The purpose of this file is to provide an overview of the fleets, commands, squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy during the Great War.

The Board of Admiralty was the highest level of command. From it came the strategic guidance, the manpower, and the resources to prosecute the war. With its guidance, the Royal Navy had two levels of command for the conduct of operations.


A major distinction between the two levels of command is the direct link in the chain of command between the Admiralty and the fleets and commands. Squadrons and flotillas, and some 'forces' operated with their assigned fleet or station.

A fleet consisted of the full spectrum of warships designed for major action against an enemy fleet - battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. The fleet would consist of battle squadrons, cruiser squadrons, and destroyer flotillas. There was a standard composition for each of these.

A station was a major geographic command responsible for the conduct of operations within its area. It could have squadrons, flotillas, and individual ships under command.

A battle squadron would consist of eight battleships which would be divided into two divisions of four ships each. The squadron would be commanded by a vice admiral, with a rear admiral as second in command. As the war progressed battle squadron size could increase to nine or ten ships to maintain full strength while ships were under repair or refit.

Each battle squadron was supported by a cruiser squadron of four ships commanded by a rear admiral. As the war progressed the size of the cruiser squadron increased for the same reason as that of the battle squadron. Cruiser squadrons also operated in the more distant stations where their composition varied considerably.

As for the smaller vessels - torpedo boat destroyers, submarines, sloops and minesweepers-originated as 'boats' rather than 'ships', they were organised into flotillas. In the main fleets, destroyer flotillas were allocated initially on the basis of one flotilla per battle squadron. The number of flotillas so allocated increased during the war. The initial composition of a destroyer flotilla was twenty destroyers with the flotilla commander - a captain - embarked on a cruiser.

 This guide will look at the three levels of command in turn. Namely,





Not included are the well-known orders of battle for major clashes such as Jutland which are well-known.

As constituted on 20th October 1904, the Board was composed of politicians, naval officers, and a civil servant. Each had a specific area of responsibility but all decisions had to be made by the Board.

The chairman of the Board was the First Lord of the Admiralty. He was a member of the Cabinet and responsible to the Parliament for all aspects of the naval service: including policy, senior appointments, budgets and ship building programmes. 

The four naval officers were:


Two other politicians were the Civil Lord, responsible for works and buildings, and the Political and Financial Secretary, responsible for the budget.

Finally, the Permanent Secretary was the lone civil servant.

WAR STAFF


Lord Fisher

A major aspect of this organisation, which was created by Sir John Fisher when he became First Sea Lord was the absence of any naval staff or machinery for planning naval strategy and for the conduct of naval operations.  This was the prime task of the First Sea Lord who, without any staff or advisers, evolved a naval strategy which remained hidden in his head. To counteract that, a Naval War Staff was created on 8th January 1912. Formed by the enlargement of the Directorate of Naval Intelligence, its Chief supervised directorates on:


The role of the Chief of the War Staff was to advise the Board on all the matters relevant to the staff. He could not make decisions on the conduct of operations. The relationship between him and the First Sea Lord was ill-defined both by role and by rank.

In August 1914, the Royal Navy went to war with an unclear planning organisation whose problems were compounded by a hyper-active interventionist First Lord - Winston Churchill. The story of the naval staff component within the Admiralty between 1914 and 1918 was to evolve a more effective structure for the conduct of the war at sea. The more traditional view is that the pressure for change came from outside the navy - from press and politicians who had expected a more active and victorious role for the Royal Navy. More recent work suggests that the naval staff grew in ability, size, and effectiveness through its own efforts.

The basic structure of the Admiralty remained largely unchanged until the spring of 1917. By then the disappointment over Jutland merged with alarm at the success of the German U-boats against the trade routes reached such a level in the press and in parliament that change had to occur, There were two basic changes. The War Staff was developed into a properly organised naval staff and placed under the command of the First Sea Lord who became First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. As such he had the executive authority - free from the Board - to conduct naval operations.

To balance this change of role, the Admiralty was effectively divided into two bodies. The operations staff was the naval staff while the administrative staff dealt with non-operational matters. A new post, that of Controller was created to co-ordinate the work of the other Sea Lords whose duties wre more clearly defined by changes of title. The Controller was a civilian businessman. The first occupant of the new post was Sir Eric Geddes who went on to become First Lord of the Admiralty.      

The structure of the staff was established in May 1917 and changed in October 1917:

First Sea Lord & Chief of the Naval Staff

Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS)

Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS)

(Divisions)
Operations Div.,   Mobilisation Div., Intelligence Div.,     Trade Div., Anti-Sub. Div., Minesweeping Div.

From "The Crisis of the Naval War" by Admiral Jellicoe. Note: at this time, Signals and Convoys were Sections

The two most important changes were the allocation of specific divisions to DCNS, ACNS and the new post of D1SL (Deputy First Sea Lord).  Created with two purposes - to take the administrative burden off Admiral Jellicoe [a persistent centraliser and micro-manager] and to address the anomaly that, under the old system, the First Sea Lord's deputy was the Second Sea Lord. By this stage of the war, the Second Sea Lord had no experience of operational management.

With the effective division of the Admiralty into an operations division and a 'maintenance' division, the Second Sea Lord would never have the experience to deputise for the First Sea Lord.

 


As well as these re-organisations, the size of the naval staff increased substantially between 1914 and 1918. In July 1914 the staff totalled 13 flag officers and 15 captains. In September 1918 the numbers were seven  flag officers (actually a reduction in this case) and 40 captains. In addition, one major general RM and two brigadier generals RM served on the naval staff. 
       
In contrast to the evolution of the naval staff, what might be referred to as the administrative components of the Admiralty remained relatively unchanged in terms of structure and the allocation of duties. The major change came with the appointment of Sir Eric Geddes as Controller in May 1917 [he insisted on the honorary rank of Vice Admiral which irritated the admirals].

The principal officers were-

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Three major home commands were:

Commanded by very senior officers, each command had a range of functions:

During the war each of these commands was focused on their primary administrative and support role with comparatively limited activity in the conduct of naval operations.

The Nore Command, in particular, would seem to be in an ideal position to control operations in the southern North Sea. Naval operations in its area, however, were allocated to forces which obtained their orders from either the Admiralty or the Grand Fleet. These included:

Plymouth Command had an increasing role in the war against the German submarines from mid-war onwards. In this task it was secondary to the role of the Irish command.

Two major geographic commands existed in 1914. The major difference between them and the three traditional commands is that they were not involved in the tasks of manning and training. Their initial task was to support naval operations in their respective areas through the creation and operation of base and dockyard facilities. They were:

The Irish command, with its headquarters at Queenstown rapidly transformed into an active command as the threat from German submarines increased. By 1917, it assumed leadership of the anti-submarine war.

The Scottish command - or Rosyth Command as it became - was responsible for the development of bases for the Grand Fleet in the Firth of Forth and at Cromarty. Of these the most important was the new dockyard at Rosyth which opened in 1916. The defence of those bases from the submarine and mine threats became more important as the ships of the Grand Fleet moved southwards. From April 1918 Rosyth was the main base of the Grand Fleet.

The Orkneys and Shetlands Command was established at the outbreak of hostilities to establish and maintain the  Grand Fleet's principal base at Scapa Flow. This included the local defence forces for the base. The Northern Patrol operated within this command but its relationship to this shore command is unclear.

In fact, the relationship between the various shore commands and the operational forces, and between the components of the seagoing forces is not always clear. So each will be examined separately.

The original boundaries of the Nore Command extended from the eastern English Channel to the Tees. Before the war, the task of defending the east coast of England had been given to the Admiral of Patrols whose chain of command was to the Grand Fleet. After the outbreak of the war, further erosion came about with the establishment of the Southern Force, the Harwich Force, and the Dover Patrol. Effectively this meant that the command was a provider of shore support rather than a command with operational responsibilities.

In 1914, its main bases were Chatham Dockyard and Sheerness Dockyard with a range of training establishments. These were:


In active commission were 12 torpedo boat destroyers and 20 torpedo boats on local defence duties. The local defence flotilla (LDF) was operational throughout the war.

The administrative division of the pre-war Second and Third Fleets placed 6 battleships, 12 cruisers and 2 minelayers under its jurisdiction - they were mobilised in July 1914.

During the war, the following were allocated to the command:

 

Responsible for the central part of the English Channel across which many of the BEF's supply lines extended.
 

In 1914 its main assets were the base and dockyard at Portsmouth, several training establishments at Portsmouth, and the base and smaller dockyard at Portland.  The establishments were:


Local defence forces consisted of 10 torpedo boat destroyers, 18 torpedo boats, and 4 submarines. The LDF remained operational throughout the war.

In addition, the command administered 4 battleships, 9 cruisers, and 3 minelayers on behalf of the Second and Third Fleets until July 1914.

The following flotillas served with the command during the war. They were:

Responsible for the western channel and Bristol Channel, the command became heavily involved in the war against the German submarines, especially 1917-1918. Its role in that task will be assessed in the later section on the submarine war.
 

The principal asset of this command was the naval base and dockyard at Devonport, with the much smaller and secondary dockyard at Pembroke. A number of training establishments with seagoing tenders attached were in service in 1914.  They were:


Local defence forces consisted of 3 torpedo boat destroyers, 6 torpedo boats, and 2 submarines at Devonport, and 4 torpedo boats at Pembroke. The local defence flotilla remained active until 1918.

The command administered 10 battleships, and 11 cruisers at Devonport, and 4 battleships at Pembroke under the pre-war fleet structure until July 1914.

During the war, the following flotillas operated within the command:

With headquarters at HMS Colleen, Queenstown, this relatively minor peacetime command grew to become responsible for anti-submarine operations in the Western Approaches, Irish Sea, and Irish Coast.

By 1918, it included a substantial US Navy component to protect the convoys bringing American troops to Europe.
 

Apart from a small dockyard at Haulbowline, there were no major shore facilities in 1914. The command relied on docks and facilities in Great Britain for repairs and maintenance. Equally there were no major manning depots or training establishments.

In 1914, the base at Queenstown hosted the recently formed Training Squadron composed of 8 cruisers of the Edgar class. All left for the Northern Patrol in August 1914. This left 4 torpedo boats for local defence at Queenstown.

Small groups of destroyers were assigned to patrol duties in various ports on either side of the Irish Sea. But, it was not until 1916, that major flotillas began to arrive, They were:



Establishment of this command began in 1913 in anticipation of the opening of the dockyard at Rosyth - which did not happen until 1916. The main purpose of the command was the provision of the required infrastructure to support the fleet in northern waters. In addition, it provided for local defence from the Moray Firth to the Tyne. As a new organisation it did not have either shore establishments or a local defence flotilla in 1914.


During the course of the war, the construction of the dockyard at Rosyth was finished, a major base for destroyers was built at Port Edgar, and extensive repair facilities created at Invergordon.

From 1915 substantial elements of the Grand Fleet were based in the Firth of Forth which became the main base for the fleet on 12th April 1918.

The forces allocated to the command contained a mixture of those needed for support of the Grand Fleet, and  those to provide the northern wing of the Admiral of Patrols domain. They included:


On the west coast of Scotland, there were:

 

Established in August 1914 with the sole purposes of creating, operating and defending the fleet base at Scapa Flow. Apart from the Grand Fleet, the ships of the Northern Patrol were based here.
 
 
As with Rosyth, it is sometimes difficult to establish which flotillas and ships operated under the Orkneys and Shetlands Command, as opposed to the Grand Fleet or the Northern Patrol. The following seem more likely than not to be base forces:




A number of tasks faced the Royal Navy in Home Waters 1914-1918 which required a number of different types of commands, fleets, squadrons and flotillas. Often these tasks overlapped in the sense that the same formation could contribute to operations in pursuit of that task.

The tasks were:


There was no overall naval commander for warfare in Home Waters. The allocation of resources, and the co-ordination of operations was the main task of the Admiralty.

The following notes will deal with each of the major elements of British naval power in Home Waters, beginning with the Grand Fleet.

A resume of those major elements in 1914 will set the scene for a more detailed examination.

 





A series of Cruiser Forces are listed 5th August 1914 but some are not included in above list. They were:
 


The principal battle fleet assembled for operations with a new name and a new commander. The First Fleet became the Grand Fleet and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe succeeded Admiral Sir George Callaghan (below), four months before the latter's tenure was due to end.


The fleet's main base was at Scapa Flow until 20th April 1918 when it moved to Rosyth. The pressure to move south was largely due to the need to be closer to both the east coast and to the German fleet bases. Until Rosyth was ready in terms of facilities and defences, the fleet remained in the Orkneys with two exceptions - the early move of 3rd Battle Squadron and 3rd Cruiser Squadron during August 1914, and the subsequent movement of the battle-cruisers there at the end of 1914.

The fleet retained a hierarchy of battle squadrons, cruiser squadrons, and destroyer flotillas throughout the conflict. From 1917 it included submarines flotillas, and then a 'flying' squadron. In June 1916, there was a major re-organisation of the battle and cruiser squadrons. The number of destroyer flotillas increased from three to seven by 1918.

The battle squadrons were:













The Grand Fleet battle squadrons had one scout cruiser attached to each of them. Its purpose was either to repeat signals from the flagship, or retrieve the squadron commander from a damaged or sinking flagship.

At the beginning of hostilities, only the 1st Battle-Cruiser Squadron was an integral part of the Grand Fleet: the other battle-cruisers were either in the Mediterranean or in the Australian Navy. Shortly after the move of 1st Battle-Cruiser Squadron to Cromarty in August 1914, the term 'Battle-Cruiser Force' was adopted.

When the Force moved to the Forth at the beginning of 1915 it was described as the 'Battle-Cruiser Fleet'. This description remained current throughout the remainder of the war, even though it was officially subordinate to the CinC Grand Fleet. The use of the term was perhaps justified because it included three battle-cruiser squadrons from the beginnning of 1915 until the battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916. In the post-battle re-organisation of the Grand Fleet, its was reduced to two battle-cruiser squadrons.

An aviation element was present in the Grand Fleet from 10.15; and 'Flying Squadron' under Rear Admiral Richard Phillimore was formed in 3.18. It consisted of-


The cruiser forces of the Grand Fleet were made up of Cruiser Squadrons and Light Cruiser Squadrons. The former consisted of armoured cruisers, and the latter of more modern, lighter and more agile light cruisers. As the war progressed the number of cruiser squadrons decreased as the age and vulnerability of the armoured cruisers became more evident. The number of light cruiser squadrons increased correspondingly.

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On 8th August 1914, ships from the pre-war Second and Third Fleets were organised into the Channel Fleet. The task of this fleet was to deny German access to the English Channel, and, in so doing, protect the lines of communication of the British Expeditionary Force. Under the terms of the naval agreement with France, the Channel Fleet would protect the French coast as well. The Fleet carried out these tasks until it became clear that there was no threat of German heavy ships entering the Channel. Equally important, the demands for battleships in the eastern Mediterranean brought about its demise in early 1915.


Effectively the 2nd Fleet became the Channel Fleet; and the 3rd Fleet ceased to exist on mobilisation

Eventually, two battle squadrons were formed on 8th August from the battle squadrons of the 2nd and 3rd Fleets, which went through the following stages:

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In a similar manner, the cruiser squadrons which were listed as components of the Second and Third Fleets were dispersed in the following manner.



 



A major strategic requirement of the naval war against Germany was to institute and maintain a blockade of Germany which would deny German use of the high seas for trade. The advent of the mine and the submarine made the close blockade [virtually outside German ports] of previous wars impossible. A distant blockade between the Orkneys and Norway was required.

To enforce the blockade, all ships destined for Germany and other northern European ports had to stopped, searched, and seized if necessary. The force given this duty was the 10th Cruiser Squadron. Initially composed of cruisers of the Edgar class, the squadron was enlarged to include a significant number of armed merchant cruisers (AMC, including Digby and Avenger). After the Edgars were withdrawn in spring 1915 for service in the eastern Mediterranean, armed merchant cruisers  continued with this duty until December 1917. In January 1915, 23 armed merchant cruisers were in service, and this had increased to 26 by January 1917.

The entry of the USA into the war eliminated the need to stop many of the neutral merchant ships. The main task of the navy in northern waters was then to impede access of German submarines into the Atlantic - this was the aim of Northern Mine Barrage, in which the US Navy played a major role. 
 




Established prior to the war to command the patrol flotillas of destroyers and torpedo boats which were formed at various bases down the east coast of Britain, from the Forth to the Humber. The force would provide a more immediate defence against a descent by German forces on that coast. This task was carried out throughout the war. The major components were:


They were supported by the relatively brief stay in the Humber of 4th Destroyer Flotilla 9-12.16.

Submarine Flotillas were stationed at Blyth, Middlesbrough and Immingham. These will be described in the later section on submarine flotillas.

The 20th Destroyer Flotilla [13 ships] was formed at Immingham to provide a fast minelaying capacity on the eastern side of the North Sea.



On mobilisation of the First Fleet, it was decided to send two of its destroyer flotillas to Harwich. They were 1st DF and the 3rd DF - the latter re-equipping with L class destroyers. It seems that only the 3rd DF actually went to Harwich, where it was joined by the 8th Submarine Flotilla. Out of this the Harwich Force was formed as a southern wing of the Grand Fleet. The intention was to provide light forces which could impede any movement by German surface forces into the North Sea towards the east coast of England, or the Straits of Dover. The Harwich Force grew in size as the war progressed. Its main components were:


Some indication of the size of the Force can been seen below:

 



A short-lived attempt to deploy the 7th Cruiser Squadron on patrol off the Dutch coast. It could draw up support from the Harwich Force. Abandoned after the loss of three cruisers on 22.9.14
 


Formed by detaching responsibility for the Straits of Dover from the Admiral of Patrols.

The principal unit throughout the war was the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. Apart from those lost, the 12 Tribal class destroyers served at Dover throughout the war. They were joined by 11 30kt torpedo boat destroyers in August 1914.

Further additions were 10 Acheron and Acasta class in 11.16; 17 L class between 1.17 and 3.17; 10 M class in 3-5.17; 6 M class in 2-4.17; 2 T class in 11.17, two old tbd's in 3.18; and 3 S class by 7.18. Together with 11 destroyer leaders this meant that 84 destroyers served at Dover, of these 8 were lost.

A new task emerged in 1915 with the creation of a force of monitors to conduct bombardments on German positions on the coast of Flanders. In all 12 monitors conducted such operations from Dover.

The 10th Minesweeper Flotilla served at Dover in 1918.



The Commodore [S] was responsible for operations at Harwich, and later, from other east coast bases. He was not concerned with flotillas elsewhere. But this is a suitable place to provide a brief outline of all the submarine flotillas which operated in Home Waters.  Flotillas were re-numbered in August 1916: they are listed in accordance with the first number allocated.




This is an appropriate point to mention the Baltic Flotilla.

  
  

Unlike World War Two there was no Western Approaches Command to co-ordinate the campaign against the German submarines. Although a general lead was given by the Irish Command, other commands involved were Plymouth Command and Portsmouth Command. An additional factor was the presence of the United States Navy during 1917 and 1918.

The major Royal Navy units were:


An overall impression of the total numbers involved can be seen in the following table:

Base	January 1916-	January 1917-	January 1918-	November 1918-
Queenstown	12 sloops	19 sloops	37 USN destroyers	8 sloops 24 USN Destroyers
Portsmouth		13 destroyers	6 destroyers
Devonport	10 destroyers	14 destroyers	39 destroyers	28 destroyers
Londonderry			24 destroyers	20 destroyers 8 sloops
Brest				32 USN destroyers
Totals	22	46	106	120

 




This heading in the Navy List covers all forces operating in the North Atlantic, West Indies, Mid-Atlantic, West Africa, South America and South Atlantic: from Newfoundland to the Cape of Good Hope. The purpose of this was to indicate the composition of various geographically spread forces - mainly cruisers and armed merchant cruisers - engaged in the same task. Their role was to protect the sea routes from attacks by German surface forces. This was to be accomplished by the formation of 'cruiser forces' which would be formed from units of the 2nd and 3rd Fleets.

Operations in the this area can be divided into three phases:


In August 1914, the only forces in the area were:


The consequent distribution of forces can been seen in a series of snapshots:








The Royal Navy took part in a rather disjointed allied effort to secure the Mediterranean for the strategic requirements of France, Italy and the United Kingdom. As a result Britain's naval forces operated in a confused inter-national command structure.


As a result of an understanding between Britain and France, a strategic assignment of commands and ships was implemented in 1913. The naval agreement of that year assigned the Channel coast of France to the Royal Navy. In turn the French Navy assumed responsibility for any maritime war in the Mediterranean. This enabled Britain to concentrate naval strength against Germany; and for France to concentrate its fleet against two potential enemies - Austria-Hungary and Italy.

The French battle squadron at Brest moved to Toulon, and the British battle squadron moved to Gibraltar and then to the UK. Concerns about British weakness in the Mediterranean brought up the partial return of the Royal Navy to Malta in the autumn of 1913 when a battle-cruiser squadron and an armoured cruiser squadron were sent out from Britain.

As a result, the British force in the Mediterranean, under the command of Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, consisted of:


The battle-cruisers and armoured cruisers were withdrawn within the first three months of the conflict. Admiral Milne was recalled after the 'Goeben affair' and not replaced. There would not be another Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, until August 1917 when Vice Admiral Somerset Gough-Calthorpe took up the position in a more limited role. Throughout the war years, the CinC of the 'Armee Navale' was the titular allied naval commander. Until August 1917, British forces operated in largely geographically separate self-contained commands.

At first allied operations were made easier by the Italian decision to remain neutral. Only Austria-Hungary remained as the naval opposition. British mishandling of relations with Turkey in part brought about that country's entry into the war on 31st October 1914. This created a threat to British interests in the Suez Canal and Red Sea [which were handled by the East India Station until August 1917.] The Turkish declaration of war opened up an opportunity for Britain and France to use their naval power to seize the Dardanelles, Bosphorus and Constantinople and so establish a martime link with Russia. The British response was to create the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron [later British Aegean Squadron] which became the largest British force in the Mediterranean for the rest of the war.

The entry of Italy into the war on the allied side in May 1915 may have brought its fleet into the war against Austria-Hungary but it did create a command problem.  The Italian CinC - the Duke of Abruzzi - was more than a little reluctant to put his ships under French command. The result was the French fleet operating out of Malta, and then from Corfu and Brindisi, and the Italian Fleet operating from Taranto with little co-ordination between them. In response to an allied agreement the Royal Navy established the British Adriatic Squadron at Taranto.

The three fleets failed to close the Otranto straits at the southern end of the Adriatic to Austrian and German submarines. This failure, compounded by the failure of British forces at Gibraltar to stop the entry of German submarines into the Mediterranean created a crisis in the early summer of 1917 which brought about the final organisation of British naval forces in the Mediterranean.

An earlier arrangement [1.1.16] had divided the Mediterranean into areas of responsibility for anti-submarine warfare had failed because of boundary problems. Britain had been made responsible for the areas around Gibraltar, Malta, Egyptian coast, and Aegean. A new arrangement was made in the summer of 1917 by which Vice Admiral Somerset Gough-Calthorpe became CinC. He would have a co-ordinating role in the war against the submarines, and would command all British forces in the Mediterranean. He would NOT be the Allied CinC - that remained in the hands of the French, and he would fly his flag ashore in Malta. The previously assigned Admiral of Patrols would be his deputy for British efforts. An Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer flotilla [1 cruiser & 12 destroyers] joined the British forces at this time

As a result, the British naval forces consisted of a number of sub-commands:


After the Turkish surrender, a Black Sea & Marmora Force was formed.

A further major complication in tracing the employment and organisation of the Royal Navy was the lack of identified squadrons and flotillas. Apart the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, the only identified formation was the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron in the Adriatic in the autumn of 1918.

As a consequence, there follows two sections on RN participation: list of relevant flag officers; snapshots of distribution at a variety of dates

	August 1914	November 1914	March 1915	June 1915	September 1915
Mediterranean, *then Eastern Mediterranean	3 battle-cruisers 1st Cruiser Squadron 4 light cruisers 5th Destroyer Flotilla [16]	2 battle-cruisers 1 armoured cruiser 2 light cruisers 5th Destroyer Flotilla [16] 3 submarines	*13 battleships 1 battle-cruiser 4 light cruisers 1 seaplane carrier 5th Destroyer Flotilla [16] 6 submarines	8 battleships 7 cruisers 2 seaplane carriers 21 destroyers 7 submarines	10 battleships 15 cruisers 2 seaplane carriers 20 monitors 4 sloops 5th Destroyer Flotilla [31] 13 submarines
Gibraltar				4 cruisers 1 destroyer 2 sloops
Malta				3 battleships 1 cruiser 3 destroyers 2 submarines
Taranto, *then British Adriatic Sqn				4 battleships 3 cruisers	*5 battleships 7 cruisers 3 submarines

	January 1916	May 1916	January 1917	September 1917	April 1918	December 1918
Eastern Mediterranean, *then Med. Fleet	12 battleships 10 cruisers 2 seaplane carriers 19 monitors 6 sloops 5th Destroyer Flotilla [23] 4 submarines	4 battleships 12 cruisers 1 seaplane carrier 14 monitors 7 sloops 5th Destroyer Flotilla [31] 6 submarines	5 battleships 11 cruisers 2 seaplane carriers 13 monitors 8 sloops 29 destroyers 6 submarines	*5th Destroyer Flotilla [33] 6 submarines	and Malta 1 cruiser [F] 5th Destroyer Flotilla [42] 22 sloops	-
British Aegean Sqn, from old Eastern Med.				2 battleships 12 cruisers 12 monitors 7 sloops	2 battleships 10 cruisers 10 monitors 1 seaplane carrier 6 sloops 2 submarines	3 cruisers 1 seaplane carrier 6 monitors 8 sloops [4 destroyers from 5DF]
Gibraltar	Minor patrol craft	Minor patrol ships	1 cruiser 4 sloops		3 cruisers 2 destroyers 7 sloops 3 submarines	1 seaplane carrier 1 destroyer 11th Sloop Flotilla [7] 1 submarine
Malta	1 battleship 3 cruisers 5 destroyers 1 sloop 8 submarines 1 monitor	9 sloops	1 battleship 1 cruiser 10 destroyers 14 sloops 2 submarines 1 monitor	8 destroyers 11 sloops 12 IJN destroyers	(see Med. Fleet)	1 battleship [FF] 1 cruiser 5th Destroyer Flotilla [36] 12th Sloop Flotilla [5] 5 submarines
British Adriatic Sqn	4 battleships 5 cruisers 5 submarines	5 battleships 5 cruisers 10 submarines	4 battleships 4 cruisers 4 destroyers 2 submarines	1 battleship 6 cruisers 2 monitors 3 submarines	1 battleship 8th Light Cruiser Sqn [4] 2 monitors 1 seaplane carrier 6 submarines	1 battleship 8th Light Cruiser Sqn [6] 2 monitors 12th Sloop Flotilla [2]
Egyptian Division				1 battleship 5 cruisers 3 monitors 3 sloops	1 battleship 4 cruisers 2 seaplane carriers 14 sloops	1 battleship 3 cruisers 1 monitor 13th Sloop Flotilla [9]   3 Red Sea sloops
Black Sea & Marmora Division						3 battleships 7 cruisers 3 seaplane carriers 7 monitors 6 sloops [8 destroyers from 5DF]

Prior to August 1914, the Navy List grouped three stations together under the heading of 'The Eastern Fleet'. One of the three - the Australian Station moved out from this listing and was identified separately as the 'Australian Fleet'. In its place the listing was:


This is evidence of the pre-war plan to create an Eastern Fleet if and when the need arose. During the war, the differences of commitment between all four of the above elements became more obvious.

By March 1915, the listing had changed to become:

This method of listing remained in the Navy List until 1918, when 'Cape of Good Hope' replaced 'East Coast of Africa'.

The principal role of these various squadrons/stations was to 'show the flag' in distant waters and protect British commerce from German surface raiders - the latter was a major priority in 1914-1915.

As the China Squadron 'lost' its main area of concern when Admiral Graf Spee's Far East Squadron sailed eastwards across the Pacific, the East Indies Squadron gained enhanced responsibilities. It supported operations off German East Africa; and the Turkish entry into the war gave it the task of protecting the Suez Canal and Red Sea, and then providing support for the military campaign in Mesopotamia.

In each squadron, the number of warships allocated remained comparatively small in comparison with the resources allocated to European waters.


The changing strength of these various commands can be illustrated by the following snap shots:

1914	1915	1916	1917	1918
8.1914 1 battleship-Swiftsure [in reserve] 2 cruisers 4 sloops	3.15 4 cruisers 3 light cruisers 3 sloops 4 AMC's 6 RIM ships East Africa 4 cruisers 1 AMC 9.15 1 battleship 9 cruisers 7 sloops 2 seaplane carriers 5 AMC's 3 gunboats 5 RIM ships East Africa 3 cruisers 2 monitors 1 AMC	5.16 2 battleships 5 cruisers 6 monitors 10 sloops 4 seaplane carriers 20 gunboats 6 RIM ships East Africa 4 cruisers 2 AMC's 2 monitors 1 kite balloon ship	9.17 4 cruisers 1 monitor 12 sloops 24 gunboats 6 RIM ships East Africa 3 cruisers 2 monitors 1 AMC 1 sloop 1 gunboat	4.18 7 cruisers 4 gunboats 5 RIM vessels 12.18 3 cruisers 4 gunboats 2 RIM ships 1 seaplane carrier

 

1914	1915	1916	1917	1918
8.14 2 sloops [RCN]	3.15 2 cruisers [1 RCN] 1 sloop [RCN] 9.15 3 cruisers [1RCN] 2 AMC's 2 sloops [RCN]	5.16 3 cruisers [1 RCN] 3 AMC's 2 sloops [RCN]	9.17 2 cruisers [1 RCN] 3 AMC's	6.18 1 cruiser 2 AMC's 12.18 1 cruiser 1 AMC