchill (1899). The River War (Volume 1). London: Longmans Green and Co. pp. 347–350.
- ^ a b c Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companioage. J. Whitaker & Sons. 1923. p. 460.
- ^ Who is Who 1947. London: Adam & Charles Black Ltd. 1947. p. 1518.
- ^ "No. 27087". The London Gazette. 6 June 1899. p. 3588.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36638. London. 14 December 1901. p. 12.
- ^ "No. 27918". The London Gazette. 1 June 1906. p. 3843.
- ^ "No. 28164". The London Gazette. 4 August 1908. p. 5731.
- ^ "No. 28151". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 June 1908. p. 4644.
- ^ "No. 28559". The London Gazette. 8 December 1911. p. 9631.
- ^ "No. 28780". The London Gazette. 9 December 1913. p. 9083.
- ^ "No. 28783". The London Gazette. 19 December 1913. p. 9338.
- ^ "No. 30037". The London Gazette. 27 April 1917. p. 3955.
- ^ "No. 28383". The London Gazette. 10 June 1910. p. 4075.
- ^ "No. 28678". The London Gazette. 3 January 1913. p. 37.
- ^ "No. 29177". The London Gazette. 1 June 1915. p. 5205.
- ^ "No. 34306". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 July 1936. p. 4664.
- ^ "No. 34376". The London Gazette. 2 March 1937. p. 1406.
- ^ "No. 29133". The London Gazette. 16 April 1915. p. 3718.
- ^ "No. 34203". The London Gazette. 1 October 1935. p. 6136.
- ^ "No. 33566". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1929. p. 6.
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