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, mostly armoured cruisers, with a break of three years spent training 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. He was promoted twice more whilst on the Retired List and became a full Admiral in 1927. Born at Henley on Thames, Ruck-Keene was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Ruck-Keene, a descendant of Edmund Keene (1714–1781), Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and 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. Ruck-Keene's command of "Superb" ended on 1 August 1903, leaving him free to take up his duties at the new officer cadet training college when it opened at the beginning of September. He was promoted to Captain on 30 June 1906 and in January 1907 took command of HMS "Bacchante", an armoured cruiser, and was also made Flag Captain to Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Barry of the 6th Cruiser Squadron, remaining as Flag Captain to Admiral Sir Henry Jackson when he took over the squadron from Barry in 1908.