| First Fleet | |
|---|---|
| Active | 31 July 1912–August 1914 |
| Country |  |
| Branch |  |
| Type | Fleet |
The First Fleet was a formation of the Royal Navy that briefly existed before the First World War from 1912 to 1914.
| First Fleet | |
|---|---|
| Active | 31 July 1912–August 1914 |
| Country | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Fleet |
The First Fleet was a formation of the Royal Navy that briefly existed before the First World War from 1912 to 1914.
Formed on 31 July 1912 the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleets had direct command of the First Fleet; [1] and a Vice Admiral commanded the Second and Third Fleets. All the numbered fleets during this period had different levels of battle readiness for example the first fleet ships were in full commission. [2] The fleet also included, under Captain Cecil Lambert, four destroyer flotillas. [3] Captain Reginald Tyrwhitt took over the command of the destroyer flotillas in December 1913. [4]
| Rank | Flag | Name | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleets/First Fleet [5] | ||||
| 1 | Admiral |  | Sir George Callaghan | 31 July 1912-December 1914 |
| Unit | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1st Battle Squadron | (8 battleships) [7] |
| 2 | 2nd Battle Squadron | (8 battleships) [8] |
| 3 | 3rd Battle Squadron | (8 pre-dreadnoughts) [9] |
| 4 | 4th Battle Squadron | (4 battleships) [10] |
| 5 | 1st Cruiser Squadron | (4 cruisers then to Battle-Cruiser Squadron 01.13) [11] |
| 6 | 2nd Cruiser Squadron | (4-5 cruisers) [12] |
| 7 | 3rd Cruiser Squadron | (5-7 cruisers) [13] |
| 8 | 4th Cruiser Squadron | (7-8 cruisers) [14] |
| 9 | 1st Light Cruiser Squadron | (14 cruisers assigned-reassigned between 1913–14) [15] |
| 10 | 1st Destroyer Flotilla | (1 scout cruiser, 20 destroyers) [16] |
| 11 | 2nd Destroyer Flotilla | (1 scout cruiser, 20 destroyers) [17] |
| 12 | 3rd Destroyer Flotilla | (1 scout cruiser,16 destroyers -all to Med as 5th DF, 1913, replaced by 4 destroyers) [18] |
| 13 | 4th Destroyer Flotilla | (1 scout cruiser, 12 destroyers + 18 K. Class, 1912–13) [19] |
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967.
HMS Ambuscade was an Acasta-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and was launched in 1913. She served throughout the First World War, forming part of the Grand Fleet and taking part at the Battle of Jutland, serving in the Dover Patrol and spending the latter part of the war as a convoy escort. She was sold for scrapping in 1921.
The Atlantic Fleet was a naval fleet of the Royal Navy. It existed for two separate periods; 1909 until 1914, and then 1919 until 1932.
HMS Express was a B-class torpedo boat destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was completed by Laird, Son & Company, Birkenhead, in 1896. Like many contemporary British destroyers, she was a "builder's special", designed to Admiralty specifications but built to the builder's own design.
HMS Active was the name ship of her class of three scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. Completed in 1911, she was briefly assigned to several different units until the ship became the flotilla leader of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (DF) in 1914. When the First World War began in August of that year, the 2nd DF was assigned to the Grand Fleet where their primary task was to protect the fleet from submarines.
HMS Blanche was the second of two Blonde-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She led the 1st Destroyer Flotilla from completion until 1912 and was then briefly transferred to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla before the ship was assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron in 1913. During World War I, Blanche was assigned to several different battleship squadrons of the Grand Fleet. She was present at, but did not fight in, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. The ship was converted into a minelayer in early 1917 and made 16 sorties to lay mines during the war. Blanche was paid off in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Skirmisher was one of two Sentinel-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1905 the ship was placed in reserve until she was commissioned in 1907 as part of the Home Fleet. She then spent the next seven years moving on and off of active service in British waters. Skirmisher was assigned to coastal defence duties when the First World War began in 1914, although she was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1915 and then to the Aegean two years later. The ship returned home in mid-1919 and was sold for scrap in 1920.
The 1st Light Cruiser Squadron was a naval unit of the Royal Navy from 1913 to 1924.
HMS Ostrich was a Fairfield three-funnel, 30-knot torpedo boat destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1898 – 1899 Naval Estimates. In 1913 she was grouped as a C-class destroyer. She was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name. She spent most of her operational career in home waters, operating with the Channel Fleet as part of the Portsmouth Instructional Flotilla, and was sold for breaking in 1920.
HMS Bulldog was one of sixteen destroyers ordered under the 1908- 09 Naval Estimates from John Brown & Company of Clydebank. Named for the English bulldog, she was the fifth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1782 for a 16-gun Sloop broken in 1829. The destroyers of the 1908-09 program would be the last coal-fired destroyers of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters served in the First Destroyer Flotilla then were moved en masse to the Third Destroyer Flotilla and before the start of the Great War to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. With the advent of the convoy system they were moved to the Second Destroyer Flotilla. With the Armistice she was laid up then scrapped in 1920.
HMS Beagle was one of sixteen destroyers ordered under the 1908–09 Naval Estimates from John Brown & Company of Clydebank. Named for the English hunting dog, she was the sixth ship to carry this name since it was introduced for a Cruizer Class fir-built, brig-sloop on 8 August 1804 and sold on 21 July 1814. The destroyers of the 1908–09 program would be the last coal-fired destroyers of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters served in the First Destroyer Flotilla then were moved en masse to the Third Destroyer Flotilla and before the start of the Great War to the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. With the advent of the convoy system they were moved to the Second Destroyer Flotilla. With the Armistice she was laid up then scrapped in 1921.
The 1st Destroyer Flotilla also styled as First Destroyer Flotilla was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from 1909 to 1940 and again from 1947 to 1951.
The British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1943 and again from 1945 to 1946.
The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951.
The British 4th Destroyer Flotilla also known as the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1909 to July 1951.
The British 11th Destroyer Flotilla also known as the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1915 to September 1945.
The Flag Officer, Third Flotilla was the senior Royal Navy appointment in command of the Third Flotilla from 1979 to 1992.
The Black Sea and Caspian Squadron also known as the Black Sea and Marmora Force and the Black Sea and Marmora Division was naval formation of the British Mediterranean Fleet from 1918 to 1919.
