First Light Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)
In Command
Dates of appointment given:
- Commodore, Second Class William E. Goodenough, 5 July, 1913[1] – February, 1915[2]
- Rear-Admiral Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair, 8 February, 1915[3] – 7 July, 1917[4]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Walter H. Cowan, 7 July, 1917[5] – 5 July, 1920[6] (flag transferred to Delhi in June, 1919)
- Vice-Admiral James A. Fergusson, July, 1920[7] – April, 1922[8]
- Rear-Admiral Hubert G. Brand, 1922
- Rear-Admiral Arthur K. Waistell, 1924[Inference]
History
July, 1914
The squadron was:[9]
Outbreak of War
Two additional light cruisers have reinforced the squadron.[10][11]
- Southampton, Commodore Goodenough
- Birmingham, Captain Arthur Duff
- Nottingham, Captain C. B. Miller
- Liverpool, Captain Edward Reeves
- Falmouth, Captain J. D. Edwards
- Lowestoft, Captain Theobald Kennedy
November, 1915
Attached to the Battle Cruiser Fleet.[12]
Battle of Jutland
- Main article: First L.C.S. (Royal Navy) at the Battle of Jutland
The squadron was one of three screening the battlecruisers:[13]
- Galatea, Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair (Commodore, Second Class)
- Phaeton, Captain John E. Cameron
- Inconstant, Captain Bertram S. Thesiger
- Cordelia, Captain Tufton P. H. Beamish
17 November, 1917
At the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight[14]
July, 1918
The Squadron is still assigned to screen the Battle Cruiser Force.[15]
November, 1918
No change since July.[16]
This roster would apply until March, 1919.[17]
March, 1919
Now attached to the Battle Cruiser Force, Cleopatra has joined,[18] coming from the Seventh Light Cruiser Squadron.[19]
April, 1919
Still attached to the Battle Cruiser Force, Comus has joined,[20] having come from the Fourth Light Cruiser Squadron,[21] bringing the strength to seven light cruisers.
May, 1919
A considerable reorganization has occurred. All the ships except Comus (which is a "miscellaneous ship in commission") have been left to embody, with Champion, the Home Fleet's Second Light Cruiser Squadron.
1 L.C.S. is now part of the Atlantic Fleet; the reinvented squadron is comprised the six very modern light cruisers that were dubbed the Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron just a month ago.[22][23]
June, 1919
Still part of the Atlantic Fleet, the squadron is now eight light cruisers.[24] Danae is on her way, having just entered service while Cleopatra has come over from the Second Light Cruiser Squadron and Canterbury has recently been recommissioned.[25]
- Cleopatra
(temporarily detached) - Coventry
- Curacoa (refitting)
- Danae
- Dauntless
- Delhi (to join "shortly", would in fact become flagship this month)
- Dragon
- Canterbury (temporarily assigned)
July, 1919
Still part of the Atlantic Fleet, Delhi seems to have fully arrived and assumed flagship duties.[26]
- Delhi
- Coventry
- Curacoa (refitting)
- Danae
- Dauntless
- Canterbury (temporarily assigned)
- Dragon
- Cleopatra (temporarily detached)
Drill and Practice
In 1917, the squadron fired 56 practice torpedoes of which 45 or 80% were judged to be likely to endanger the enemy.[27]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (December, 1914). p. 5.
- ↑ Goodenough Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 433.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1917). p. 6.
- ↑ Alexander-Sinclair Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 361.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1919). p. 5.
- ↑ Cowan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 249.
- ↑ Fergusson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43 f. 199.
- ↑ Fergusson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/88 f. 102.
- ↑ Printed page "Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad" in Albert Francis Barclay Bridges papers at The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum. [BRG 1/1]
- ↑ Naval Operations. Volume I. p. 440.
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 15.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (November, 1915). p. 11.
- ↑ Battle of Jutland Official Despatches. p. 33, 46.
- ↑ Naval Operations. Vol. V. pp. 168-169.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1918). p. 11.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (November, 1918). p. 11.
- ↑ Supplements from December, 1918 through March, 1919.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (March, 1919). p. 10.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 10.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (April, 1919). p. 10.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (March, 1919). p. 10.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (May, 1919). pp. 10, 12, 19.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (April, 1919). p 13.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (June, 1919). p. 10.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (May, 1919). pp. 12, 20.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1919). p. 10.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 121.
Bibliography
- Corbett, Sir Julian S. (1920). Naval Operations. Volume I. London: Longmans, Green and Co..
- Newbolt, Henry (1931). Naval Operations. Vol. V. London: Longmans, Green and Co..
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