Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel


Viscount Keppel

Keppel, 1749, Joshua Reynolds's first painting of him,
produced on Menorca
Born25 April 1725
Died2 October 1786(1786-10-02) (aged 61)
AllegianceKingdom of Great Britain
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1735–1786
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Wolf
HMS Greyhound
HMS Sapphire
HMS Maidstone
HMS Anson
HMS Centurion
Mediterranean Fleet
North American Station
HMS Swiftsure
HMS Torbay
HMS Valiant
Jamaica Station
Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
Channel Fleet
First Lord of the Admiralty
Battles/wars

Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, PC (25 April 1725 – 2 October 1786) was a British 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 and Palliser facing courts martial, which acquitted both of them. During the final years of the American Revolutionary War Keppel served as First Lord of the Admiralty.


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