Francis William Kennedy

{{Short description|Royal Navy admiral}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox military person

|name= Francis William Kennedy

|image=

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|birth_date= {{birth date|1862|12|15|df=yes}}

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|death_date= {{death date and age|1939|07|11|1862|12|15|df=yes}}

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|allegiance= United Kingdom

|branch= Royal Navy

|serviceyears= 1876–1920

|rank= Admiral

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|commands= {{HMS|Indomitable|1907|6}}

|battles= Anglo-Egyptian War
Benin Expedition of 1897
First World War

|awards= Companion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches (5)
Order of Saint Anna, 2nd Class (Russia)

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Admiral Francis William Kennedy, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|CB}} (15 December 1862 – 11 July 1939) was a Royal Navy officer.{{Cite news |date=12 July 1939 |title=Admiral F. W. Kennedy |pages=16 |work=The Times}}{{Cite news |date=12 July 1939 |title=Adml. F. W. Kennedy |pages=19 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{Cite web|title=Francis William Kennedy|url=http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Francis_William_Kennedy|website=The Dreadnought Project}}

The son of Robert Kennedy, Lord Lieutenant of Kildare, he entered the Royal Navy in January 1876. He participated in the Anglo-Egyptian War and punitive expeditions in Africa.

Kennedy assumed command of the battlecruiser {{HMS|Indomitable|1907|6}} in 1912. He participated in the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau in 1914 and the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

A West African flag he brought back from the Benin Expedition of 1897 is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in London,{{cite web|title=West African flag|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-557|access-date=1 December 2021|work=Royal Museums Greenwich}} as is a personal flag of Itsekiri chief and trader Nana Olumu.{{cite web|title=Personal flag of Nana Olomu|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-455|access-date=18 August 2022|work=Royal Museums Greenwich}}