List of squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy

Last updated

This is a List of squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy.

Contents

Type squadrons

Aircraft carriers

Numbered

Named

Battleships

Battlecruisers

Cruisers

Starting around the time that steam cruisers became popular in the 1870s, the Royal Navy tended to organise such ships into groups called Cruiser Squadrons. Squadrons were commanded by a rear-admiral whose title was given as Flag Officer Cruiser Squadron n, or CSn for short (e.g. the officer commanding the 3rd Cruiser Squadron would be CS3).

During peacetime the grouping was primarily for administrative purposes, but during war the whole squadron tended to be operated as a unified fighting unit and such units would train in this formation during peace. In the main fighting fleets (Home Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet) members of a given squadron were normally of the same or similar classes. The use of Cruiser Squadrons died out as the number of such ships decreased following World War II.

Light Cruisers

Defence boats

Destroyers

Escorts

Fast patrol boats

Fisheries

Frigates

Heavy

Minesweepers

Coastal minesweepers

Fleet minesweepers

Inshore minesweepers

Mine counter-measures

Submarines

Training

Type flotillas

Destroyers

See Pennant number#Flotilla bands

Escorts

Local defences

Included: [27]

Minesweepers

Motor torpedo boats

Port

Submarine flotilla

numbered

named

Training flotilla

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References

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  3. Orbat.com, Mediterranean Fleet, 3 September 1939
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  21. 1 2 3 4 Niehorster, Leo, In cooperation with Donald Kindell and Mark E. Horan. "Order of Battle Mediterranean Fleet Rear-Admiral, Destroyers 3 September 1939" . Retrieved 29 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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Sources