Henry Kellett

Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was an Irish naval officer and explorer.

Career

Born at Clonacody in County Tipperary, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three years in the West Indies and then served on survey vessels under William Fitzwilliam Owen in Africa, as second-in-command of under Edward Belcher in the East Indies,

In 1845, Kellett was appointed captain of the survey ship as part of a hydrography survey mission, the primary objective of which was to survey the coast of the Americas from Guayaquil to Vancouver, including the Galápagos Islands. He was temporarily reassigned in 1848 to join the search for Sir John Franklin. During this voyage he sailed through the Bering Strait across the Chukchi Sea and discovered Herald Island. Kellett landed on Herald Island and named it after his ship. He also sighted Wrangel Island in the western horizon. William Pullen was on this expedition.

In 1852, he commanded and went to the aid of Robert McClure, whose vessel, Investigator, was trapped in the Arctic.

Kellett became Senior Officer in the West Indies in 1855 and superintended the Jamaica Dockyard. He served as Admiral Superintendent of the Malta Dockyard in 1864 and Commander-in-Chief, China Station in 1869. Kellett retired in 1871. Kellett Bluff on Henry Island, Washington, USA, was probably named after Captain Kellett as well. It is a place with extreme currents, views, and is frequented by feeding orcas. Kellet's whelk Kelletia kelletii is named after him. On Bank's Island in the Canadian Arctic, Cape Kellett and the Kellett River are named after him.