page_title: John Kelly (Royal Navy officer)
section_title: Post war
hierarchical_section_title: John Kelly (Royal Navy officer) / Naval career / Post war
caption_attribution_description: English: Greenham Hall
context_page_description: Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Donald Kelly GCB, GCVO was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Dublin which came close to intercepting the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben. After the War he took charge of a naval force dispatched to strengthen the Mediterranean Fleet during the Chanak Crisis. After serving as Fourth Sea Lord and then commander of the 1st Battle Squadron, Kelly, known for his skill in personnel matters, was asked to take command of the Atlantic Fleet in the aftermath of the Invergordon Mutiny. He rapidly restored discipline and issued a report which was quite critical of the Admiralty Board's handling of the pay cuts issue in the first place. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
context_section_description: Kelly became Director of Operations at the Admiralty in July 1919 and acquired Greenham Hall at Wellington in Somerset for use as a country home in 1920. He was appointed a naval aide-de-camp to the King on 21 March 1921. Promoted to rear admiral on 21 November 1921, he became commander of the 4th Battle Squadron in July 1922 and took charge of a naval force dispatched to strengthen the Mediterranean Fleet during the Chanak Crisis in September 1922.
  Kelly became Fourth Sea Lord in April 1924 and, having been promoted to vice-admiral on 25 October 1926, became commander of the 1st Battle Squadron and second-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet with his flag in the battleship HMS Warspite in April 1927. He became the admiral commanding the reserves in August 1929 and was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 3 June 1929 before being promoted to full admiral on 12 December 1930. In September 1931 the National Government led by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald decided to reduce the wages of all public sector employees: the wage reduction in the Royal Navy was particularly severe and led directly to the Invergordon Mutiny later that month. In the aftermath of the mutiny Kelly, known for his skill in personnel matters, was asked to take command of the Atlantic Fleet in October 1931. He insisted that the mutineers be transferred out of the fleet and his fleet be renamed the Home Fleet before he took up his new command flying his flag in the battleship HMS Nelson. He rapidly restored discipline and issued a report which was quite critical of the Admiralty Board's handling of the pay cuts issue in the first place.
  Kelly was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order on 13 July 1932 and also First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp on 31 July 1934. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in January 1935, was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 3 June 1935 and attended the funeral of King George V in January 1936. Promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 12 July 1936, Kelly died at a nursing home at Marylebone in London on 4 November 1936 and was buried at sea at a ceremony on board the cruiser HMS Curacoa on 7 November 1936. The destroyer HMS Kelly was named after him.
caption: Greenham Hall, Kelly's home in Somerset
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