Augustus Keppel. Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, was a Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1755 to 1782.
He saw action in command of various ships, including the fourth-rate Maidstone, during the War of the Austrian Succession. He went on to serve as Commodore on the North American Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station during the Seven Years' War.
After that he served as Senior Naval Lord and then Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet. During the American Revolutionary War Keppel came into a notorious dispute with Sir Hugh Palliser over Palliser's conduct as his second-in-command at the inconclusive Battle of Ushant in July 1778; the dispute led to Keppel being court-martialled, although he was subsequently acquitted.
During the final years of the American Revolutionary War Keppel served as First Lord of the Admiralty. A member of a leading Whig aristocratic family, Augustus Keppel was the second son of Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle and, Anne van Keppel, a daughter of the 1st Duke of Richmond.
Educated briefly at Westminster School, Keppel went to sea at the age of ten, and had already five years of service to his credit when he was appointed to Centurion and sent with Lord Anson round the world in 1740. He had a very narrow escape from being killed at the capture of Paita and was promoted to acting lieutenant in March
He saw action in command of various ships, including the fourth-rate Maidstone, during the War of the Austrian Succession. He went on to serve as Commodore on the North American Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station during the Seven Years' War.
After that he served as Senior Naval Lord and then Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet. During the American Revolutionary War Keppel came into a notorious dispute with Sir Hugh Palliser over Palliser's conduct as his second-in-command at the inconclusive Battle of Ushant in July 1778; the dispute led to Keppel being court-martialled, although he was subsequently acquitted.
During the final years of the American Revolutionary War Keppel served as First Lord of the Admiralty. A member of a leading Whig aristocratic family, Augustus Keppel was the second son of Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle and, Anne van Keppel, a daughter of the 1st Duke of Richmond.
Educated briefly at Westminster School, Keppel went to sea at the age of ten, and had already five years of service to his credit when he was appointed to Centurion and sent with Lord Anson round the world in 1740. He had a very narrow escape from being killed at the capture of Paita and was promoted to acting lieutenant in March
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