4th Battle Squadron

The 4th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 4th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet (1912–14) and then the Grand Fleet after the outbreak of the First World War. The squadron changed composition often as ships were damaged, retired or transferred.

4th Battle Squadron
The ships of the 4th Battle Squadron, Benbow, Agincourt, Bellerophon, and Temeraire steaming in the North Sea, 1915.
Active1912–30 March 1919;[1] reformed
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
SizeSquadron
Part ofHome Fleet
Grand Fleet

August 1914
HMS Dreadnought

On 5 August 1914, the squadron was constituted as follows:[2]

January 1915

By January 1915, the composition had changed slightly:[2]

Battle of Jutland, June 1916

As an element in the Grand Fleet, the squadron participated in the Battle of Jutland. During the battle, the composition of the 4th Battle Squadron was as follows:[3]

January 1917

Following the Battle of Jutland, the 4th Battle Squadron was reorganized, with Colossus, Hercules, St. Vincent, Collingwood and Neptune all transferred from the 1st Battle Squadron. In January 1917, the squadron was constituted as follows:[4]

After the loss of HMS Vanguard in July 1917, HMS Superb and HMS Temeraire were detached to the Mediterranean in 1918. HMS Dreadnought rejoined the squadron as flagship in March 1918.

Postwar

The squadron was dispersed in February 1919, appears to have been formally dissolved in March 1919, but then reformed.

In September 1920 Rear Admiral Richard Webb was posted to the Mediterranean as Rear-Admiral 4th Battle Squadron and Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet. He served there until 1922.[5]

Admirals commanding

Post holders as follows:[6][1]

RankFlagNameTermNotes
Admirals, Commanding, 4th Battle Squadron
1Vice-AdmiralSir Sir Charles Briggs1 July 1912 – 1 July 1914
2Vice-AdmiralSir Douglas Gamble1 July 1914 – 7 February 1915
3AdmiralSir F. C. Doveton Sturdee7 February 1915 – 13 February 1918
4Vice-AdmiralSir Montague Browning13 February 1918 – 3 December 1918
5Rear-AdmiralDouglas R. L. Nicholson3 December 1918 – 1 February 1919temporary command
6Vice-AdmiralSir Montague Browning1 February 1919 – 1924

Rear-Admirals, Second-in-Command

Post holders as follows:[1]

RankFlagNameTermNotes
Rear-Admiral, in the 4th Battle Squadron
1Rear-AdmiralAlexander Duff22 October 1914 – 12 June 1916
2Rear-AdmiralErnest F. A. Gaunt12 June 1916 – 23 June 1917
3Rear-AdmiralRoger J.B. Keyes23 June 1917 – 25 September 1917
4Rear-AdmiralDouglas R. L. Nicholson22 September 1917 – 3 December 1918acting squadron commander
5Rear-AdmiralMichael Culme-Seymour1 January 1919 – 1 September 1920
6Rear-AdmiralRichard Webb1 September 1920 – 27 July 1922
7Rear-AdmiralJohn D. Kelly27 July 1922 – June 1923
8Rear-AdmiralHugh D. Watson26 June 1923 – October 1924

Notes
  1. Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "Fourth Battle Squadron (Royal Navy) – The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley & Lovell, 1 August 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. Dittmar & Colledge
  3. MacIntyre
  4. Dittmar & Colledge p. 20.
  5. "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2014.

References
  • Dittmar, Frederick J; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-0380-4.
  • MacIntyre, Donald (1957). Jutland. London: Evans Brothers. ISBN 978-0-330-20142-1.
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