Mediterranean Fleet (United Kingdom)

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Mediterranean Fleet
The battleships Bulwark, Renown and Ramillies at Malta in 1902.
Active	1690-1967
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Commanders
Notable commanders	Samuel Hood, Horatio Nelson, Andrew Cunningham

The British Mediterranean Fleet was part of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, historically defending the vital sea link between the British Isles and the majority of the British Empire in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Fleet was in existence until 1967.

Malta, a part of the British Empire since 1814, was used as a shipping waystation and headquarters for the Mediterranean Fleet until the mid-1930s.

In 1893, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon drowned as his flagship, HMS Victoria, sank within fifteen minutes of a collision with HMS Camperdown. About this time, the Mediterranean Fleet was the largest single squadron of the Royal Navy, with ten first-class battleships - double the number in the Channel Fleet - and a large number of smaller vessels.^[1]

Of the three original Invincible class battlecruisers which entered service in the first half of 1908, two (HMS Inflexible and HMS Indomitable) joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1914. They and HMS Indefatigable formed the nucleus of the fleet at the start of World War I when British forces pursued the German ships Goeben and Breslau.

A recently-modernised HMS Warspite became the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief and Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1926.

The Mediterranean Fleet achieved an especially high degree of professional excellence under the leadersip of Admiral Roger Keyes from 1926 to 1929. He had under his command such strong figures as Dudley Pound as Chief of Staff, Ginger Boyle, commanding a cruiser squadron and Augustus Agar,V.C. commanding a destroyer flotilla.

The fleet was moved to Alexandria, Egypt just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War due to the perceived threat of air-attack from the Italian mainland, a decision which would prove to be costly during the Siege of Malta but which would ensure the continuing safety of the Fleet to enable a sustained fight against the Axis forces.

Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham took command of the fleet in 1939 and in 1940 successfully attacked the World War II Italian Fleet at Taranto.

Ships of the Fleet took part in the Suez War against Egypt in 1956.

From 1952 until 1967, the post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet was given a dual hatted role as NATO Commander in Chief Mediterranean in charge of all forces assigned to NATO in the Mediterranean Area.

In the 1960s, with the decrease in imporance of maintaining the link between the British Isles and the Empire East of Suez, as a result of the dismantling of the Empire, and the increasing focus in the Cold War on the North Atlantic, The Mediterranean Fleet was drawn down over a period of time, finally disbanding in June 1967. The Fleet's assets and area of responsibility were given to the new Western Fleet. As a result of this change, the UK relinquished the NATO post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean, which was disbanded. The Royal Navy maintains a presence with the deployment of a warship to the NATO multi-national squadron Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED). The Navy also usually provides a warship to the NATO Mine Countermeasures Force (South).

Ships which have served in the British Mediterranean Fleet include: