William Ruck-Keene

William George Elmhirst Ruck-Keene MVO (30 January 1867 – 30 January 1935) was an Admiral of the Royal Navy. From 1896 to 1916, he commanded naval vessels, primarily armoured cruisers, with a three-year break during which he trained cadets at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. His final command, from 1916 to 1919, was as Captain of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. In 1918, Ruck-Keene was promoted to Rear-Admiral, and he retired in 1920. While on the Retired List, he received two additional promotions and attained the rank of full Admiral in 1927. Career Born in Henley-on-Thames, Ruck-Keene was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Ruck-Keene. His father was a descendant of Edmund Keene (1714–1781), who served as the Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and later the Bishop of Ely. His great-grandfather, the barrister Benjamin Keene (1753–1837), married Mary Ruck in 1780, and about 1837 his grandfather, the Rev. Charles Edmund Keene, changed the family name to Ruck-Keene by royal licence. His father was the eldest of six brothers. The young Ruck-Keene was educated at Stubbington House School, known at the time as "the cradle of the Navy", from where he entered the Royal Navy as a Midshipman. On 1 July 1890 he was posted to the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert and in August was promoted to Lieutenant. On 8 July 1896 he was appointed Flag Lieutenant to Vice-Admiral Edward Seymour for Annual Manœuvres and in August 1896 was given his first command, HMS Opossum, a newly launched Sunfish-class destroyer. He was promoted to Commander on 6 November 1901 and was given a series of short-lasting commands of destroyers. On 12 March 1903 he was posted to take command of the elderly ironclad battleship HMS Superb, and on the same day was also appointed as Executive Officer at the nascent Royal Naval College, Osborne, which opened in the late summer.