Henry Kellett
Sir Henry Kellett, 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, and as captain of in the First Opium War with China during which he was promoted to commander in 1841 and post-captain in 1842.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. His men constructed a storehouse on Dealy Island off the south coast of Melville Island.
Kellett became Jamaica Division of [North America and West Indies Station|Senior Officer in the West Indies] in 1855 and superintended 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. His final years were spent at Clonacody, where he died on 1 March 1875.