Commodore Keith Winstanley
Keith enjoyed a 33-year career in the Royal Navy, serving ashore in the Ministry of Defence, in the Fleet HQ, and at. the UK’s Joint Services Command and Staff College. For 6 months he served ashore, in a United Nations post, during the fighting in Bosnia, coming under fire on several occasions. The rest of his service was spent at sea in every class of warship from minesweeper to aircraft carrier. He saw service worldwide. He has crossed the equator eleven times, the international date line twice, transited the Panama Canal three times, and has lost count of the number of times he has been through the Suez Canal.
He commanded four ships - the minesweeper HMS UPTON, two air defence destroyers HMShips NEWCASTLE and SOUTHAMPTON, and the amphibious command ship HMS ALBION. His command of HMS SOUTHAMPTON coincided with support to Montserrat at the beginning of the island’s volcanic eruptions, and the worst hurricane season in the Caribbean for 60 years during which he and his team provided immediate disaster relief for the islands of Antigua and Anguilla. For over two years he was the senior British Naval Officer in the Middle East and Indian Ocean regions. Concurrently, he was the Deputy Coalition Commander of all the warships, aircraft, men, and women operating in the same area; a force of over 135 ships from twenty-two different navies.
In 2012 Keith completed a Research Fellowship into Maritime Security at Oxford University and was made a Visiting Fellow of the University on completion. He served for 9 years on the Board of the Harwich Haven Authority, one of the biggest British Port Authorities. He completed four of the eight legs in the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race 2019-2020: 23,400 miles of racing in a 70-foot yacht across the South Atlantic, the Southern Ocean, the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. Between January 2024 and late 2026 he is helping a friend sail a 62-foot yacht around the world, joining this yacht when other commitments allow. Annually, he sails in a gaff-rigged tall ship of the Cirdan Trust as a watch leader of children who have moderate, severe, or complex learning difficulties. In his “spare time” he keeps bees, currently about 750,000 bees!