North America and West Indies Station

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Formed in the mid-1700s, the North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the Royal Navy.

It was renamed the America and West Indies Station in 1926.

History

On 6 December, 1906, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Earl of Selborne, announced a redistribution of fleets affecting the whole Navy. The cruisers outside European waters were divided into groups: the Eastern; Cape of Good Hope; and the Western.

The Western Group of cruisers will consist of the cruisers under the command of the Commander-in-chief of the North American and West Indian Station and the mobilized cruisers with which he will be reinforced in time of war. At present the cruisers under the command of the Commander-in-chief of the North American and West Indian Station consist of his flag-ship, a first-class protected cruiser, and certain second and third-class cruisers. The Board have decided to withdraw from the station the less effective of those ships and to add to it the ships of the new Particular Service Squadron which they have decided to constitute and of which the Commander-in-chief of this station will be given command.[1]

The situation was clarified in a further command paper on fleet dispositions, dated 15 March, 1905:

The constitution of the Particular Service Squadron under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, composed of the Flag Ship on that Station, and the five sea-going training ships for cadets, youths, and boys. This forms the Fourth Cruiser Squadron.[2]

Further:

The Fourth Cruiser (Particular Service) Squadron which compromises the Flagship of the Vice-Admiral in command of the North America and West Indies Station, and the several seagoing training ships, will make three cruises annually in the West Indies and in Home and adjacent waters, returning home after each cruise at the dates fixed for changing the classes under training.

Under this arrangement it is estimated that the Fourth Cruiser Squadron will be cruising for 30 weeks, and will be at Home for 22 weeks.

The refit and docking of the ships, and the leave to officers and men, will take place in the course of the time spent in Home waters.[3]

From 8 February, 1907 to 8 February, 1909, Rear-Admiral Frederick S. Inglefield was in command of the squadron, flying his flag in Euryalus.[4] By this time the command-in-chief status and the allusion to the North America and West Indies Station seems to have been abandoned.[Inference] Inglefield was succeeded at Portsmouth by Rear-Admiral Arthur M. Farquhar on 8 February, 1909.[5]

Rear-Admiral Edward E. Bradford was appointed in command on 8 February, 1911, and struck his flag on 8 February, 1913[6] upon his relief by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher G. F. M. Cradock.[7]

On 1 May, 1912, the Fourth Cruiser Squadron was renamed the Training Squadron.[8] With Cradock's appointment in 1913 the Fourth Cruiser Squadron ceased to be a training squadron and became part of the First Fleet.[9] It was intended that it should be able to join the Commander-in-Chief in Home waters for manœuvres, but it was in effect permanently detached to protect British interests in Mexico.[10]

Composition

February, 1900

[11]

January, 1901

[12]

June, 1906

[13]

On Newfoundland Fisheries:

November, 1915

[14]

July, 1918

The following forces were working with three vessels in the Ninth Cruiser Squadron.[15]

Commanders-in-Chief

The station was dubbed "Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station" except for a period from 1907 to 1915, when it was "Rear-Admiral Commanding, Fourth Cruiser Squadron". We put the Fourth Cruiser Squadron on its own page, as it co-existed with the North America and West Indies Station during World War II.

Seconds-in-Command

Flag Captains

Other Personnel

Fleet Gunnery Officer

Fleet Torpedo Officer

Fleet Signal Officer

Fleet Navigation Officer

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Navy—Distribution and Mobilization of the Fleet (1905). Cd. 2335. p. 3.
  2. Redistribution of the Fleet—Arrangements Consequent on the Redistribution of the Fleet (1905). Cd. 2430. p. 3.
  3. Redistribution of the Fleet—Arrangements Consequent on the Redistribution of the Fleet (1905). Cd. 2430. p. 5.
  4. Inglefield Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 473.
  5. "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 5 February, 1909, 1914. Issue 38875, col B, p. 7.
  6. Bradford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 168.
  7. Cradock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 89.
  8. M. 11735/12. 29 March, 1912. The National Archives. ADM 1/8271. f. 2 of Admiralty letter.
  9. "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 21 January, 1913. Issue 40114, col C, p. 10.
  10. Naval Operations. Volume I. pp. 11-13.
  11. The Navy List. (February, 1900). p. 218.
  12. The Navy List. (January, 1901). p. 218.
  13. The Navy List. (June, 1906). pp. 268, 269a.
  14. Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (November, 1915). p. 19.
  15. Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1918). p. 21.
  16. Inglefield Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1769. f. 703.
  17. Inglefield Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36/1769. f. 703.
  18. Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  19. Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  20. Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  21. Hopkins Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36. f. 644.
  22. Hopkins Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36. f. 271/644.
  23. Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  24. Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  25. Clowes. The Royal Navy. Vol. VII. p. 87.
  26. Bedford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/14. f. 824
  27. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, 9 May, 1902. Issue 36763, col E, p. 10.
  28. Douglas Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/36. f. 337.
  29. "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Thursday, 25 August, 1904. Issue 37482, col C, p. 8.
  30. Phipps Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  31. Squadrons and Senior Naval Officers in Existence on 11th November, 1918. f. 34.
  32. Patey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1009.
  33. Patey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1009.
  34. Squadrons and Senior Naval Officers in Existence on 11th November, 1918. f. 34.
  35. Squadrons and Senior Naval Officers in Existence on 11th November, 1918. f. 34.
  36. Grant Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/87. f. 98.
  37. Squadrons and Senior Naval Officers in Existence on 11th November, 1918. f. 34.
  38. Napier Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 208.
  39. Napier Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 208.
  40. "Naval Appointments" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Wednesday, 22 September, 1920. Issue 42522, col F, p. 4.
  41. "Naval & Military" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 1 January, 1923. Issue 43227, col F, p. 18.
  42. Culme-Seymour Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 217.
  43. Culme-Seymour Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 217.
  44. Fergusson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/88 f. 102.
  45. Fergusson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/88 f. 102.
  46. Cowan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. p. 249.
  47. Cowan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. p. 249.
  48. Fuller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 215.
  49. Fuller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 215.
  50. Haggard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 238.
  51. Haggard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 238.
  52. Drax Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45. f. 214.
  53. Date is indistinct, save for year. Drax Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45. f. 214.
  54. Best Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 192.
  55. Best Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 192.
  56. Best Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 430.
  57. Best Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 430.
  58. The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 294.
  59. Successor appointed then. Kennedy-Purvis Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 31.
  60. Kennedy-Purvis Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 31.
  61. Phipps Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  62. Phipps Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  63. The Navy List. (November, 1918). p. 6.
  64. Singer Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/88. f. 32.
  65. Bromley Service record. The National Archives. 196/44. f. 239.
  66. Bromley Service record. The National Archives. 196/44. f. 239.
  67. Cunningham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/47. f. 286.
  68. Cunningham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/47. f. 286.
  69. The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 257.
  70. The Navy List. (October, 1935). p. 294.
  71. The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 257.
  72. The Navy List. (October, 1935). p. 294.
  73. The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 257.
  74. The Navy List. (October, 1935). p. 294.
  75. Kitson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/277. f. 280.
  76. Kitson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/277. f. 280.
  77. The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 257.
  78. The Navy List. (October, 1935). p. 294.

Bibliography

  • Clowes, Sir Wm. Laird (1903). The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria. Vol. VII. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company Limited.
  • Corbett, Sir Julian S. (1920). Naval Operations. Volume I. London: Longmans, Green and Co..


Cruiser Squadrons of the Royal Navy
First Cruiser Squadron | Second Cruiser Squadron | Third Cruiser Squadron | Fourth Cruiser Squadron | Fifth Cruiser Squadron
Sixth Cruiser Squadron | Seventh Cruiser Squadron | Eighth Cruiser Squadron | Ninth Cruiser Squadron | Tenth Cruiser Squadron
Eleventh Cruiser Squadron | Twelfth Cruiser Squadron | Fifteenth Cruiser Squadron | Eighteenth Cruiser Squadron
Cruiser Force F