List of fleets and major commands of the Royal Navy

The professional head of the Royal Navy is known as the First Sea Lord (1SL) as well as the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS).

There are presently two senior sub-ordinates to the 1SL: the Second Sea Lord , who is also the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff; and the Fleet Commander.

Fleets

• Fleet Commander from mid-2012 replacing post of Commander-in-Chief Fleet.

Historic fleets

• Atlantic Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet (1909–1914, 1919–1932)
• British Pacific Fleet - Commander-in-Chief British Pacific Fleet (1944–1945)
• Channel Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Channel Fleet (c.1690-1914)
• Eastern Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet (formerly only C-in-Cs East Indies, Australia and China Stations), 1941-postwar.
• First Fleet - (1912–14)
• Far East Fleet - Commander, Far East Fleet c.1952-1971
• Grand Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Grand Fleet (1914-1918)
• Home Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet (1902–1904 and 1932–1967)
• Mediterranean Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean (1690–1967)
• Reserve Fleet - Vice Admiral Commanding, Reserve Fleet (interwar, at least since 1928^[1] (1700 - 1960)
• Second Fleet - (1912–14)
• Third Fleet - (1912–14)
• Western Fleet - Commander-in-Chief Western Fleet (1967–1971)

Commands

Since 2012 full operational command has been vested in the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff.

Historic commands

• Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands,(1914–1945), Admiral commanding was in charge of the Northern Patrol Force.^[2]
• Commander-in-Chief, Africa Station, HQ Simonstown (1920–1939) (succeeded by South Atlantic from 1939)^[3]
• Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, HQ Admiralty House, Sydney (1859–1913)
• Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland, HQ Queenstown, now called Cobh.
• Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland (1919 to 1939, replaced Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth in 1919, and reverted to Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth in 1939)
• Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station, (1795–1939)
• Commander-in-Chief, China Station, HQ Singapore and Wei Hai Wei (1865–1941)
• Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station, HQ Colombo Sri Lanka (Ceylon) (1865–1941)
• Commander-in-Chief, Dover - (1914–1945)
• Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station, HQ Hong Kong (1831–1865)
• Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station (1655-1823) merged with North America and West Indies Station.
• Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station, (1743–1821),^[4]
• Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command (CINCNAVHOME) (1969-2012)
• Commander-in-Chief, Newfoundland Station, (1729-1825)
• Commander-in-Chief, New Zealand, HQ Auckland (1921–1942)
• Commander in Chief, North Atlantic (1939–1945) ^[5]
• Commander-in-Chief, The Nore (1752–1961)
• Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies, HQ Bermuda (from southern Brazil to Greenland) (1745–1956)
• Commander-in-Chief, Pacific HQ Valparaíso (1837–1865) Esquimalt (1865–1905)
• Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth (1697–1969) (merged with CinC Plymouth into CinCNAVHOME)
• Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth (1743–1969) (merged with CinC Portsmouth into CinCNAVHOME)
• Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth (1913-1919 and 1939-1946; was renamed Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland from 1919 to 1939)
• Commander-in-Chief, South America Station HQ Valparaíso (circa 1826–1837)
• Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic HQ Freetown (1939–1967)
• Commander-in-Chief, South East Coast of America Station HQ Falkland Islands (1838–1905)
• Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches^[6] - the area from west of Portland to Clyde, HQ Liverpool (1939–1945)

Flag Officers

• Commander UK Maritime Forces - COMUKMARFOR
• Commander UK Amphibious Forces - COMUKAMPHIBFOR (and Commandant General Royal Marines)
• Flag Officer Reserves - FOR
• Flag Officer Scotland & Northern Ireland - FOSNI
• Flag Officer Sea Training - FOST
• Flag Officer Training and Recruitment - FOTR

Former Flag Officer positions

• Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers – with variously up to 6–8 carriers in the 1950s/60s, was responsible for providing worked up carriers to the operational commands.^[7] Amalgamated with Flag Officer Amphibious Ships to become FOCAS towards the end of the 1960s, after the cancellation of CVA-01. H. R. B. Janvrin, DSC, ADC, was promoted to Rear Admiral and succeeded Rear Admiral D. C. E. F. Gibson, DSC, as FOAC.
• Flag Officer, Air, Far East – existing until 1945–47.^[8] In late 1946, HMS Theseus sailed out from the UK to Singapore as the flagship of Flag Officer Air, Far East.^[9] After her arrival, she became flagship of the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron.
• Flag Officer, Air, Home – Flew flag from RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) in 1930s, post extant until 1963. Responsible for shore-based air command working up squadrons to operational effectiveness, and after an Operational Readiness Inspection, delivering them to the Fleet.^[7] RA Sir Cloudesley Robinson KCB (1 Jan 1945 – June 1945), VA Sir Dennis Boyd KCB CBE DSC (1 June 1945 – April 1946).^[10] Admiral Walter Couchman 1957–60.
• Flag Officer, Air, Mediterranean – Admiral Ralph Edwards in the late 1940s. Vice Admiral William Davis 1952–54.
• Flag Officer Admiralty Interview Board – FOAIB
• Flag Officer Attached Middle East – FOAM – Rear Admiral H T Baillie-Grohman, 1941
• Flag Officer Force A
• Flag Officer Force B
• Flag Officer Force C
• Flag Officer Commanding HM's Australian Fleet – FOCAF – 1911–88
• Flag Officer Carriers and Amphibious Ships – FOCAS, succeeded by Flag Officer Third Flotilla
• Flag Officer Force D
• Flag Officer Dover
• Flag Officer Force E
• Flag Officer Force F
• Flag Officer First Flotilla – FOF1 – Cold War – 1992. Rear Admiral David Halifax 1980–82. Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward, FOF 1, commanded the Carrier Group (CTG 317.8) of the Falklands War task force.
• Flag Officer Flotillas, Home Fleet – deployed on the Spring cruise, 1955, under Rear Admiral J.W. Cuthbert.^[11] Vice Admiral Richard Onslow in 1955-56. Flew flag in HMS Tyne, July 1960–March 1961^[12]
• Flag Officer Flotillas, Mediterranean – May 1952 Vice-Admiral F R Parham.^[13]
• Flag Officer Flotillas, Western Fleet 1967-71
• Flag Officer Force G
• Flag Officer Gibraltar – FOGIB
• Flag Officer Force H
• Flag Officer Force I
• Flag Officer Force J
• Flag Officer Force K
• Flag Officer Force L
• Flag Officer Force M
• Flag Officer Malaya (also Flag Officer, Malaya and Forward Areas, just after the end of the Second World War) Post known as Flag Officer, Malayan Area, by 1956 when occupied by Rear Admiral George Thring.^[14]
• Flag Officer Maritime Aviation/AOC No. 3 Group RAF, 2000–2003
• Flag Officer Malta – FO Malta. 1968^[15]
• Flag Officer Medway – FO Medway
• Flag Officer Middle East – Rear Admiral Patrick Brock 1954–56, responsible for Ismailia and Cyprus. Brock was appointed Flag Officer, Middle East in April 1954, initially with his HQ at Fayid, in the Suez Canal Zone. However, after Britain agreed to remove its forces from the Canal Zone, his HQ moved to Episcopi, in southern Cyprus, in December 1954. Hauled down flag March 1956.^[16] Rear Admiral Peter Howes 1964–66.^[17] Directed the Beira Patrol. 1968 withdrew from HMS Sheba in Aden.
• Flag Officer Force N
• Flag Officer Naval Air Command – FONAC (superseded by FONA) Created 30 September 1963 as renaming of Flag Officer Air, Home, which was at the time a Vice-Admiral's command.^[18]
• Flag Officer Naval Aviation– FONA Fleet Air Arm (superseded by Rear Admiral, Fleet Air Arm, who is not a Flag Officer)
• Flag Officer Naval Flying Training – FONFT. Created 30 September 1963 as renaming of Flag Officer Flying Training.^[18]
• Flag Officer Commanding North Atlantic,^[6] at Gibraltar (northern Portugal – northern Morocco – Atlantic Mid-range) Admiral Dudley North commanded the station during the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, the destruction of the French fleet in 1940.
• Flag Officer Plymouth
• Flag Officer Portsmouth – FOP
• Flag Officer Force Q
• Flag Officer Force R
• Flag Officer Rosyth – FOR
• Flag Officer Royal Yachts – FORY
• Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland - FOSNNI
• Flag Officer Second Flotilla – FOF2 (at least 1975–92)^[19][20] Admiral William Staveley had this command in the 1970s.
• Flag Officer Second in Command Far East Fleet – FO2FEF, to 1971
• Flag Officer Second-in-Command Mediterranean – F.O.2 i/c MED. In 1951 Rear Admiral G. Grantham, CB, CBE, DSO.^[21] Responsible for Mediterranean Fleet aircraft carriers, and, under Captain, Air, Mediterranean, the naval air stations in Malta. Vice-Admiral R A B Edwards (Flag Officer, Second-in-Command Mediterranean), May 1952.^[13]
• Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM). Succeeded by Rear-Admiral, Submarines.
• Flag Officer Surface Flotilla – FOSF – 1992–2000s
• Flag Officer Third Flotilla – FOF3 Cold War – 1992. Vice Admiral Derek Reffell in 1982. Vice Admiral Richard Fitch was Flag Officer, Third Flotilla and Commander, Anti-Submarine Group Two (NATO SACLANT Striking Fleet Atlantic) 1983-85; Vice Admiral Julian Oswald held this position from 1987.
• Vice-Admiral, Aircraft Carriers/Rear Admiral, Aircraft Carriers. Pre World War II. Became Flag Officer Mediterranean Aircraft Carriers.^[22]
• Flag Officer Force X
• Flag Officer Force Y
• Flag Officer Force Z

Commodores flying Broad Pennants in command appointments

• Commander Amphibious Task Group - COMUKATG
• Commander Carrier Strike Group -COMUKCSG
• Commander Maritime Reserves - COMMARRES
• Commodore of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary - Cdre RFA
• Commodore, Fleet Air Arm (uncertain whether flies a Broad Pennant)
• Commodore, Northern England and Isle of Man (uncertain whether flies a Broad Pennant)

Former Commodore command appointments

• Commander UK Maritime Component - COMUKMARCOMP
• Commodore (Amphibious Warfare) - COMAW or COM(AW) or Cdre (AW)
• Commodore in Charge, Hong Kong
• Commodore, Naval Aviation
• Commodore Commanding New Zealand Squadron, March 1921 - October 1940.^[23] HQ Auckland, commanding naval forces in New Zealand. Commodore's appointment abolished and forces brought directly under CNS from October 1940. The operational authority was the Commodore, Auckland, from 1961^[24] which changed to the Maritime Commander in March 1993.^[25] Alternately rendered as Commodore Commanding, New Zealand Station, HQ Auckland, (1919–1941).
• Commodore Royal Naval Reserve - Cdre RNR
• Commodore Royal Yachts
• Senior Naval Officer West Indies - SNOWI
• Commodore Air Train, British Pacific Fleet (COMAT/BPF) - 1945
• Commodore Fleet Train, British Pacific Fleet (COFT/BPF) - 1945
• Commodore in Charge, HM Australian Naval Establishments, Sydney^[26]

Senior Royal Marines appointments

The Royal Marines are part of the Naval Service

• Commandant General Royal Marines (and Commander UK Amphibious Forces) - CGRM
• Commander 3 Commando Brigade

Former Royal Marines appointments

• Major General Royal Marines Commando Forces - MGRM Cdo Forces
• Major General Royal Marines Training - MGRM Trng

See also

• Bibliography of 18th-19th century Royal Naval history

References

1. Kemp, Peter (1981). "Boyle, William Henry Dudley, 12th Earl of Cork and Orrery". The Peerage. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
2. Haarr, Geirr (Sep 24, 2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940. Seaforth Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 9781473832732. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
3. Waters, S. D. (1956). "The Search for the Admiral Graf Spee". Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45: The Royal New Zealand Navy. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
4. Stewart, William (2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 110. ISBN 9780786438099.
5. Axelrod, Alan (2007). Encyclopedia of World War II 2-Volume Set. New York: Infobase Pub. p. 402. ISBN 0816060223.
6. Kindell, Don (2012). "North Atlantic Command, Force H, South Atlantic Command, America & West Indies Command, Eastern Fleet, January 1942". Naval History.net. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
7. Mervik, Captain C. F. "The Integrated Fleet HQ and aviation's place within". Flight Deck (Winter 2001).
8. "ADM 199/1804: Flag Officer (Air) Far East". The National Archives. 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
9. "HMS Theseus, British light fleet aircraft carrier". Naval-History.net. 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
10. "Fleet Air Arm Service Records: Flag Officer Index". Fleet Air Arm Archive.net. 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
11. "Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News: Carriers in the Spring Cruise". Flight. 65 (2347): 83. 15 January 1954. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
12. "HMS Tyne, history". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on August 11, 2009. Retrieved July 2009. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
13. "Change of Command in the Mediterranean". Colonial Film. May 1952. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
14. "Obituaries: Rear Admiral George Thring". The Daily Telegraph. London: TMG. 31 December 2001. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
15. "Malta". godfreydykes.info. 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
16. Brock, P.W. (2009). "The Pyecroft stories". The Kipling Society. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
17. "Rear Admiral Peter Howes". King's College London. 2010.
18. "Air Force, Naval and Army Flying News: Naval Air Command". Flight. 84 (2847): 592. 3 October 1963. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
19. http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Borneo/SukarnoNavy.html Archived September 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
20. http://www.tenix.com/Main.asp?ID=861 Archived November 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
21. "Naval Aviation Organization". Flight. LIX (2204): 483. 20 April 1951. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
22. Drucker, G. (2005). "Fleet Air Arm Service Records: Flag Officer Index". Fleet Air Arm Archive. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
23. Waters, S. D. (1956). "Appendix VI: Members of the New Zealand Naval Board". Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45: The Royal New Zealand Navy. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch. p. 539. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
24. Ross, J. O'C. (1967). The White Ensign in New Zealand. AH & AW Reed. p. 115.
25. East, Paul (2 September 1996). "New Chief of Naval Staff announced". New Zealand Government Press Release. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
26. "GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE SERIES, 1883–1957, 1926–38 Captain Superintendent, Sydney, and Captain-in-Charge, New South Wales (CA 4338); 1938–42 Captain-in-Charge (from 1939, Commodore in Charge, HM Naval Establishments. (CA 4339)". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. This series contains correspondence records about the activities of both the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The series began in 1883 (from Sydney Station, Port of Sydney) and extended to Command Eastern Australia Area in 1957. These records deal with the management of civilian and service establishments, and include material about ships, dockyards, depots, staff management, discipline, navigation, and the establishment and erection of various depots.

Bibliography

• Roskill, S.W., Captn., DSC., RN, The war at sea, 1939-1945, Vol.I, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1954 (maps of operational Commands of the Royal Navy during the Second World War taken from Roskill, but not attributed, together with Fleet appendixes also taken from his work can be found at http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4201-40RNShips4Overseas.htm. Note from Naval-History.Net. The map was assembled from a variety of sources. The Fleet Appendices are not from Roskill's work, which does not include them. They were compiled from Admiralty Pink and Red lists.

External links

• "Royal Navy Flag Officers of the Dreadnought Era 1904-1945: Fleets and Stations". admirals.org.uk. 2015.
• http://morethannelson.com/Royal Navy Stations