View source for Annual Manoeuvres of 1914

The [[Royal Navy]]'s '''Annual Manoeuvres of 1914''' were cancelled on 20th February 1914 and replaced by a '''Test Mobilization''' of the Reserve Fleet.<ref>M11959/14  From Admiralty to C-in-C, Home Fleets, dated 20th February 1914.  Backhouse Papers, Naval Historical Branch.</ref>  This decision was to prove fortuitous as the international tensions of the summer made war with Germany seem increasingly possible, and finally inevitable.

Though some preparations began on 13 July, the schedule for this exercise was planned to be as follows:{{ToL|Naval Mobilization|14 July 1914, p. 16}}

{|border=1
|Wednesday 15th July||Reserve called up
|-
|16th and 17th July||Mobilise
|-
|Saturday 18th July||Proceed to rendezvous
|-
|19th to 23rd July||At rendezvous and tactical exercises at sea
|-
|Friday 24th July||Arrive Home Ports
|-
|Saturday 25th July, 9am||Discharge reserves
|}

On July 23, Austria presented its ultimatum to Serbia following the assassination of the Archduke at Sarajevo.  As a result the British government, at the last minute, cancelled the dispersal of the reserve fleet.  The First Fleet was ordered to remain at Portland, and those reserve ships which had begun to disperse were ordered to retain their full crews and take on coal, stores and ammunition.  These changes were achieved as quietly as possible, to avoid enflaming an already very tense political situation<ref>Sir Julian Corbett, ''Naval Operations: History of the Great War based on Official Documents, Volume 1'', (Uckfield: Imperial War Museum and Naval & Military Press, 2009 [1938]), 23-24.</ref>.  As a result, the Royal Navy was more ready for the start of the Great War than it might otherwise have been.

==Order of Battle==
The ships of the reserve formed the Second and Third Fleets as follows under fleet flagship {{UK-LordNelson}}:<ref>Vice-Admiral Cecil Burney, ''Second and Third Fleets Serial Orders'', 11 June 1914, Backhouse Papers, Naval Historical Branch</ref>

{|style="margin:0" width=90% class="toccolours"
|style="background:#CEDFF2" align=center colspan=12|'''Battle Squadrons'''<br><small>(+ denotes attached vessels)</small><!--
|-
|style="background:#CEDFF2" align=center colspan=12|<small>(+ denotes attached vessels)</small>-->
|-
|align=center colspan=3 width=25%|'''[[Fifth Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)|Fifth]]'''||align=center colspan=3 width=25%|'''[[Sixth Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)|Sixth]]'''||align=center colspan=3 width=25%|'''[[Seventh Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)|Seventh]]'''||align=center colspan=3 width=25%|'''[[Eighth Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)|Eighth]]'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-PrinceOfWales}} [[File:VAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Russell}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-PrinceGeorge}} [[File:VAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Albion}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Bulwark}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Albemarle}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Hannibal}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Ocean}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Formidable}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Exmouth}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Illustrious}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Goliath}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Implacable}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Vengeance}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Magnificent}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Jupiter}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Irresistible}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Topaze}}+||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Majestic}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Canopus}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1London}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Mars}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Glory}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Queen}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Victorious}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Sapphire}}+
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Diamond}}+||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Doris}}+||&nbsp;
|}

{|style="margin:0" width=90% class="toccolours"
|style="background:#CEDFF2" align=center colspan=12|'''Cruiser Squadrons'''
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|'''[[Fifth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Fifth]]'''||align=center colspan=4 width=33%|'''[[Sixth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Sixth]]'''||align=center colspan=4 width=33%|'''[[Seventh Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Seventh]]'''
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-Carnarvon}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-GoodHope}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Euryalus}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-1Cornwall}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Drake}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Cressy}}
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-Cumberland}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Leviathan}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Minerva}}
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=4|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Venus}}
|-
|align=center colspan=12|&nbsp;
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|'''[[Eighth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Eighth]]'''||align=center colspan=4|'''[[Ninth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Ninth]]'''||align=center colspan=4|'''[[Tenth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Tenth]]'''
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-Aboukir}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Bacchante}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Hogue}} [[File:RAdmRN.png|25px]]
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-Challenger}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-1Diana}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Charybdis}}
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-1Isis}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Sutlej}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-1Eclipse}}
|-
|align=center colspan=4 width=33%|{{UK-Juno}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Talbot}}||align=center colspan=4|{{UK-Highflyer}}
|}

{|style="margin:0" width=90% class="toccolours"
|style="background:#CEDFF2" align=center colspan=12|'''Other Forces'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3|'''[[Fourth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|Training Squadron]]'''||align=center colspan=3|'''[[First Light Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)|1st Light Cruiser Squadron]]'''||align=center colspan=3|'''Minelayer Squadron'''||align=center colspan=3|'''Unappropriated'''
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Crescent}} (flag)||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Falmouth}}+||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Andromache}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Vindictive}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Edgar}}||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Liverpool}}+||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Apollo}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Endymion}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Intrepid}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Gibraltar}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Iphigenia}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-1Grafton}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Latona}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-RoyalArthur}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Naiad}}
|-
|align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Theseus}}||align=center colspan=3|&nbsp;||align=center colspan=3|{{UK-Thetis}}
|}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* M11959/14  From Admiralty to C-in-C, Home Fleets, dated 20th February 1914.  Backhouse Papers, Naval Historical Branch, Portsmouth, UK.
* Vice-Admiral Cecil Burney, ''Second and Third Fleets Serial Orders'', 11 June 1914, Backhouse Papers, Naval Historical Branch, Portsmouth, UK
* Corbett, J S. ''Naval Operations: History of the Great War based on Official Documents'', Uckfield: Imperial War Museum and Naval & Military Press, 2009 [1938],
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1914}}

{{Annual Manoeuvres Footer}}
[[Category:Annual Manoeuvres Stub]]
{{CatNat|Naval Manoeuvres|UK}}