Channel Fleet Explained

Unit Name:Channel Fleet
Dates:1854–1909, 1914–1915
Branch: Royal Navy
Type:Fleet
Garrison:Torbay, Falmouth and Plymouth.

The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.[1]

History

Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history there had been different squadrons stationed in home waters. One of the earliest known naval formations to be based at Plymouth was called the Western Squadron[2] [3] [4] which was the forerunner of the Channel Squadron that was later known as the Channel Fleet.[5] In 1650 Captain William Penn, Commander-in-Chief, was charged with guarding the Channel from Beachy Head to Lands End with six ships. This system continued following the Restoration. It was the start of what was to become a Western Squadron.[6] From 1690 the squadron operated out of Plymouth Dockyard during wartime periods, which was for most of the 18th century and early 19th century.[7] [8] In 1854 The Channel Squadron, sometimes known as the Particular Service Squadron, was established.[9] The Channel Squadron only became a permanent formation in 1858.[10]

During the 19th century, as the French developed Cherbourg as a base for steam-powered ships, the Royal Navy developed Portland Harbour as a base for the fleet.[11] The harbour was built between 1849 and 1872 when the Royal Navy created a breakwater made of blocks from local quarries on the Isle of Portland.[12]

With the amelioration of Anglo-French relations, and the German challenge towards 1900, the need for a Channel Formation diminished and the main European naval arena shifted to the North Sea. Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson was officially "Senior Officer in Command of the Channel Squadron" from 1901 to 1903. His subordinate flag officer in that squadron was the Second-in-Command, who commanded a division of battleships. For the period 1858 to 1903 the Channel squadron was often incorrectly referred to as the Channel Fleet.[13]

On 17 April 1903 The Right Hon. Lord Charles Beresford was appointed Vice-Admiral Commanding, Channel Squadron.[14] On 6 May 1903 Admiral Beresford was informed by the Admiralty "that for the future the Channel Squadron shall be known as the Channel Fleet."[15] On 14 December 1904 the Channel Fleet was re-styled the 'Atlantic Fleet' and the Home Fleet became the 'Channel Fleet'.[16]

On 24 March 1909, under a fleet re-organisation, the Channel Fleet became the 2nd Division of the Home Fleet.[17]

Rear and Vice-Admiral, Particular Service Squadron

Senior Officers in Command of the Channel Squadron

Post holders have included:[22] [23]

Second-in-Command Channel Squadron

Post holders included:[24]

Commanders-in-Chief Channel Fleet

Note Channel Fleet is re-named Atlantic Fleet 1909-1914

Second-in-Command Channel Fleet

Post holders included:[25]

Rear-Admirals in the Channel Fleet

Post holders included:[26]

Components

1895

Distribution of the Fleet first included:[27]

UnitDate Notes
1Battleships4 September 1895 5 ships: Royal Sovereign, Empress of India, Resolution, and Repulse.
2Cruisers4 September 1895 5 ships: Blenheim, Endymion, Bellona, Halcyon, and Speedy.

1901 to 1904

Distribution of the Fleet first included:[28] Of note:As the Channel Squadron - renamed The Channel Fleet, September, 1901.

UnitDate Notes
1BattleshipsSeptember 1901 - 1904 5 ships
2Cruiser SquadronSeptember 1901 - 1904 10 ships

1905 to 1907

Distribution of the Fleet first included:[29]

UnitDate Notes
1BattleshipsJanuary 1905-February 1907 12 ships - increased to 18 by 1907
21st Cruiser SquadronJanuary 1905-February 1907 5 ships to 1905 + 2 more ships from 1906
3Channel Fleet FlotillaJanuary 1905-February 1907 consisting of destroyers and divided into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Divisions

1907 to 1909

Distribution of the Fleet first included:[30]

UnitDate Notes
1BattleshipsMarch 1907-March 1909 14 ships
21st Cruiser SquadronMarch 1907-March 1909 6 ships
3Channel Fleet FlotillaMarch 1907-March 1909 divided into 1st Destroyer Flotilla & 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in March.1909

1914 to 1915

Of note: On 8 August 1914, ships from the pre-war Second and Third Fleets were organised into the Channel Fleet.

Distribution of the Fleet first included:[31]

UnitDate Notes
15th Battle SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915 Transferred from 2nd Fleet
28th Battle SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915 7th and 8th BattSq's (3rd Fleet) merged to form 8th BattSq - dispersed 20/08/14
35th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
46th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
57th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
68th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
79th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
810th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
911th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915
1012th Cruiser SquadronAugust 1914-March 1915

In literature

The Channel Fleet features in several historical novels about the Royal Navy, notably Hornblower and the Hotspur by C. S. Forester, in which Forester's fictional hero becomes a favourite of the real Channel Fleet commander, Admiral William Cornwallis. The fleet also features in several of the Aubrey–Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian.

The novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville is set on board ships of the Channel Fleet, in the immediate aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies of 1797.

In the novel The War of the Worlds, the Channel Fleet protects the huge mass of refugee ships escaping from the Essex coast in the face of the Martian onslaught. The initial heroic fight of and the subsequent general engagement, is detailed in the chapter entitled "The Thunderchild".

References

Sources

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archives. The National. Admiralty: Channel Squadron and Fleet: Correspondence. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives UK, ADM 144, 1859-1910. 8 February 2018.
  2. Book: Weigley. Russell F.. The Age of Battles: The Quest for Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo. 2004. Indiana University Press. 0253217075. 331. en.
  3. Book: Ranft. Bryan. The Oxford illustrated history of the Royal Navy. 1995. Oxford University Press. Oxford, England. 9780198605270. 144.
  4. Web site: THE ROYAL NAVY AND THE FRENCH WARS: THE LONG-TERM BACKGROUND: by Jeremy Black, University of Exeter. napoleonicsociety.com. The Napoleonic Society, 2011. 27 December 2017.
  5. Book: Mackesy. Piers. The War for America: 1775-1783. 1964. U of Nebraska Press. Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. 0803281927. 192. en.
  6. Book: Saunders. Andrew. Book of Channel defences. 1997. Batsford [u.a.]. London. 9780713475944. 32.
  7. Book: Annal. David. Collins. Audrey. Birth, Marriage and Death Records: A Guide for Family Historians. 2012. Casemate Publishers. 9781848845725. 24. en.
  8. Web site: Royal Navy Dockyards: Plymouth. rmg.co.uk. Royal Museums Greenwich, 2017. 27 December 2017.
  9. Web site: Harley. Simon. Lovell. Tony. Channel Squadron (Royal Navy) - The Dreadnought Project. www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley & Lovell, 26 November 2017. 27 December 2017. en.
  10. Web site: William Loney RN: Channel Fleet . 2010-10-17 . 2015-05-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150510035800/http://www.pdavis.nl/Channel.php . dead .
  11. http://www.theheritagecoast.co.uk/historyfile/portland_and_weymouth/portlands_deep_sea_harbour/channel_fleet.htm Channel Fleet
  12. http://www.portland-port.co.uk/about_the_port/company.htm Portland Harbour Authority: History
  13. Web site: Davis. Peter. The Times newspaper on the Channel Squadron, 1858-1862. www.pdavis.nl. Peter Davis. 27 December 2017. 10 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150510035800/http://www.pdavis.nl/Channel.php. dead.
  14. Harley & Lovell, 2017
  15. Harley & Lovell, 2017
  16. National Archives records
  17. http://military-genealogy.forcesreunited.org.uk/949/HMS_Bulwark HMS Bulwark
  18. Book: Admiralty . Great Britain . The Navy List . January 1855 . H.M. Stationery Office . 135 . en.
  19. Book: Admiralty . Great Britain . The Navy List . January 1855 . H.M. Stationery Office . 135 . en.
  20. Book: Admiralty . Great Britain . The Navy List . January 1857 . H.M. Stationery Office . London, England . 137 . en.
  21. Book: Admiralty . Great Britain . The Navy List . January 1857 . H.M. Stationery Office . London, England . 137 . en.
  22. Web site: Mackie. Colin. Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865. gulabin.com. Colin Mackie, December 2017. 27 December 2017.
  23. Whitaker's Almanacks 1900 - 1909
  24. Harley & Lovell, 2017
  25. Web site: Harley. Simon. Lovell. Tony. Channel Fleet (Royal Navy) - The Dreadnought Project. www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell, 7 February 2018. 24 February 2018. en.
  26. Web site: Harley. Simon. Lovell. Tony. Channel Fleet (Royal Navy) - The Dreadnought Project. www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell, 7 February 2018. 24 February 2018. en.
  27. Web site: CHANNEL SQUADRON. (Hansard, 4 September 1895). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Hansard, HC Deb 04 September 1895 vol 36 cc1688-9. 4 September 1895. 24 February 2018.
  28. Web site: Watson. Graham. Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployments 1900-1914. www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 8 August 2015. 23 February 2018.
  29. Watson, 2015.
  30. Watson, 2015.
  31. Web site: Watson. Graham. Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914-1918. www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 27 October 2015. 23 February 2018.

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