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First World War fleet of the Royal Navy
Military unit
The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War . It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands .
Formed in August 1914 from the First Fleet and part of the Second Fleet of the Home Fleets, the Grand Fleet included 25–35 modern capital ships . It was commanded initially by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe .[ 1]
The 10th Cruiser Squadron carried out the Northern Patrol between Shetland and Norway and cruisers from Cromarty and Rosyth operated a second line (and screened the fleet) in enforcing the blockade of Germany . The administrative complications of the distant blockade across the northern exits of the North Sea overwhelmed the capacity of Vice Admiral Francis Miller , the Base Admiral in Chief from 7 August 1914, devolving on the commander in chief, Admiral John Jellicoe. To relieve the administrative burdens on Miller and Jellicoe, the post of the Admiral of the Orkneys and Shetlands was created to oversee the defence of the islands, naval bases and shore duties.[ a] Stanley Colville was appointed to the command (7 September 1914 – 19 January 1916) with Miller under his authority.
Admiral Jellicoe was significantly concerned about the possibility of submarine or destroyer attacks on Scapa Flow. While the Grand Fleet spent almost the first year of the war patrolling the west coast of the British Isles, their base at Scapa was defensively reinforced, beginning with over sixty blockships sunk in the many entrance channels between the southern islands to enable the use of submarine nets and booms . These blocked approaches were backed by minefields, artillery and concrete barriers.[ 4]
Admiral Jellicoe was succeeded by Admiral Sir David Beatty in December 1916.[ 5]
The Grand Fleet was based first at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands , and later at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth . It participated with the biggest fleet action of the war – the Battle of Jutland – in June 1916.[ 1]
After the Battle of Jutland , the German High Seas Fleet rarely ventured out of its bases at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel in the last two years of the war to engage with the British fleet.[ 6]
Following the German defeat, 74 ships of the High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future in the peace Treaty of Versailles .[ 7]
During April 1919 the Grand Fleet was disbanded, with much of its strength forming a new Atlantic Fleet .[ 8]
Most of the interned German warships were later scuttled despite Royal Navy attempts to save them.[ 9]
The 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in 1914. From left to right the ships are: King George V Thunderer Monarch Conqueror Not all the Grand Fleet was available for use at any one time, because ships required maintenance and repairs. At the time of the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, it had 32 dreadnought and super-dreadnought battleships. Of these, 28 were in the order of battle at Jutland .[ 10]
The actual strength of the fleet varied through the war as new ships were built and others were transferred or sunk but the number of battleships steadily increased, adding to the margin of superiority over the German fleet. After the USA joined the war, the US Battleship Division Nine was attached to the Grand Fleet as the Sixth Battle Squadron , adding four, later five, dreadnought battleships .[ 11]
The Grand Fleet sailing in parallel columns during the First World War. The order of battle of the Grand Fleet at the end of the war in 1918 included 35 dreadnought battleships and 11 battlecruisers.[ b] United States Navy and one HMAS Australia from the Royal Australian Navy .[ 12] [ c] HMS Queen Elizabeth , three cruiser squadrons, the "Flying Squadron" of seaplane carriers, and six destroyer flotillas, with another destroyer flotilla and three minesweeper flotillas under its command. The Battle Cruiser Force was two battle squadrons and the flagship HMS Lion (9 ships in total), and five cruiser squadrons (21 ships).[ 12]
^ the Admiral of the Coast of Scotland was a separate authority which excluded the islands.
^ Two of these were the very lightly armoured Courageous -class
^ Although built for defence of the dominions and funded by New Zealand, HMS New Zealand was operated by the Royal Navy.
Corbett, J. S. (1920a). Naval Operations OCLC 929536844 – via The Internet Archive.Corbett, J. S. (1920b). Naval Operations OCLC 754160010 – via The Internet Archive. Corbett, J. S. (1923). Naval Operations OCLC 867968279 – via The Internet Archive. Heathcote, T. A. (2002). British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995: A Biographical Dictionary . Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-835-6 Jones, Jerry (1998). U.S. Battleship Operations in World War I . Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-411-1
Direction and control Boards and offices under Direction of Secretariat and staff under Operational planning, policy Divisions and sections Offices of the Sea Lords Admiralty civil departments
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and Methods Department Packet Service Regional Organisation for Merchant Shipbuilding and Repairs Royal Corps of Naval Constructors Royal Flying Corps Royal Marine Police Royal Marines Office Office of the Chaplain of the Fleet Royal Naval Academy Royal Naval Aircraft Workshops Royal Naval Air Service Royal Naval Air Stations Royal Naval Armaments Depot Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Royal Naval Cordite Factories Royal Naval Propellant Factory Royal Naval College Royal Naval College and the School for Naval Architecture Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal Naval College, Greenwich Royal Naval College, Keyham Royal Naval College, Osborne Royal Naval Engineering College Royal Naval Film Corporation Royal Naval Hospital Royal Naval Medical Depot Royal Naval Minewatching Service Royal Naval Mine Depot Royal Naval Patrol Service Royal Naval Scientific Service Royal Naval Sick Quarters Royal Naval Torpedo Depot Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Naval War College Royal Naval War College, Portsmouth Royal Navy Dockyard Royal Navy Medical Service Royal Navy Shore Signal Service Royal Observatory, Greenwich Royal School of Naval Architecture Salvage Department School of Mathematics and Naval Construction Scientific Research and Experiment Department Sea Transport Branch Sea Transport Department Sea Transport Division Ship Department Ship Design Department Signal Department Signal School Sixpenny Office Statistics Department Steam Department Superintendent of De-magnetisation Torpedo Experimental Establishment Transport Department Undersurface Warfare Department Victualling Department Volunteer Boys and Cadet Corps Weapons Department Weapons Department (Naval) Women's Royal Naval Service Wireless Telegraphy Board Direction/Command of the Fleet Naval formations after 1707
1st Fleet 2nd Fleet 3rd Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Africa Atlantic Fleet Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf Australia Station Cape of Good Hope Station Cape and West Africa Station Battle Cruiser Fleet Battle Cruiser Force Caspian Flotilla Channel Fleet Channel Squadron Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland Cork Station Coast of Scotland Commander-in-Chief, China Commander-in-Chief, Dover Flag Officer, East Africa East Indies Station East Indies and China Station Eastern Fleet Far East Fleet English Channel Grand Fleet Flag Officer Gibraltar Harwich Force Home Fleet Jamaica Station Leith Station Commander-in-Chief, Levant Levant and East Mediterranean Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Mediterranean Fleet Medway Newfoundland Station New Zealand Division New Zealand Naval Forces Nore North America and West Indies Station Commander-in-Chief, North Sea Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands Pacific Fleet Pacific Station Admiral of Patrols Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth Queenstown Station Royal East African Navy Royal Indian Navy Flag Officer Submarines Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth Reserve Fleet Scotland and Northern Ireland Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic South East Coast of America Station Commander-in-Chief, Thames and Medway West Africa Squadron Flag Officer, West Africa Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches Naval formations before 1707 Direction of Naval Finance Departments under the Direction of Naval Administration Branches and offices under the Civil Administration Departments under the Legal
Historic fleets and naval commands of the
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United Kingdom
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