12mo (ca. 17,5x11,5 cm). 4 pp. Brown ink on paper with a blind stamped monogram on the first page. Text clear and complete. Period ink note on the top of the front page “Recd. 7 Nov. 1846, out same night.” Mild fold marks, otherwise a very good letter.

A private letter written to a fellow naval officer in a friendly manner by Sir Henry Keppel, British naval officer noted for his service at the Royal Navy East Indies and China Station during the First and Second Opium Wars and Sir James Brooke's campaign for the suppression of Borneo piracy (early 1840s). The letter was written in London, in between Keppel’s commissions for the East Indies – his next appointment as the captain of HMS Maeander will happen in a year (November 1847); Keppel will continue fighting Borneo piracy in cooperation with Sir James Brooke.

In the letter addressed to Sir Henry John Codrington (1808-1877), then just appointed the captain of HMS “Thetis” of the British Mediterranean fleet Keppel hopes that Codrington will not think him 'a cool fellow interfering with your Officers' and suggests that 'poor Edward Rice' should leave England 'before the cold weather sets in. I have got Admiral Dundas to appoint him to the ‘Ceylon’ with permission to join her overland'. Keppel jokes that Codrington is 'so full, having monopolized all the Mates, Mids and youngsters in the Service that the Adl. [Dundas] will not let you have young Harding who is to go out in the Mutine. <…> I believe I have no chance of a ship just yet. I made a great fight for the Cambrian, she is however to hoist Broad Pendant in India to relieve Blackwood & Fox. How do you get on & how do you like the Thetis? I hope you will come to Spithead before leaving England'.

Sir Henry Keppel entered the Royal Navy in 1822. “As commanding officer of the corvette HMS Dido on the East Indies and China Station he was deployed in operations during the First Opium War and in operations against Borneo pirates. He later served as commander of the naval brigade besieging Sevastopol during the Crimean War. After becoming second-in-command of the East Indies and China Station, he commanded the British squadron in the action with Chinese pirates at the Battle of Fatshan Creek when he sank around 100 enemy war-junks. He subsequently took part in the capture of Canton during the Second Opium War.” (Wikipedia).

“Keppel had a long association with Singapore, having visited the island on several occasions up to 1903. Whilst based at Singapore in the 1840s, he discovered the deep water anchorage that came to be called by his name. He surveyed the new harbour of Singapore, which was formed based on his plans. <…> For a while, the harbour was simply known as New Harbour but it was renamed Keppel Harbour by the Acting Governor, Sir Alexander Swettenham, on 19 April 1900 when Admiral Keppel visited Singapore at the age of 92” (Wikipedia).