Robert Morris Doyle was born May 5, 1853 in Dyersburg, Tennessee.  As an Ensign he served on the USS Minnesota in 1875 and the USS Vandalia.  As a Lieutenant he served on the USS Galena, USS Baltimore, USS Texas, USS Alliance, and during the war with Spain he was navigating officer of the USS Dixie. In 1902 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and assigned to the USS Culgoa.  From 1904 to 1907 he served as Commanding Officer, USS Philadelphia.  His next assignment was Commanding Officer, USS Chicago.  On the cruise of the battleships around the world in 1908 he commanded the Missouri. From 1911 to 1913 he was commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard and from 1913 to 1915, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. During the World War he was recalled to active duty, served from June 1918 to May 1919 as Commandant of the Fourteenth Naval District and the United States Naval Station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

He died on December 15, 1925 in Miami, Florida.