Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands

Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands
Active	(1914-1920), (1939-1945)
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Naval formation
Garrison/HQ	Lyness

The Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands [1] was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Orkneys and Shetlands Command; they were charged with the administration of the Orkney and Shetland Islands and operating and defending the fleet base at Scapa Flow that was the main anchorage for both the Home Fleet and Grand Fleet at various times.

History

The Orkney and Shetland command was usually only formed at the outbreak of war to provide for the defence and administration of the main base for the Home Fleet. The duties of the Admiral Commanding were laid down as being responsible, under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, for administration of naval defences, naval establishments, and shore duties generally in Orkney and Shetland.

During the First World War and the Second World War the Rear-Admiral, Scapa Flow served under him, with a position similar to that of an Admiral Superintendent of a dockyard port. Directly under his orders were the Northern Patrol, Shetlands Patrols, the Officer Commanding Troops Orkney, the Officer Commanding Troops Shetlands, the Admiralty Port Officer Kirkwall, the Rear-Admiral commanding the local minefields and the officers responsible for the extended defences, the local defence flotilla and the Orkney Trawler Patrols.[2] He was responsible for the patrolling of the area from Wick to Cape Wrath.[3]

During the Second World War the Rear-Admiral, Scapa Flow continued to serve under him.

Admiral Commanding First World War

Flag Officer commanding:[4]

	Rank	Name	Term
Admiral Commanding Orkneys and Shetland
1	Admiral	Sir Stanley Cecil James Colville	7 September 1914 – 19 January 1916
2	Admiral	Sir Frederic Edward Errington Brock	20 January 1916 – 11 March 1918
3	Admiral	Sir Herbert E. King-Hall	28 January 1918 – 1 March 1919
4	Vice-Admiral	Sir Robert John Prendergast	1 March 1919 – 9 January 1920

Subordinate commanders First World War

Flag officer commanding:[5] The role was similar to that of Admiral Superintendent of a dockyard port

Flag Officer Scapa Flow/Rear Admiral Scapa

	Rank	Name	Term
Flag Officer Scapa Flow/Rear Admiral Scapa
1	Rear-Admiral	Francis Miller	September 1914 – April, 1916 January 1916
2	Rear-Admiral	Robert Prendergast	May 1916 – September 1917 1918

Flag Officer Shetlands

	Rank	Flag	Name	Term
Flag Officer Shetlands
1	Rear-Admiral		Rear Admiral Clement Greatorex	October 1917

The Command was deactivated during interwar years 9 January 1920 – September 1939

Admiral Commanding Second World War

Flag officer commanding

	Rank	Name	Term
Admiral Commanding Orkneys and Shetland
1	Vice-Admiral	Sir Wilfred Franklin French	July 1939 – 20 December 1939 [6]
2	Vice-Admiral	Sir Hugh Binney	20 December 1939 – 7 January 1942
3	Vice-Admiral	Sir Lionel Wells	7 January - October 1943
4	Vice-Admiral	Sir Henry Harwood	April 1944 - March 1945

Subordinate commanders Second World War

Flag Officer, Scapa Flow/Rear-Admiral Scapa

Flag officer commanding [7]

	Rank	Flag	Name	Term
Flag Officer Scapa Flow/Rear Admiral Scapa
1	Rear-Admiral		Patrick Macnamara (rtd.)	1 September 1940 - March 1945

Admiral-superintendent Lyness

	Rank	Flag	Name	Term
Admiral Superintendent Lyness[8]
1	Rear-Admiral		Patrick Macnamara (rtd.)	3 October 1940 - March 1945

Admiral-superintendent Orkney

	Rank	Flag	Name	Term
Admiral Superintendent Orkney
1	Rear-Admiral		Patrick Macnamara (rtd.)	1 May 1942 - March 1945

Orkneys and Shetlands Command

The Orkneys and Shetlands Command was formed at the outbreak World War One to establish and maintain the Grand Fleet's principal base at Scapa Flow.[9][10][11]

Shore units

Included:[12]

Unit	Date	Notes
HMS Fox (shore establishment)		Lerwick Naval Base
HMS Pyramus (shore establishment)		Kirkwall Naval Base

Naval units

Included:[13]

Unit	Date	Notes
5th Minesweeper Flotilla	04/1942-02/1944
6th Minesweeper Flotilla	07/1941-12/1942
21st Minesweeper Flotilla	1918
Northern Patrol	1914-1918, 1939-1945	Operating within the Orkneys & Shetland Command under VAdm Comm NP
Scapa Local Defence Flotilla	1914-1918

References

Haarr, Geirr H. (2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940. Seaforth Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 9781473832732.
Grand Fleet Order 107.
Grand Fleet Order 136.
Watson, Graham. "Organisation of the Royal Navy 1914 to 1918, The Home Commands World War One". naval-history.net. Naval History.Net, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
Watson, Graham. "Organisation of the Royal Navy 1914 to 1918, The Home Commands World War One". naval-history.net. Naval History.Net, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
Haarr, Geirr H. (2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940. Seaforth Publishing. pp. 2–16. ISBN 9781473832732.
"Patrick Macnamara Life and Career Post War". dreadnoughtproject.org. The Dreadnought Project.Org, 13 June 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
"Admiral Superintendent's Office, Lyness". nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
Watson, Dr Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1919-1939". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 2 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
Watson, Dr Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation in World War 2, 1939-1945". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 19 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
Watson, Dr Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914-1918". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
Watson. 2015
Watson. 2015

Attribution

Primary source for this article is by Harley, Simon and Lovell Tony, Admiral. (2015), Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands, http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Haarr, Geirr H. (2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940. Seaforth Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 9781473832732.

[2] Grand Fleet Order 107.

[3] Grand Fleet Order 136.

[4] Watson, Graham. "Organisation of the Royal Navy 1914 to 1918, The Home Commands World War One". naval-history.net. Naval History.Net, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[5] Watson, Graham. "Organisation of the Royal Navy 1914 to 1918, The Home Commands World War One". naval-history.net. Naval History.Net, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[6] Haarr, Geirr H. (2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 - April 1940. Seaforth Publishing. pp. 2–16. ISBN 9781473832732.

[7] "Patrick Macnamara Life and Career Post War". dreadnoughtproject.org. The Dreadnought Project.Org, 13 June 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[8] "Admiral Superintendent's Office, Lyness". nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 31 October 2016.

[9] Watson, Dr Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1919-1939". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 2 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.

[10] Watson, Dr Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation in World War 2, 1939-1945". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 19 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.

[11] Watson, Dr Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914-1918". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 27 October 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2018.

[12] Watson. 2015

[13] Watson. 2015

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