3rd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)

The British 3rd Battle Squadron was a squadron consisting of Battleships. The 3rd Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. During World War I the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet.

August 1914

On 5 August 1914, the squadron was constituted as follows [Dittmar, F.J & Colledge J.J., "British Warships 1914-1919" Ian Allan, London. 1972; ISBN 0-7110-0380-7] :
** HMS "King Edward VII"
** HMS "Africa"
** HMS "Britannia"
** HMS "Commonwealth"
** HMS "Dominion"
** HMS "Hibernia"
** HMS "Hindustan"
** HMS "Zealandia"

The squadron of eight "King Edward VII" pre-dreadnought battleships were nicknamed 'the wobbly eight' after their slight tendency to shimmy under way. Essentially made obsolete by the introduction of HMS "Dreadnought", the 3rd Battle Squadron played no role in the Battle of Jutland.

The squadron was initially used as part of the Grand Fleet in support of the cruisers on the Northern Patrol. On 29 April 1916 the 3rd Battle Squadron was moved to Sheerness from Rosyth and came under the Nore Command in the Thames estuary. The move was intended to make more large ships available for coastal defence duties, after the Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft by German ships on 24 April 1916. [ 'Castles' p.559] The need for accompanying destroyers for these battleships was later given as the reason the Harwich destroyer squadron was also held back and took no part in the Jutland action. [Marder III p.45]

Following the loss of HMS "King Edward VII" in January 1916, HMS "Africa" and HMS "Britannia" served in the Mediterranean 1916-1917. The remaining ships were augmented by HMS "Dreadnought" until March 1918.

References

*cite book |last=Marder |first=Arthur J. |authorlink=Arthur Marder |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Volume II: The War Years to the eve of Jutland: 1914-1916 |series=From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1965
*cite book |last=Marder |first=Arthur J. |authorlink=Arthur Marder |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Volume III: Jutland and after: May 1916- December 1916 |series=From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1966
*cite book |last=Massie |first=Robert K. |authorlink=Robert Massie |title= |year=2003 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-345-40878-0

External links

* [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3940 Royal Navy History]
* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/fdrn0004.htm Composition of the Grand Fleet]