Grand Fleet during WWI

Grand Fleet ships in formation

During World War I, the British Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet. It was initially commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He was later succeeded by the commander of the Grand Fleet battlecruisers Admiral Sir David Beatty. The British Grand Fleet sailing in parallel columns in World War I This image was scanned from a public domain text by the Great War Primary Documents Archive and is made available by them for any purpose provided that they are credited and a link is given to the Photos... The British Grand Fleet sailing in parallel columns in World War I This image was scanned from a public domain text by the Great War Primary Documents Archive and is made available by them for any purpose provided that they are credited and a link is given to the Photos... The British Grand Fleet at sea in World War I This image was scanned from a public domain text by the Great War Primary Documents Archive and is made available by them for any purpose provided that they are credited and a link is given to the Photos of the... The British Grand Fleet at sea in World War I This image was scanned from a public domain text by the Great War Primary Documents Archive and is made available by them for any purpose provided that they are credited and a link is given to the Photos of the... Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The Home Fleet is the traditional name of the fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdoms territorial waters. ... Admiral of the Fleet Lord Jellicoe Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (December 5, 1859–November 20, 1935) was a British Royal Navy admiral. ... David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936), born in County Wexford, Ireland, was an admiral in the Royal Navy. ...

The Grand Fleet only took part in one fleet action during the war, the indecisive Battle of Jutland. More British ships were sunk than German, although the German High Seas Fleet was damaged to the extent that it was unable to put to sea for a number of months. Strategically, Jutland was a victory because the British fleet retained control of the North Sea and the German Navy did not challenge her again. The Battle of Jutland, known in Germany as the Battle of the Skagerrak (Skagerrakschlacht), was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. ... German battlecruiser Derfflinger scuttled at Scapa Flow. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ...

Squadrons of the Grand Fleet included:

1st Battle Squadron=

• 1st Division
• Iron Duke - Captain Dreyer, Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Jellicoe
• Revenge - Captain Kiddle
• Hercules - Captain Bernard
• Agincourt - Captain Doughty
• 2nd Division
• Colossus - Captain Pound, Rear-Admiral Gaunt
• Collingwood - Captain Ley
• Neptune - Captain Bernard
• St Vincent - Captain Fisher

Admiral of the Fleet Lord Jellicoe Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (December 5, 1859–November 20, 1935) was a British Royal Navy admiral. ...

2nd Battle Squadron

• 3rd Division
• King George V- Captain Field, Admiral Sturdee
• Ajax - Captain Baird
• Centurion - Captain Culme-Seymour
• Erin - Captain Stanley
• 4th Division
• Orion - Captain Backhouse, Rear-Admiral Leveson
• Monarch - Captain Borrett
• Conqueror - Captain Tothill
• Thunderer - Captain Fergusson

4th Battle Squadron

• 7th Division
• Marlborough - Captain Ross, Vice-Admiral Burney
• Royal Oak - Captain MacLachlan
• Superb - Captain Hyde-Parker, Rear-Admiral Duff
• Canada - Captain Nicholson
• 8th Division
• Benbow - Captain Parker, Vice-Admiral Jerram
• Bellerophon - Captain Bellerophen
• Temeraire - Captain Underhill
• Vanguard - Captain Dick

3rd Battlecruiser Squadon

• Invincible - Captain Cay, Rear-Admiral Hood
• Inflexible - Captain Heaton-Ellis
• Indomitable - Captain Kennedy

1st Cruiser Squadron (Armoured Cruisers)

• Defence - Captain Ellis, Rear-Admiral Arbuthnot
• Warrior - Captain Molteno
• Duke of Edinburgh - Captain Blackett
• Black Prince - Captain Bonham

2nd Cruiser Squadron (Armoured Cruisers)

• Minotaur - Captain d'Aeth, Rear-Admiral Heath
• Hampshire - Captain Savill
• Cochrane - Captain Leatham
• Shannon - Captain Dumaresq

4th Light Cruiser Squadron

• Calliope - Commodore Le Mesurier
• Constance - Captain Townsend
• Caroline - Captain Crooke
• Royalist - Captain Meade
• Comus - Captain Hotham

Attached Light Cruisers

• Active - Captain Withers
• Bellona - Captain Dutton
• Blanche - Captain Casement
• Boadicea - Captain Casement
• Canterbury - Captain Royds
• Chester - Captain Lawson

4th Destroyer Flotilla

• Tipperary - Captain Wintour
• Acasta
• Achates
• Ambuscade
• Ardent
• Broke
• Christopher
• Contest
• Fortune
• Garland
• Hardy
• Midge
• Ophelia
• Owl
• Porpoise
• Shark
• Sparrowhawk
• Spitfire
• Unity

11th Destroyer Flotilla

• Castor (Light Cruiser) - Commodore Hawksley
• Kempenfelt
• Magic
• Mandate
• Manners
• Marne
• Martial
• Michael
• Milbrook
• Minion
• Mons
• Moon
• Morning Star
• Mounsey
• Mystic
• Ossory

12th Destroyer Flotilla

• Faulknor - Captain Stirling
• Maenad
• Marksman
• Marvel
• Mary Rose
• Menace
• Mindful
• Mischief
• Munster
• Narwhal
• Nessus
• Noble
• Nonsuch
• Obedient
• Onslaught
• Opal

Miscellaneous

• Abdiel (Minelayer)
• Oak (Destroyer tender)

The Battlecruiser Fleet

1st Battlecruiser Squadron

• Lion - Captain Chatfield, Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty
• Princess Royal - Captain Cowan, Rear Admiral O de Brock
• Queen Mary - Captain Prowse
• Tiger - Captain Pelly

David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936), born in County Wexford, Ireland, was an admiral in the Royal Navy. ...

2nd Battlecruiser Squadron

• New Zealand - Captain Green, Rear-Admiral Pakenham
• Indefatigable - Captain Sowerby

5th Battle Squadron

• Barham - Captain Craig, Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas
• Valiant - Captain Woollcombe
• Warspite - Captain Philpotts
• Malaya - Captain Boyle

Created in 1915, the 5th Battle Squadron was a part of the Royal Navys Grand Fleet in World War I and was comprised of Queen Elizabeth class battleships. ...

1st Light Cruiser Squadron

• Galatea - Commodore Alexander-Sinclair
• Phaeton - Captain Cameron
• Inconstant - Captain Thesiger
• Cordelia - Captain Beamish

2nd Light Cruiser Squadron

• Southampton - Commodore Goodenough
• Birmingham - Captain Duff
• Nottingham - Captain Miller
• Dublin - Captain Scott

3rd Light Cruiser Squadron

• Falmouth - Captain Edwards, Rear-Admiral Napier
• Yarmouth - Captain Pratt
• Birkenhead - Captain Reeves
• Gloucester - Captain Blunt

Seaplane Carrier

• Engadine

1st Destroyer Flotilla

• Fearless (Light Cruiser) - Captain Roper
• Acheron
• Ariel
• Attack
• Badger
• Defender
• Goshawk
• Hydra
• Lapwing
• Lizard

9th and 10th Destroyer Flotillas (combined)

• Lydiard - Commander Goldsmith
• Landrail
• Laurel
• Liberty
• Moorsom
• Morris
• Termagant
• Turbulent

13th Destroyer Flotilla

• Champion (Light Cruiser) - Captain Farie
• Moresby
• Narborough
• Nerissa
• Nestor
• Nicator
• Nomad
• Obdurate
• Onslow
• Pelican
• Petard

The Grand Fleet was based in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. Scapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom. ... The Orkney Islands are one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and form a traditional county and Lieutenancy area. ...

External link

The Grand Fleet