Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes

The Lord Keyes
Vice Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, 1918
Member of the House of Lords
as Baron Keyes
In office
22 January 1943 – 26 December 1945
Preceded byPeerage created
Succeeded byRoger George Bowlby Keyes
Member of Parliament
for Portsmouth North
In office
19 February 1934 – 22 January 1943
Preceded bySir Bertram Falle
Succeeded bySir William James
Personal details
Born(1872-10-04)4 October 1872
Punjab, British India
Died26 December 1945(1945-12-26) (aged 73)
Tingewick, United Kingdom
Resting placeSt James's Cemetery, Dover
Political partyConservative
RelationsSir Charles Patton Keyes (father)
Geoffrey Keyes (son)
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceRoyal Navy
Years of service1885–1935
1940–1941
RankAdmiral of the Fleet
CommandsHMS Opossum (1898–99)
HMS Hart (1899–1900)
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)
Battle Cruiser Force (1919)
Battlecruiser Squadron) (1919–21)
Atlantic Fleet (1919–21)
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet (1925–28)
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth (1929–31)
Director of Combined Operations (1940–41)
Battles/warsBoxer Rebellion
First World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of 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 British naval 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 them.

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. He was elected to Parliament in 1934. During the Second World War he initially became liaison officer to Leopold III, King of the Belgians. Wearing full uniform in the House of Commons, he played an important role in the Norway Debate which led to the resignation of Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister. 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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