Battleship formation of the Royal Navy
Military unit
The 1st Battle Squadron was a
naval squadron of the British
Royal Navy consisting of
battleships . The 1st Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's
Grand Fleet . After
World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to its original name, the
Atlantic Fleet . The squadron changed composition often as ships were damaged, retired or transferred.
History
First World War
As an element in the Grand Fleet, the Squadron participated in the
Battle of Jutland .
[1]
August 1914
On 5 August 1914, the squadron was constituted as follows:
[2]
Battle of Jutland, June 1916
Revenge and Hercules en route to Jutland with the sixth division.
During the Battle of Jutland, the composition of the 1st Battle Squadron was as follows:
[1]
1917 and 1918
HMS Revenge
Following the Battle of Jutland, the 1st Battle Squadron was reorganized, with Colossus , Hercules , St. Vincent , Collingwood and Neptune all transferred to the
4th Battle Squadron . In January 1917, the squadron was constituted as follows:
[3]
By 1918, Agincourt had been transferred to the
2nd Battle Squadron , and
Resolution ,
Ramillies and
Iron Duke had joined the squadron on completion.
[4]
Second World War
For many years the squadron served in the Mediterranean as the main British battle force there. On 3 September 1939 the 1st Battle Squadron, serving in the
Mediterranean Fleet , consisted of Barham , Warspite and Malaya , with headquarters at
Alexandria ,
Egypt , under the command of Vice-Admiral
Geoffrey Layton .
[5]
In December 1943 the Squadron was under the command of
Vice Admiral
Arthur Power . In January 1944 the Eastern Fleet was reinforced by
HMS Queen Elizabeth ,
HMS Renown ,
HMS Valiant ,
HMS Illustrious ,
HMS Unicorn and seven destroyers. The Admiralty sent this force out to India under the title of the First Battle Squadron.
[6]
From November 1944, the squadron served in the
British Pacific Fleet under the command of
Vice-Admiral
Henry Rawlings , who also served as Second-in-Command of the Fleet. It consisted of
HMS King George V ,
HMS Howe ,
HMS Duke of York and
HMS Anson at various times.
Admirals commanding
Commanders were as follows:
[7]
Rear-Admirals, Second-in-Command
Post holders included:
[8]
Rear-Admiral
Charles E. Madden , 5 January 1912 – 10 November 1912
Rear-Admiral The Hon.
Somerset A. Gough-Calthorpe , 10 December 1912 – 10 December 1913
Rear-Admiral
Hugh Evan-Thomas , 10 December 1913 – 25 August 1915
Rear-Admiral
Ernest Gaunt , 25 August 1915 – 12 June 1916
Rear-Admiral
Alexander L. Duff , 12 June 1916 – 30 November 1916
Rear-Admiral Sir
William C. M. Nicholson , 1 December 1916 – 20 March 1919
Rear-Admiral The Hon.
Victor A. Stanley , 1 April 1919 – 1 April 1920
Rear-Admiral
Henry M. Doughty , 24 March 1920 – 14 April 1921
Rear-Admiral Sir
Rudolf W. Bentinck , 3 May 1921 – 3 May 1922
Rear-Admiral
Arthur A. M. Duff , 3 May 1922
Rear-Admiral
William A. H. Kelly , 3 May 1923
Rear-Admiral
William H. D. Boyle , 3 May 1924 – 3 May 1924
Rear-Admiral
William W. Fisher , 14 October 1924 – 7 September 1925
Rear-Admiral
Cecil M. Staveley , 15 October 1925 – 1 October 1926
Rear-Admiral
David T. Norris , 1 October 1926
Rear-Admiral
Bernard St. G. Collard , 1 October 1927
Rear-Admiral
William M. Kerr , 20 March 1928 – 5 April 1929
Rear-Admiral The Hon.
Reginald A. R. P.-E.-E.-Drax , 12 April 1929 – 26 April 1930
Rear-Admiral
Henry D. Pridham-Wippell , 8 May 1940 – 24 October, 1941
References
^
a
b Macintyre, Donald. Jutland Evans Brothers Ltd. 1957;
ISBN
0-330-20142-5
^ Dittmar, F.J & Colledge J.J., British Warships 1914–1919 Ian Allan, London. 1972;
ISBN
0-7110-0380-7
^ Dittmar, F.J & Colledge J.J., British Warships 1914–1919 Ian Allan, London. 1972;
ISBN
0-7110-0380-7 pp20
^ Dittmar, F.J & Colledge J.J., British Warships 1914–1919 Ian Allan, London. 1972;
ISBN
0-7110-0380-7 pp24
^ Orbat.com/Niehorster,
Mediterranean Fleet, 3 September 1939 , accessed May 2008
^ Jackson, Ashley (2006). The British Empire and the Second World War . Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 301.
ISBN
1-85285-417-0 .
^
"Royal Navy Senior Appointments" (PDF) . Archived from
the original (PDF) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2014 .
^ Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony.
"First Battle Squadron (Royal Navy) - The Dreadnought Project" . www.dreadnoughtproject.org . Harley and Lovell, 27 December 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2018 .
External links