Third Fleet (United Kingdom)

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Third Fleet
Active1 May 1912–1914
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeReserve fleet
Size2 x Battle squadrons
6 x Cruiser squadrons
3 x Local Defence Flotilla

The Third Fleet was a reserve formation of the Royal Navy that briefly existed before the First World War.

History[edit]

Formed on 1 May 1912 from the 4th Division of the Home Fleet, its elderly ships were ordinarily only manned by a small maintenance crew during peacetime, but were intended to be manned by naval reservists when mobilised.[1] It was conducting a test mobilisation in July 1914 as tensions increased between Great Britain and Imperial Germany[2] and was only partially demobilised before full mobilisation was ordered on 2 August. At this time it consisted of the 7th and 8th Battle Squadrons of pre-dreadnought battleships and five squadrons of cruisers.[3]

Vice-Admiral Commanding[edit]

Rank Flag Name Term
Vice-Admiral Commanding Third Fleet [4]
1 Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick T. Hamilton December 1911-December 1913
2 Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney December 1913-August 1914.

Components[edit]

Included [5]
Unit Notes
1 7th Battle Squadron (8 pre-dreadnoughts) [6]
2 8th Battle Squadron (6 pre-dreadnoughts) [7]
3 7th Cruiser Squadron (5 armoured cruisers) [8]
3 8th Cruiser Squadron (5 armoured/protected cruisers) [9]
4 9th Cruiser Squadron (8 armoured/protected cruisers) [10]
5 10th Cruiser Squadron (7 protected cruisers)-from Training Squadron at Queenstown [11]
6 11th Cruiser Squadron (5 protected cruisers) [12]
7 12th Cruiser Squadron (4 protected cruisers) [13]
8 Devonport Local Defence Flotilla[14]
9 Nore Local Defence Flotilla[15]
10 Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla[16]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Wragg, p. 24
  2. ^ Marder, p. 432
  3. ^ Corbett, pp. 13, 29
  4. ^ Government, H.M. (October 1913). "Flag Officers - Vice Admirals". The Navy List. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 87.
  5. ^ Watson, Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914-1918". naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. ^ Watson. 2015
  7. ^ Watson. 2015
  8. ^ Watson. 2015
  9. ^ Watson. 2015
  10. ^ Watson. 2015
  11. ^ Watson. 2015
  12. ^ Watson. 2015
  13. ^ Watson. 2015
  14. ^ Watson. 2015
  15. ^ Watson. 2015
  16. ^ Watson. 2015

Bibliography[edit]

  • Corbett, Julian. Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol. I (2nd, reprint of the 1938 ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum and Battery Press. ISBN 0-89839-256-X.
  • Marder, Arthur J. (2013) [1961]. From Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era. Vol. I: The Road to War 1904–1914. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781-59114-259-1.
  • Wragg, David (2006). Royal Navy Handbook 1914–1918. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-4203-7.

External links[edit]