Seventh Fleet Sweeping Flotilla (Royal Navy)
The Seventh Fleet Sweeping Flotilla was a formation of fleet minesweepers of the Royal Navy that operated in the North Sea late in the war.
History
July, 1918 – c. October, 1918
The formation is based in The Humber, and its seven ships are also known as the North Sea Fast Sweeping Flotilla.[1]
| Operating from The Humber | |||
| Sweeping Torpedo Gunboats | |||
| Burslem | Cattistock | Clonmel (S.O.) | Cupar |
| Sherborne | Sligo | Southdown | |
c. October, 1918 – January, 1919
Some time between August and November 1918, the roster has changed. Penarth now bears the Senior Officer, Badminton is joining (some time in November) and Southdown has left.[2]
| Operating from The Humber | |||
| Sweeping Torpedo Gunboats | |||
| Badminton* | Burslem | Cattistock | Clonmel |
| Cupar | Penarth (S.O.) | Sherborne | Sligo |
February, 1919
Penarth has left, and no ship is marked as bearing the Senior Officer.[3]
| Operating from The Humber | |||
| Sweeping Torpedo Gunboats | |||
| Badminton | Burslem | Cattistock | Clonmel |
| Cupar | Sherborne | Sligo | |
March, 1919 – April, 1919
The formation is based in the Humber for operations in the North Sea. Heythrop has joined.[4]
| Operating from The Humber | |||
| Sweeping Torpedo Gunboats | |||
| Badminton | Burslem | Cattistock | Clonmel |
| Cupar | Heythrop | Sherborne | Sligo |
May, 1919 – onward
By May, the formation had suddenly grown to thirteen ships.[5]
From June, 1919 onward, the organization of Britain's minesweepers becomes indistinct, as they are simply listed together as "Vessels Employed on Mine Clearance Service". There is allegedly a separate Mine Clearance Service Weekly Return for closer detail, but we do not have any of those.
| Operating from The Humber | |||||
| Sweeping Torpedo Gunboats | |||||
| Badminton | Bicester | Burslem | Cattistock | Clonmel | Cotswold |
| Heythrop | Holderness | Muskerry | Quorn | Sherborne | Sligo |
| Tedworth | |||||
Senior Officers
- Lieutenant in Command Peter A. C. Sturrock, December, 1918[6] – 4 February, 1919[7] (killed when vessel mined)
Footnotes
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1918). p. 15 and Supplements through August; September and October were unavailable to us.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (November, 1918). p. 15 and Supplements through X.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 15 and Supplements through X.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (March, 1919). p. 15 and Supplements through April.
- ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (May, 1919). p. 13.
- ↑ The Navy List. (March, 1919). p. 866.
- ↑ Hepper. British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era: 1860-1919. p. 148.
Bibliography
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
See Also
| British Minesweeping Formations |
| Fleet Sweeping Flotillas (Great War) |
| First | Second | Third | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Ninth | Tenth |
| Eleventh | Twelfth | Thirteenth | Fifteenth | Sixteenth | Eighteenth | Nineteenth |
| Twentieth | Twenty-first | Twenty-second | Twenty-third | Twenty-fourth |
| Minesweeping Flotillas (World War II) |
| First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
