Annual Manoeuvres of 1914
From The Dreadnought Project
The Royal Navy's Annual Manoeuvres of 1914 were cancelled on 20th February 1914 and replaced by a Test Mobilization of the Reserve Fleet.[1] 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:[2]
| 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 |
Order of Battle
The ships of the reserve formed the Second and Third Fleets as follows under fleet flagship Lord Nelson:[3]
| Battle Squadrons | |||||||||||
| (+ denotes attached vessels) | |||||||||||
| Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | ||||||||
Prince of Wales  |
Russell  |
Prince George |
Albion
| ||||||||
| Bulwark | Albemarle | Hannibal |
Ocean
| ||||||||
| Formidable | Exmouth | Illustrious | Goliath | ||||||||
| Implacable | Vengeance | Magnificent | Jupiter | ||||||||
| Irresistible | Topaze+ | Majestic | Canopus | ||||||||
| London | Mars | Glory | |||||||||
| Queen | Victorious | Sapphire+ | |||||||||
| Diamond+ | Doris+ | ||||||||||
| Other Forces | |||||||||||
| Training Squadron | 1st Light Cruiser Squadron | Minelayer Squadron | Unappropriated | ||||||||
| Crescent (flag) | Falmouth+ | Andromache | Vindictive | ||||||||
| Edgar | Liverpool+ | Apollo | |||||||||
| Endymion | Intrepid | ||||||||||
| Gibraltar | Iphigenia | ||||||||||
| Grafton | Latona | ||||||||||
| Royal Arthur | Naiad | ||||||||||
| Theseus | Thetis | ||||||||||
Footnotes
- ↑ M11959/14 From Admiralty to C-in-C, Home Fleets, dated 20th February 1914. Backhouse Papers, Naval Historical Branch.
- ↑ "Naval Mobilization." The Times (London, England), 14 July 1914, p. 16.
- ↑ Vice-Admiral Cecil Burney, Second and Third Fleets Serial Orders, 11 June 1914, Backhouse Papers, Naval Historical Branch
Bibliography
- 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
| Annual Manoeuvres of the Royal Navy |
| 1880s |
| 1880 | 1881 | 1882 | 1883 | 1884 | 1885 | 1886 | 1887 | 1888 | 1889 |
| 1890s |
| 1890 | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 |
| 1900s |
| 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 |
| 1910s |
| 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 |
