- Mediterranean Fleet
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For the Mediterranean Fleets of other countries, see Mediterranean Fleet (disambiguation).
Mediterranean Fleet 
The battleships Bulwark, Renown and Ramillies at Malta in 1902.Active 1690 – 5 June 1967 Country 
United KingdomBranch 
Royal NavyCommanders Notable
commandersSamuel 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, defending the vital sea link between the United Kingdom 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.
Contents
Pre-Second World War
In the last decade of the nineteenth century, 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] In 1893, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon drowned when his flagship, HMS Victoria, collided with HMS Camperdown, and sank within fifteen minutes.
Of the three original Invincible-class battlecruiser 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.
Second World War
Main article: Battle of the MediterraneanMalta, as part of the British Empire from 1814, was a shipping station and was the headquarters for the Mediterranean Fleet until the mid-1930s. Due to the perceived threat of air-attack from the Italian mainland, the fleet was moved to Alexandria, Egypt shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. This decision contributed to the continuing ability of the Fleet to sustainably fight against the Axis forces.
Sir Andrew Cunningham took command of the fleet from HMS Warspite on 3 September 1939, and under him the major formations of the Fleet were the 1st Battle Squadron (Warspite, Barham, and Malaya) 1st Cruiser Squadron (Devonshire, Shropshire, and Sussex), 3rd Cruiser Squadron (Arethusa, Penelope, Galatea), Rear Admiral, Destroyers, Rear Admiral J.C. Tovey, with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Destroyer Flotillas, and the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious.[3]
In 1940, the Mediterranean Fleet successfully attacked the Italian Fleet at Taranto by air. Other major actions included the Battle of Cape Matapan, and the Battle of Crete. The Fleet had to block Italian and later German reinforcements and supplies for the North African Campaign.
Post war
In October 1946, HMS Saumarez hit a mine in the Corfu Channel, starting a series of events known as the Corfu Channel Incident. The channel was cleared in 'Operation Recoil' the next month, involving 11 minesweepers under the guidance of HMS Ocean, two cruisers, three destroyers, and three frigates.[4]
In May 1948, Sir Arthur Power took over as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, and in his first act arranged a show of force to discourage the crossing of Jewish refugees into Palestine. When later that year Britain pulled out of the British Mandate of Palestine, HMS Ocean, four destroyers, and two frigates escorted the departing High Commissioner, aboard the cruiser HMS Euryalus. The force stayed to cover the evacuation of British troops into the Haifa enclave and south via Gaza. In July 1947, after the main force, headed by two carriers, Ocean and Triumph, had visited Istanbul, HM Ships Liverpool, Sevastopol.
The battleship Vanguard briefly served with the Fleet in 1949 for six months. Vanguard was back in the Mediterranean briefly in 1954 during combined exercises with the Home Fleet.
From 1952 until 1967, the post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet was given a dual-hatted role as NATO Commander in Chief of Allied Forces Mediterranean in charge of all forces assigned to NATO in the Mediterranean Area. The British made strong representations within NATO in discussions regarding the development of the Mediterranean NATO command structure, wishing to retain their direction of NATO naval command in the Mediterranean to protect their sea lines of communication running through the Mediterranean to the Middle East and Far East.[5] When a NATO naval commander, Admiral Robert B. Carney, C-in-C Allied Forces Southern Europe, was appointed, relations with the incumbent British C-in-C, Admiral Sir John Edelsten, were frosty. Edlesten, on making an apparently friendly offer of the use of communications facilities to Carney, who initially lacked secure communications facilities, was met with 'I'm not about to play Faust to your Mephistopheles through the medium of communications!'[6]
In 1956, ships of the Fleet took part in the Suez War against Egypt.
From 1957 to 1959, Rear Admiral Charles Madden held the post of Flag Officer Malta, with responsibilities for three squadrons of minesweepers, an amphibious warfare squadron, and a flotilla of submarines stationed at the bases around Valletta Harbour. In this capacity, he had to employ considerable diplomatic skill to maintain good relations with Dom Mintoff, the nationalistic prime minister of Malta.[7]
In the 1960s, as the importance of maintaining the link between the United Kingdom and British territories and commitments East of Suez decreased as the Empire dismantled, and the focus of Cold War naval responsibilities moved to the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Fleet was gradually drawn down, finally disbanding in June 1967. Eric Groves, in Vanguard to Trident, details how by the mid-1960s the permanent strength of the Fleet was 'reduced to a single small escort squadron [appears to have been 30th Escort Squadron with HMS Brighton, HMS Cassandra, HMS Aisne plus another ship] and a coastal minesweeper squadron.'[8] Deployments to the Beira Patrol and elsewhere reduced the escort total in 1966 from four to two ships, and then to no frigates at all. 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 often deploys a warship to the NATO multi-national squadron Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, the NATO successor to Standing Naval Force Mediterranean.
Commanders in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet
Commanders-in-Chief have included:[9][10]
Commander-in-chief From To Flagship Note Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Saunders January 1757 May 1757 Vice-Admiral Henry Osborn[11] May 1757 April 1760 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Saunders April 1760 1763 Vice-Admiral Augustus Hervey 1763 ? Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Spry 1766 1769 Vice-Admiral Earl Howe[12] 1770 c.1776 c.1776 1783 Vice-Admiral Sir John Lindsay 1783 1784 Vice-Admiral Phillips Cosby 1785 1789 1789 1793 Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood February 1793 October 1794 Vice-Admiral Lord Hotham October 1794 November 1795 Vice-Admiral Lord Jervis 1796 1799 Vice-Admiral Lord Keith November 1799 1802 Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson [13][14] May 1803 January 1805 Died after Battle of Trafalgar Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood 1805 1810 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton[15] 1810 1811 Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew 1811 1814 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Penrose 1814 1815 Vice-Admiral Lord Exmouth 1815 1816 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Penrose 1816 1818 Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle[16] 1818 1820 Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Moore 1820 1823 Vice-Admiral Sir Harry Burrard-Neale 1823 1826 Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Codrington 1826 1828 Vice-Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm 1828 1831 Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Hotham [13][14] 30 March 1831 19 April 1833 Died 19 April 1833. Vice-Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm 3 May 1833 18 December 1833 Vice-Admiral Sir Josias Rowley 18 December 1833 9 February 1837 Admiral Sir Robert Stopford 9 February 1837 14 October 1841 Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Owen 14 October 1841 27 February 1845 Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker 27 February 1845 13 July 1846 Parker was briefly First Naval Lord in July 1846 but requested permission to return to the Mediterranean on ground of his health[17] Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker 24 July 1846 17 January 1852 Rear-Admiral Sir James Dundas 17 January 1852 1854 Vice-Adm. 17 December 1852 Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons 1854 22 February 1858 Vice-Adm. 19 March 1857 Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Fanshawe 22 February 1858 19 April 1860 Marlborough [18] Vice-Admiral Sir William Martin 19 April 1860 20 April 1863 Marlborough [19] Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Smart 20 April 1863 28 April 1866 Marlborough[20] then Victoria [21] Vice-Admiral Lord Clarence Paget 28 April 1866 28 April 1869 Victoria then Caledonia [22] Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne 28 April 1869 25 October 1870 Lord Warden [23] Adm. 1 April 1870 Vice-Admiral Sir Hastings Yelverton 25 October 1870 13 January 1874 Lord Warden [24] Vice-Admiral Sir James Drummond 13 January 1874 15 January 1877 Lord Warden then Hercules [25] Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby 5 January 1877 5 February 1880 Alexandra [26] Adm. 15 June 1879 Vice-Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour 5 February 1880 7 February 1883 Inconstant and Alexandra [27] Adm. 6 May 1882 Vice-Admiral Lord John Hay 7 February 1883 5 February 1886 Alexandra [28] Adm. 8 July 1884 Vice-Admiral H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh 5 February 1886 11 March 1889 Alexandra [29] Adm. 18 October 1887 Vice-Admiral Sir Anthony Hoskins 11 March 1889 20 August 1891 Alexandra Mar 89 - Dec 89
Camperdown Dec 89 - May 90
Victoria May 90 onwards [30]Adm. 20 June 1891 Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon 20 August 1891 22 June 1893 Victoria [31] Died in commission; lost in Victoria Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour 29 June 1893 10 November 1896 Ramillies [32] Admiral Sir John Hopkins 10 November 1896 1 July 1899 Ramillies[33] Admiral Sir John Fisher 1 July 1899 1902 Renown Admiral Sir Compton Domvile [34] 1902 June 1905 Bulwark[33] Admiral Lord Charles Beresford [35][36][37] appointed 1 May 1905
assumed command 6 June 1905February 1907 Bulwark Admiral Sir Charles Drury[38] appointed 5 March 1907
assumed command 27 March 19071908 Queen Admiral Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe [39][40] appointed 20 November 1908
assumed command 20 November 19081910 Exmouth Admiral Sir Edmund Poë [40][41] appointed 30 April 1910
assumed command 30 April 1910November 1912 Exmouth[33] Admiral Sir Berkley Milne [42][43][44] appointed 1 June 1912
assumed command 12 June 191227 August 1914 Inflexible 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 Somerset Gough-Calthorpe [45] 26 August 1917 25 July 1919 Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Vice Admiral Sir John de Robeck [46] 26 July 1919 14 May 1922 Iron Duke Vice Admiral Sir Osmond Brock [47] 15 May 1922 7 June 1925 Iron Duke Admiral 31 July 1924 Admiral Sir Roger Keyes [48] 8 June 1925 7 June 1928 Warspite Admiral Sir Frederick Field 8 June 1928 28 May 1930 Queen Elizabeth [49] Admiral Sir Ernle Chatfield [50] 27 May 1930 31 October 1932 Queen Elizabeth [49] Admiral Sir William Fisher [51] 31 October 1932 19 March 1936 Resolution later Queen Elizabeth [52] Admiral Sir Dudley Pound [53] 20 March 1936 31 May 1939 Queen Elizabeth[33] During World War II, the Mediterranean Station was split between commands some of the time. Post titles in the notes column. Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham [54][55][56] 1 June 1939
6 June 1939
assumed commandMarch 1942 Warspite August 1939
HMS St Angelo (base, Malta) April 1940
Warspite February 1941Commander-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. Admiral Sir Henry Harwood [56][57] 22 April 1942 February 1943 Warspite
HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) Aug 1942Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Vice-Admiral Harwood was given acting rank of Admiral. Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham [54][55][56] 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:
Mediterranean 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.[56]Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham [54][55][56] 20 February 1943 15 October 1943 HMS Hannibal (base, Algiers/Taranto) Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Admiral Sir John Cunningham [55][56] 15 October 1943 February 1946 Sir John Cunningham [55][56] 5 June 1943 August 1943 HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) Commander-in-Chief, Levant. Vice Admiral Sir Algernon Willis [56] temporary 14 October 1943 December 1943 HMS Nile (base, Alexandria) Commander-in-Chief, Levant. Vice Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings [56] 28 December 1943 June 1944 Sir Algernon Willis[58] 1946 1948 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Admiral Sir Arthur Power 1948 1950 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Admiral Sir John Edelsten 1950 1952 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Admiral Earl Mountbatten of Burma 1952 1954 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Admiral Sir Guy Grantham[59] 10 Dec 1954 10 Apr 57 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Vice Admiral Sir Ralph Edwards 10 Apr 57 11 Nov 58 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Admiral Sir Charles Lambe 11 Nov 58 2 Feb 59 HMS Phoenicia (base, Malta)[33] Admiral Sir Alexander Bingley 2 Feb 59 30 Jun 61 HMS Phoenicia (base, Malta)[33] Admiral Sir Deric Holland-Martin 30 Jun 61 1 Feb 64 HMS Phoenicia (base, Malta)[33] Admiral Sir John Hamilton[60] 1 Feb 1964 5 June 1967 HMS St Angelo (base, Malta)[33] Notes
- ^ nbdrisk
- ^ Commissioned ships of the Royal Navy, from the Sunlight Almanac, 1895
- ^ Leo Niehorster, Mediterranean Fleet, 3 September 1939, accessed January 2009
- ^ Groves, 1987, p.154
- ^ Sean Maloney, 'To Secure Command of the Sea,' University of New Brunswick thesis, 1991, p.258-261
- ^ Maloney thesis, p.261
- ^ "Obituary: Admiral Sir Charles Madden" by Dan van der Vat The Guardian (May 4, 2001)
- ^ Groves, Vanguard to Trident, 1987, p.297
- ^ William Loney RN: Principal Royal Navy Commanders-in-Chief 1830-1899
- ^ Whitaker's Almanacks 1900 - 1967
- ^ Henry Osborn at ODNB
- ^ Richard Howe at ODNB
- ^ a b Principal Royal Navy Commanders-in-Chief 1830-1899
- ^ a b Hotham family tree
- ^ Charles Cotton at ODNB
- ^ Thomas Fremantle at ODNB
- ^ William Parker at ODNB
- ^ Arthur Fanshawe on-line biography
- ^ William Fanshawe Martin on-line biography
- ^ mHistoryHMS Marlborough
- ^ Robert Smart on-line biography
- ^ Lord Clarence Edward Paget on-line biography
- ^ Alexander Milne on-line biography
- ^ Hastings Reginald Yelverton on-line biography
- ^ James Robert Drummond on-line biography
- ^ Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby on-line biography
- ^ Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour on-line biography
- ^ Lord John Hay on-line biography
- ^ p222, Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, pub Seeley, 1957, and Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
- ^ p222, 320, 336, Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, pub Seeley, 1957, and Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
- ^ George Tryon on-line biography
- ^ p362, Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, pub Seeley, 1957, and Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n p232 S.W.C. Pack, Sea Power in the Mediterranean, pub Arthur Baker Ltd 1971, ISBN 0-213-00394-5
- ^ Compton Edward Domville [sic] on-line biography
- ^ Navy List July Dec 1906
- ^ 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.
- ^ p508, Beresford, Lord Charles, The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, pub Methuen, 1914.
- ^ Navy List July 1908
- ^ Navy List Jan 1909
- ^ a b Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna
- ^ Navy List Jan 1911
- ^ Navy List Feb 1913
- ^ p287,289 & 422 Geoffrey Miller, Superior Force: The conspiracy behind the escape of Goeben and Breslau, pub Hull, 1996, ISBN 0-85958-635-9
- ^ First World War.com Who's Who: Sir Berkeley Milne
- ^ 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 - ^ p85 & 94, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
John de Robeck career - ^ p92, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
Osmond de Beauvoir Brock career - ^ Roger Keyes career
- ^ a b p121 Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
- ^ Ernle Chatfield career
- ^ Papers of Admiral Fisher
Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
Dudley Pound career history
Admiral Sir William Fisher career - ^ p121 & 123 Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
- ^ p140 Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
Dudley Pound career history
Andrew Cunningham career - ^ a b c Andrew Cunningham career
- ^ a b c d e World War II RN Officers C
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet + Levant/Eastern Mediterranean
- ^ Sir Henry Harwood Harwood career
- ^ Papers of Admiral Sir Algernon U. Willis, accessed June 2008
- ^ List from 1954 to 1964 from list at AFNORTH article
- ^ Eric J. Grove, Vanguard to Trident, Bodley Head, London, 1987, p.297
References
- Eric J. Grove, Vanguard to Trident, Naval Institute Press/The Bodley Head, London, 1987
Further reading
- S.W.C. Pack Sea Power in the Mediterranean - has a complete list of fleet commanders
Categories:- Fleets of the Royal Navy
- Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II
- Crete in World War II
- 1967 disestablishments
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