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The Home Fleet is the traditional name of the Fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdom 's territorial waters. PRE-WWI See also: Channel Fleet . WWI see Grand Fleet for details During World War I , the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet . The greatest engagement by the Grand Fleet during this period was the Battle Of Jutland , where it met the full Imperial German High Seas Fleet on the latter's only sortie into the North Sea. Although the British losses were high, the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet remained in German harbours thereafter, leaving the British in near full command of the sea. INTERWAR The name "Home Fleet" was resurrected in 1932 , as the new name for the Atlantic Fleet , following the Invergordon Mutiny . The Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet in 1933 was Admiral Sir John Kelly, GCVO, KCB. The Home Fleet comprised the flagship HMS ''Nelson'' leading a force of one battle squadron (5 more battleships), one battlecruiser squadron (2 ships), one cruiser squadron (3), three destroyer flotillas (27), a submarine flotilla (6) two aircraft carriers and associated vessels. WWII The Home Fleet was the Royal Navy's main battle force in Europe an waters during World War Two. It comprised the main battle Squadron s and the fleet Carrier s. It's chief responsibility was to keep the German Navy from breaking out of the North Sea . For this purpose the World War I base at Scapa Flow was reactivated as it was well-placed for interceptions of ships trying to run the blockade. The two most surprising losses of the Home Fleet during the early part of the war were the sinking of the old battleship ''Royal Oak'' while suposedly safe in Scapa flow and the loss of the pride of the Navy, " The Mighty ''Hood'' ", to the German Battleship Bismarck , due to defective design which caused ''Hood'' to blow up, leaving only 3 survivors, after a hit by a relatively small shell in her underprotected Magazine . After the former loss the Home Fleet temporarily left Scapa Flow and was based at The Tail Of The Bank in the upper Firth Of Clyde . The operational areas of the Home Fleet were not circumscribed, and units were detached to other zones quite freely, but the southern parts of the North Sea and the English Channel were made separate commands for light forces, and the growing intensity of the Battle Of The Atlantic led to the creation of Western Approaches Command. Only with the final disposal of the '' Tirpitz '' in 1944 did the Home Fleet assume a lower priority, and most of its heavy units were withdrawn to be sent to the Far East . Its Commanders-in-Chief during the Second World War were:
POST-WWII After World War II, the Home Fleet took back all of its peacetime responsibilities for the Royal Navy forces in home waters and also in the North and South Atlantic. With the Cold War , greater emphasis was placed on protecting the North Atlantic from the Soviet Union in concert with other countries as part of NATO. The Home Fleet carried on serving the navy until 1967 when the Mediterranean Fleet was disbanded and its assets transferred to the fleet. With its area of responsibility greatly increased and no longer being just reponsible for the defence of home waters of the UK, the name of the fleet was changed to the Western Fleet , consigning the famous, historic name of the Home Fleet to history. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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