Admiral Sir William Robert Kennedy GCB (4 March 1838 – 9 October 1916) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.

Born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies where his father John Kennedy was the British chargé d'affaires,[1] Kennedy joined the Royal Navy in 1851 and served with the Naval Brigade during the Crimean War.

[2] He was present at the bombardment of Canton in 1856, at the Battle of Fatshan Creek in 1857 and at the attack on the Peiho Forts in 1858 during the Second Opium War.

[2] As a lieutenant he next was appointed to the sloop Wasp and on the journey to Cape of Good Hope he jumped overboard to rescue a man that had fallen in; he was awarded a silver medal by the Royal Humane Society.

[1] He then commanded a coast-guard ship at Queensferry and then on to the Ruby as senior officer on the south-east coast of South America.