First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key, KCB, CBE, ADC. (Rory Lewis Photographer Portsmouth 2022)
Admiral Sir Ben Key, First Sea Lord, the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Forces. Commissioned to capture Sir Ben’s official portrait, we visited Naval Headquarters in Portsmouth, photographing the Admiral on Board his Flag ship HMS Victory.
Key joined the Royal Navy in 1984. He saw action as a Principal Warfare Officer in the frigate HMS Somersetduring the Kosovo War in 1999. After briefly serving as commanding officer of the minehunter HMS Sandown, he became commanding officer of the frigate HMS Iron Duke in 2000 and HMS Lancaster in 2001.
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key, KCB, CBE, ADC. (Rory Lewis Photographer Portsmouth 2022)
He went on to be a staff officer in the Directorate of Naval Resources and Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 2003, Advisor to the Director Joint Staff in the Iraqi Joint Headquarters in 2006 and then a staff officer at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood in 2007. After that he became commanding officer of the aircraft carrierHMS Illustrious in February 2009, Commodore Joint Air Maritime Organisation in February 2010 and Director of Naval Plans and Resources at the Ministry of Defence in May 2011.
Key was appointed Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Defence Staff in November 2011, and Flag Officer Sea Training in April 2013. He was appointed Fleet Commander and promoted to the rank of vice admiral on 10 February 2016. He became Chief of Joint Operations in April 2019.
Key received the United States Bronze Star Medal in 2006 and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours, and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath(KCB) in the 2021 New Year Honours. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Royal Holloway, University of London in 2018.
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key, KCB, CBE, ADC. (Rory Lewis Photographer Portsmouth 2022)