Ralph Kerr

Captain Ralph Kerr CBE (16 August 1891 – 24 May 1941) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He served in the First and Second World Wars, and was killed in the sinking of by the German battleship Bismarck at the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

Early life Kerr was born on 16 August 1891, the only son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Russell Kerr, and his wife Lady Kerr, of Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire. He joined the Royal Navy on 15 May 1904, and after service as a cadet he rose through the ranks, being promoted to Lieutenant on 28 February 1914. He served in the First World War, spending most of the period aboard the battleship , the flagship of Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee. He was present at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, and by 1918 he had been given his own command, that of the destroyer .

Family He had married Margaret Augusta Kerr on 14 February 1920, the marriage producing two children, Russell and Jane. They resided in St John's Wood, London. Russell Kerr, who had served as a captain in the Royal Artillery and as a tank commander, was killed while fighting in Burma in 1945.