List of Royal Navy stations

The list of the Royal Navy stations catalogues historical areas of operations of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1945. The stations were used as fleet, squadron and individual ship assignments, and were served by the Royal Navy's supply auxiliaries, connecting the world-wide network of base ports, coaling stations and navy depots.

All stations were commanded by a Commander-in-Chief, however this officer may or may not have been the commander of the cruising fleet or squadron assigned to the station. By the 1920s the forces deployed to stations were composed of cruisers, destroyers, submarines and auxiliary supporting vessels with the cruiser serving as the flagship for the Commander-in-Chief of the Station or the Senior Naval Officer. An exception to this was the China station where a small aircraft carrier was also present, and numerous small craft for riverine operations [p.183, Moretz]

Home waters stations

* Aberdeen station [p.555, The Shipping World]
* Bristol station [p.48, Talbott]
* Channel Islands station [p.185, Lemprière ]
* Channel station [p.359, Marshall] (Channel Squadron)
* Chatham station [p.4, Parliamentary Papers]
* Coast of Scotland station, later Coast of Scotland Command (1920s) [p.183, Moretz]
* Cork station (1800) [p.1, Bothway & Bothway]
* Dartmouth station [this was a historic "dry station", being the location of the Britannia Royal Naval College; not to be confused with the 20th century rail station there, and a commercial ferry station]
* Deal (exterior port)
* Devonport station
* Deptford (arsenal)
* Downs station
* Dundee station
* Dublin station
* Falmouth station
* Greenock station
* Hartlepool station
* Harwich station for the Harwich Force during the Second World War
* Leith (exterior port)
* Liverpool station
* London station
* Pembroke station
* Plymouth station
* Portsmouth station
* Queensferry station (Forth) [early spelling Queen's Ferry]
* Queenstown station (southern coast of Ireland)
* River Humber station
* Scotch Fisheries station
* Sheerness station
* Shields station
* Southampton station
* Sunderland station
* Woolwich station

Overseas (foreign) stations

Baltic Sea

* Baltic station (1800)

The Atlantic Ocean

America

* West Africa Station (AO for Preventative Squadron) - (1808 - 1869) Anti-slavery patrol merged with Cape of Good Hope Station.
* West Indies station (Jamaica)
* North America station
* North America and West Indies (at least 1923-1956) [ [http://www.admirals.org.uk/appointments/fleets/americawestindies.php Holders of the appointment Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies 1904-1945 ] ] and then redesignated as Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies (1926-56). His command was known semi-formally as the America and West Indies CommandRoskill, see [http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4201-40RNShips4Overseas.htm] ] HQ Bermuda (from southern Brazil to Greenland) during World War II. Its Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Sir William G. Andrewes, was the initial Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic after World War II (circa 1952 and afterwards). [Sean M. Maloney, 'To Secure Command of the Sea: NATO Command Organization and Naval Planning for the Cold War at Sea, 1945-54,' MA thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1991, p.198 and Chapter 4 generally, and http://www.bermuda-online.org/rnd.htm.] On 29 October 1956, the command became Senior Naval Officer West Indies (SNOWI), which was finally disbanded on 1 April 1976.
* South East Coast of America station

North Atlantic

* Gibraltar foreign station, later Gibraltar station (North Atlantic)
* Québec foreign station (1827)
* Bermuda foreign station, later Bermuda station (North Atlantic)
* Halifax foreign station, later Halifax (North Atlantic) [Admiral Herbert Sawyer (1812)]
* Prince Rupert Sound station (North Pacific)
* Vancouver station (North Pacific)
* Esquimalt station (North Pacific)

South American Division of A&WI Station (c.1931-33 - at least 1939) Commodore R.H.O. Lane-Poole, O.B.E., R.N., on formation, Commodore Henry Harwood at the Battle of the River Plate.

* Leeward Islands station [Francis Foley]
* Trinidad station (Mid-Atlantic)
* Curacao station (Mid-Atlantic)
* Kingston station (Carribean)
* Antigua foreign station (1827)
* Brazils station
* Jamaica foreign station [Admiral Charles Stirling (1812)]
* Valparaiso station

Africa
* Cape of Good Hope foreign station, later Cape of Good Hope station
* Ascension station
* Saint Helena foreign station (1827)
* Falklands station (South Atlantic/Africa)
* Freetown station (South Atlantic/Africa)
* Sierra Leone station
* Fernando Po station
* Simonstown station (South Atlantic/Africa)South Africa) until 1939, South Atlantic from 1939 onward) [ [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c3.html CHAPTER 3 — The Search for the Admiral Graf Spee | NZETC ] ]
* Durban station (South Atlantic/Africa)
* Coast of Africa station
* Mozambique station
* South Atlantic Station

Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean

* Mediterranean station (Malta)
* Coast of Syria station
* Malta foreign station, later Malta station (Mediterranean)
* Alexandria station (Mediterranean)

Indian Ocean

East Indies

* East Indies and Cape of Good Hope station
* East Indies Station (Columbo)
* West Coast of Africa station
* Kilindini station (East Indies)
* Aden station (East Indies)
* Basra station (East Indies)
* Bombay foreign station, later Bombay station (East Indies)
* Colombo station (East Indies)
* Trincomalee foreign station, later Trincomalee station (East Indies)

Pacific Ocean

China

* Pacific station
* China station
* Shanghai station
* China and Japan station
* Singapore station (China)
* Hong Kong station (China)
* Wei Hai Wei station (China)

Australia

* Australia Station - Sydney HQ (West and central Pacific archipelagos)
* Sydney station (Australia) [GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE SERIES, 1883–1957, 1926–38 Captain Superintendent, Sydney, and Captain-in-Charge, New South Wales (CA 4338); 1938–42 Captain-in-Charge (from 1939, Commodore in Charge), HM Australian Naval Establishments, Sydney (CA 4339); This series contains correspondence records about the activities of both the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The series began in 1883 (from Sydney Station, Port of Sydney) and extended to Command Eastern Australia Area in 1957. These records deal with the management of civilian and service establishments, and include material about ships, dockyards, depots, staff management, discipline, navigation, and the establishment and erection of various depots. National Archives of Australia [http://www.naa.gov.au/naaresources/publications/research_guides/guides/depression/chapter1.htm] ]

South Pacific

* New Zealand station [Commodore Commanding New Zealand Squadron, March 1921 - October 1940. [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-a6.html Appendix Vi — Members Of New Zealand Naval Board | Nzetc ] ] HQ Auckland, covering the area from the South Pacific to the South Atlantic. Commodore's appointment abolished and forces brought directly under CNS from October 1940. The operational authority was the Commodore, Auckland, from 1961 [J O'C Ross, 'The White Ensign in New Zealand,' AH & AW Reed, 1967, p.115] which changed to the Maritime Commander in March 1993. [ [http://executive.govt.nz/93-96/minister/east/pen02091.htm East - New Chief Of Naval Staff Announced] ]
* Callao station (Peru)

Citations and notes

References

* "The Shipping World and Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering News: The Oldest Weekly Journal Devoted to Shipping, Shipbuilding, Marine Engineering, Shiprepairing, Insurance and Finance", v.124 1947 January-June, Shipping World, 1951
* Talbott, John E., "The Pen and Ink Sailor: Charles Middleton and the King's Navy, 1778-1813", Taylor & Francis, 1998
* Lemprière, Raoul, "History of the Channel Islands", Hale, 1980
* Marshall, John, "Royal Naval Biography; Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-officers, Superannuated Rear-admirals, Retired-captains, Post-captains, and Commanders, Whose Names Appeared on the Admiralty List of Sea Officers at the Commencement of the Present Year, Or who Have Since Been Promoted ...", Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1829
* "Parliamentary Papers", 1837-1838:v.23, House of Commons, Great Britain Parliament, London, HMSO, 1838
* Moretz, Joseph, "The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period: An Operational Perspective", Routledge, 2002
* Bothway, I., & Bothway, Joseph, "Mechanical Improvements Connected with the Royal Navy: Which Have Been Submitted to the Honorable Admiralty, Navy, Trinity and India Boards ... from the Year 1814 to 1830", M. Staunton, 1831

Recommended reading

* Derek Cripps, "Steel's List of the Royal Navy 1793-1805: Ships Commanders and Stations", Arlington House Productions, 2004
* Daniel Keyte Sandford, Thomas Thomson, Allan Cunningham, "The Popular Encyclopedia: Being a General Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, Biography, History, and Political Economy, Reprinted from the American Edition of the 'Conversations Lexicon' ... with Dissertations on the Rise and Progress of Literature", Blackie, 1836 [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0WQIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA714&dq=stations+of+the+Royal+Navy&lr=&as_brr=3]
* Ships and Stations of the Royal Navy
* John Bach, "The Australia Station: A History of the Royal Navy in the South West Pacific, 1821-1913", NSWU Press, 1985