Roger Keyes was born on 4 October 1872 in India,
where he grew up among the blaring bugles and parade
ground noises of the North West frontier. As a small
boy he told his parents “I am going to be an Admiral”
He joined the Royal Navy in 1885 and in 1900 was promoted
to Commander for his bold action during the Boxer
Rebellion in China. As Commodore in charge of submarines
(1910 -1914) he was partly responsible for the British
victory in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August
1914. In 1915 he was chief of staff for the unsuccessful
Dardanelles expedition.
In 1917 he was appointed to the command of the
Dover
Patrol. Keyes began to prepare operations for
the blocking of the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend.
On the first attempt, the mission to
Zeebrugge
was a success but the Ostend blockships ran aground
before reaching their objective. Two weeks later Keyes
sent HMS ‘Vindictive’ to Ostend, where its volunteer
crew sank the ship in the harbour entrance.
