Keyes, Roger John Brownlow (1872-1945)

English admiral and politician who, as commander of the Dover Patrol during World War I, directed the daring raids on the German-occupied Belgian Channel ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend. He retired from the navy in 1935, having been elected Unionist MP for Portsmouth North, a constituency he represented until he was made a peer in 1943.

Keyes was born in India, joined the navy as a cadet in 1885. During the anti-Western Boxer rebellion of 1900 in China he captained a destroyer, and was promoted commander for his part in capturing the Taku forts and taking Beijing. When war broke out in 1914, he was in charge of the submarine service, but soon moved to direct surface operations, notably naval support for the Gallipoli campaign in 1915-16. After the war, he held a number of senior positions (including admiral of the fleet) both at sea and in the Admiralty. He briefly returned to active service during World War II as a naval attaché, and to oversee the training of commando units. His books include Naval Memoirs, 1935, Adventures Ashore and Afloat, 1939, and Amphibious Warfare and Combined Operations, 1943.