Keppel

Keppel, AUGUSTUS, VISCOUNT, English admiral, was the son of William, second Earl of Albemarle, and was born on 2d April 1725. Entering the navy, he served under Hawk in 1757, captured Goree in 1758, took part in the battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, and in the capture of Belleisle in 1761, and commanded at the capture of Havana in 1762. In 1778 he encountered the French fleet off Ushant on 27th July; a sharp but indecisive action ensued; but owing to a disagreement between Keppel and Sir Hugh Palliser, his second in command, the French were suffered to escape without a renewal of the combat. Both admirals were brought before a court-martial, but both were acquitted. The affair made a great stir in the country, the popular verdict being on the side of Keppel. In 1782, in which year he was created Viscount Keppel of Elveden in Suffolk, he became First Lord of the Admiralty, but resigned on Pitt's accession to government. Keppel died, unmarried, on 3d October 1786. See Life by T. Keppel (1842).