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
Mediterranean Fleet redirects here. For the Mediterranean Fleets of other countries, see Mediterranean Fleet (disambiguation).

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 first Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, may have been named as early as 1665,[1] and 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.[2]

Of the three original Invincible class battlecruisers which entered service in the first half of 1908, two (HMS Inflexible and Indomitable) joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1914. They and HMS Indefatigable formed the nucleus of the fleet at the start of the First World War 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 leadership 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.

Contents

[edit] Second World War

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 Italian Fleet at Taranto by air.

The Fleet had to block Italian and later German reinforcements and supplies for the North African Campaign.

[edit] Post War

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 importance 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).

[edit] Commanders in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet

Commander-in-chief From To Flagship Note
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent 1796 1799
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson [3][4] May 1803 January 1805 Died after Battle of Trafalgar
1805 1831
Vice-Admiral Henry Hotham [3][4] 30 March 1831 19 April 1833 Died 19 April 1833.
Vice-Admiral Pulteney Malcolm 3 May 1833 18 December 1833
Vice-Admiral Josias Rowley 18 December 1833 9 February 1837
Admiral Robert Stopford 9 February 1837 14 October 1841
Vice-Admiral Edward Rich Owen 14 October 1841 27 February 1845
Vice-Admiral William Parker 27 February 1845 17 January 1852
Rear-Admiral James Dundas 17 January 1852 1854 Vice-Adm. 17 December 1852
Rear-Admiral Edmund Lyons 1854 22 February 1858 Vice-Adm. 19 March 1857
Vice-Admiral Arthur Fanshawe 22 February 1858 19 April 1860 Marlborough [5]
Vice-Admiral William Martin 19 April 1860 20 April 1863 Marlborough [6]
Vice-Admiral Robert Smart 20 April 1863 28 April 1866 Marlborough[7] then Victoria [8]
Vice-Admiral Lord Clarence Paget 28 April 1866 28 April 1869 Victoria then Caledonia [9]
Vice-Admiral Alexander Milne 28 April 1869 25 October 1870 Lord Warden [10] Adm. 1 April 1870
Vice-Admiral Hastings Reginald Yelverton 25 October 1870 13 January 1874 Lord Warden [11]
Vice-Admiral James Drummond 13 Jan 1874 15 Jan 1877 Lord Warden then Hercules [12]
Vice-Admiral Geoffrey Hornby 15 Jan 1877 5 Feb 1880 Alexandra [13] Adm. 15 Jun 1879
Vice-Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour 5 Feb 1880 7 Feb 1883 Inconstant and Alexandra [14] Adm. 6 May 1882
Vice-Admiral Lord John Hay 7 Feb 1883 5 Feb 1886 Alexandra [15] Adm. 8 Jul 1884
Vice-Admiral H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh 5 Feb 1886 11 Mar 1889 Alexandra [16] Adm. 18 Oct 1887
Vice-Admiral Anthony Hiley Hoskins 11 Mar 1889 20 Aug 1891 Alexandra Mar 89 - Dec 89
Camperdown Dec 89 - May 90
Victoria May 90 onwards [17]		 Adm. 20 Jun 1891
Vice-Admiral George Tryon 20 Aug 1891 22 Jun 1893 Victoria [18] Died in commission; lost in Victoria
Admiral Michael Culme-Seymour 29 Jun 1893 10 Nov 1896 Ramillies [19]
Admiral John Hopkins 10 Nov 1896 1 Jul 1899
Admiral John Fisher 1 July 1899 1902 Renown
Admiral Compton Domvile [20] 1902 June 1905
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford [21][22] June 1905 February 1907 Bulwark
Admiral Sir Charles Drury February 1907 1908
Vice-Admiral Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe [23] 1908 1910
Vice-Admiral Sir Edmund Samuel Poe [24] 1910 November 1912
During World War I, the station was divided up in different ways at different times. There was an overall Allied Commander in Chief, who was from the French Navy and is not listed here. Post titles have been put in bold in the notes column.
Admiral Sir Archibald Milne [25][26] Nov 1912 27 Aug 1914 Inflexible Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean
Vice Admiral Sir Sackville Carden [27] [28] [29][30] Sep 1914 Feb 1915 Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean [31][32]
Vice Admiral Sir Sackville Carden [33] [34] [35] [36] February 1915 16 March 1915 Aegean [37]
Rear-Admiral Sir John de Robeck [38][39][40] 17 March 1915 January 1916
(or May 1916?) [37]		 Lord Nelson Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Mediterranean [37]
Rear Admiral Cecil Thursby [37][41] August 1916 August 1917 Eastern Mediterranean. Vice Admiral from April 1917
Rear Admiral Cecil Thursby [37] [42] April? 1915 May? 1915 Aegean
Rear Admiral Sydney Freemantle [37][43] August 1917 9? January 1918 Aegean
Rear Admiral Arthur Hayes-Sadler [37][44] January 1918 Aegean
Rear Admiral Cecil Lambert [37] [45] 2 April 1918  ? Aegean
Rear Admiral Michael Culme-Seymour [37] May 1918  ? Aegean
Rear Admiral Richard Peirse [37] [46] December 1915 C-in-C East Indies. Vice Admiral from 24 October 1914.
Rear Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss [37] [47] December 1915 June 1917 Euryalus Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and Egypt Station
Rear Admiral Ernest Gaunt [37] [48] June 1917  ? C-in-C East Indies.
Rear Admiral Thomas Jackson [37] July 1917  ? Egypt & Red Sea
Vice Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss [49] June 1917 July 1917 Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean
Never took up appointment.
Admiral Somerset Gough-Calthorpe [50] 26 August 1917 25 July 1919 Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean
Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck [51] 26 July 1919 14 May 1922 Iron Duke
Vice Admiral Sir Osmond de Beauvoir Brock [52] 15 May 1922 7 June 1925 Admiral 31 July 1924
Admiral Roger Keyes [53] 8 June 1925 7 June 1928 Warspite
Admiral Sir Frederick Field 8 June 1928 28 May 1930
Admiral Ernle Chatfield [54] 27 May 1930 31 October 1932 Queen Elizabeth [55]
Admiral William Fisher [56] 31 October 1932 19 March 1936 Resolution later Queen Elizabeth [57]
Admiral Sir Dudley Pound [58] 20 March 1936 31 May 1939
During World War II, the Mediterranean Station was split between commands some of the time. Post titles in the notes column.
A/Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham [59][60] [61] 1 June 1939
6 Jun 1939
assumed command		 March 1942 Warspite Aug 1939
HMS St Angelo (base, Malta) Apr 1940
Warspite Feb 1941		 Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Vice-Admiral Cunningham was given acting rank of Admiral on 1 June 1930, and promoted to Admiral on 3 January 1941.
A/Admiral Sir Henry H. Harwood [61] [62] 22 April 1942 February 1943 Warspite
HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) Aug 1942		 Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Vice-Admiral Harwood was given acting rank of Admiral.
Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham [63][64] [61] 1 November 1942 20 February 1943 HMS Hannibal (base, Algiers) Naval Commander Expeditionary Force (NCXF) North Africa and Mediterranean
In the first half of 1943 the Mediterranean Fleet Command was split into a command of ships and a command of ports & naval bases:
Meditteranean Fleet: C-in-C Med Fleet, 15th Cruiser Squadron, Cdre. (D)
Levant: C-in-C Levant, Alexandria, Malta, Port Said, Haifa, Bizerta, Tripoli, Mersa Matruh, Benghazi, Aden, Bone, Bougie, Philippeville
Levant was renamed Eastern Mediterranean in late December 1943. </ref>[61]
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew B. Cunningham [65][66] [61] 20 February 1943 15 October 1943 HMS Hannibal (base, Algiers/Taranto) Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.
Admiral John H. D. Cunningham [67] [61] 15 October 1943 February 1946 HMS Hannibal (base, Algiers/Taranto) Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Station & Allied Naval Commander Mediterranean
A/Admiral John H. D. Cunningham [68] [61] 5 June 1943 August 1943 HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) Commander-in-Chief, Levant.
Vice Admiral Sir Algernon U. Willis [61] temporary 14 October 1943 December 1943 HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) Commander-in-Chief, Levant.
Vice Admiral H. Bernard Rawlings [61] 28 December 1943 June 1944 HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) April 1944 Flag Officer, Eastern Mediterranean. From 8 June 1944 Sir H. Bernard Rawlings
1946 1967

The list from 30 March 1831 to 1 July 1899 is taken from Principal Royal Navy Commanders-in-Chief 1830-1899.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ nbdrisk
  2. ^ Commissioned ships of the Royal Navy, from the Sunlight Almanac, 1895
  3. ^ a b Principal Royal Navy Commanders-in-Chief 1830-1899
  4. ^ a b Hotham family tree
  5. ^ Arthur Fanshawe on-line biography
  6. ^ William Fanshawe Martin on-line biography
  7. ^ mHistoryHMS Marlborough
  8. ^ Robert Smart on-line biography
  9. ^ Lord Clarence Edward Paget on-line biography
  10. ^ Alexander Milne on-line biography
  11. ^ Hastings Reginald Yelverton on-line biography
  12. ^ James Robert Drummond on-line biography
  13. ^ Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby on-line biography
  14. ^ Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour on-line biography
  15. ^ Lord John Hay on-line biography
  16. ^ p222, Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, pub Seeley, 1957, and Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
  17. ^ p222, 320, 336, Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, pub Seeley, 1957, and Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
  18. ^ George Tryon on-line biography
  19. ^ p362, Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, pub Seeley, 1957, and Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
  20. ^ Compton Edward Domville [sic on-line biography]
  21. ^ p267 & 282 "Geoffrey Bennett Charlie B, a Biography of Admiral Lord Beresford of Metemmeh and Curraghmore GCB GCVO LLD DCL, pub pub Peter Dawnay, Ltd, 1968.
  22. ^ p508, Beresford, Lord Charles , The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, pub Methuen, 1914.
  23. ^ Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna
  24. ^ Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna
  25. ^ p287,289 & 422 Geoffrey Miller, Superior Force: The conspiracy behind the escape of Goeben and Breslau, pub Hull, 1996, ISBN 0-85958-635-9
  26. ^ First World War.com Who's Who: Sir Berkeley Milne
  27. ^ p76, Halpern, Paul G The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1914-1918, pub Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87021-448-9
  28. ^ Sackville Hamilton Carden career
  29. ^ Carden, Sir Sackville Hamilton (1857-1930)
  30. ^ First World War.com Who's Who: Sir Sackville Carden
  31. ^ RN World War I Flag Officers says initially Malta.
  32. ^ First World War.com Who's Who: Sir Sackville Carden says "His war began with an appointment (surprising to many) as commander of British naval forces in the Mediterranean in September 1914, where he replaced Sir Berkeley Milne."
  33. ^ p76, Halpern, Paul G The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1914-1918, pub Navl Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87021-448-9
  34. ^ Sackville Hamilton Carden career
  35. ^ Carden, Sir Sackville Hamilton (1857-1930)
  36. ^ First World War.com Who's Who: Sir Sackville Carden
  37. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m RN World War I Flag Officers
  38. ^ Janus: The Papers of Admiral Sir John de Robeck
  39. ^ John de Robeck career
  40. ^ Janus: The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Wester Wemyss
  41. ^ Cecil Fiennes Thursby career
  42. ^ Cecil Fiennes Thursby career
  43. ^ Sydney Robert Freemantle says that from 10 January 1918 to 1 May 1919 he was appointed as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.
  44. ^ Arthur Hayes-Sadler career
  45. ^ Cecil Foley Lambert career
  46. ^ Richard Henry Peirse career
  47. ^ Janus: The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Wester Wemyss
  48. ^ Ernest Frederic Augustus Gaunt career
  49. ^ Janus: The Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Wester Wemyss "In June 1917 Wemyss was promoted Vice-Admiral and it was first intended that he should take command of all British ships in the Mediterranean with his headquarters in Malta."
  50. ^ p323 Geoffrey Miller, Superior Force: The conspiracy behind the escape of Goeben and Breslau, pub Hull, 1996, ISBN 0-85958-635-9
    p80, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
    Somerset Gough-Calthorpe career
    RN World War I Flag Officers
  51. ^ p85 & 94, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
    John de Robeck career
  52. ^ p92, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
    Osmond de Beauvoir Brock career
  53. ^ Roger Keyes career
  54. ^ Ernle Chatfield career
  55. ^ p121 Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
  56. ^ Papers of Admiral Fisher
    Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
    Dudley Pound career history
    Admiral Sir William Fisher career
  57. ^ p121 & 123 Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
  58. ^ p140 Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
    Dudley Pound career history
    Andrew Cunningham career
  59. ^ Andrew Cunningham career
  60. ^ World War II RN Officers C
  61. ^ a b c d e f g h i Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet + Levant/Eastern Mediterranean
  62. ^ Sir Henry Harwood Harwood career
  63. ^ Andrew Cunningham career
  64. ^ World War II RN Officers C
  65. ^ Andrew Cunningham career
  66. ^ World War II RN Officers C
  67. ^ World War II RN Officers C
  68. ^ http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersC4.html World War II RN Officers C]

[edit] References