Rear Admiral Hubert Lynes, CB CMG (27 November 1874 – 10 November 1942) was a British admiral whose First World War service was notable for his direction of the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids designed to neutralise the German-held port of Bruges, which was used as a raiding base against the British coastline by Imperial German Navy surface and submarine raiders.
Throughout his service life and during retirement, Lynes was a noted ornithologist who contributed to numerous books on the subject and was in his lifetime considered the leading expert on African birds.
An experienced naval officer, Lynes was given command of the brand-new Arethusa-class cruiser HMS Penelope, which completed construction in early 1915 and served in the Atlantic for the next year.
[3] This freed Lynes for a new post, that of second in command to Admiral Roger Keyes, a dynamic officer who was in charge of the "Allied Naval and Marine Forces" a department of the Admiralty which planned and conducted raids and commando-style operations on German-held territory.
[citation needed] At the war's end, Lynes was present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow as Captain of the new and powerful battleship HMS Warspite.
[3] A highly experienced ornithologist, Lynes developed a boyhood interest in nature into a scientific study of birdlife during his time in the navy.
[3] Upon retirement, Lynes travelled to the Darfur region of the Sudan, and made extensive observations of Bird life there, compiling a study which was published in 1930 in The Ibis as Review of the genus Cisticola.