Marcel Kelsey

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox military person

| honorific_prefix = Vice-Admiral

| name = Marcel Kelsey

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|DSC}}

| birth_date = 21 February 1894

| death_date = {{death-date and age|27 August 1964|21 February 1894}}

| birth_place =

| death_place =

| image =

| caption =

| nickname =

| allegiance = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom

| serviceyears =

| rank = Vice Admiral

| branch = 23px Royal Navy

| commands = HMS Naiad
HMS Warspite
Malta Dockyard

| unit =

| battles = World War I
World War II

| awards = Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Cross

| laterwork =

}}

Vice Admiral Marcel Harcourt Attwood Kelsey CB, DSC (21 February 1894 – 27 August 1964) was a Royal Navy officer who became Flag Officer, Malta.

Naval career

Kelsey joined the Royal Navy in September 1911 and served in the First World War.{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersK.html|title=Marcel Kelsey|publisher=Unit Histories|accessdate=7 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318044852/http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersK.html|archive-date=18 March 2015|url-status=dead}} Promoted to captain on 31 December 1936, Kelsey became deputy director of Personal Services at the Admiralty in September 1937.{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf |title=Senior Royal Navy appointments |accessdate=7 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315105247/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf |archivedate=15 March 2012 }} He served in the Second World War becoming commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Naiad in April 1940, Commodore-in-Charge, Freetown in April 1942 and commanding officer of the battleship HMS Warspite in March 1944.{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/ROYAL%20NAVY%20WARSHIPS.pdf |title=Captains commanding Royal Navy warships |accessdate=7 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714184102/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/ROYAL%20NAVY%20WARSHIPS.pdf |archivedate=14 July 2015 }} As captain of HMS Warspite he led the bombardment squadron during Operation Infatuate, an Anglo-Canadian operation to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints.{{cite web|url=http://www.combinedops.com/Walcheren.htm|title=Operation Infatuate|publisher=Combined Operations|accessdate=7 February 2015}} He went on to be Commodore, Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham in January 1945.

After the War he became Flag Officer, Malta in June 1946.

References