Fourth Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)

The British 4th Battle Squadron was a formation of battleships in the British Grand Fleet.

History

The 4th Battle Squadron was originally born out of the battleship force of the Mediterranean Fleet, which until Mid-1912 had traditionally been seen as the front-line active force in the Royal Navy. With the reforms announced by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill in March, 1912, the Mediterranean battleship Squadron eventually became the 4th Battle Squadron of the British First Fleet.

5 August, 1914

At the outbreak of the First World War the Squadron was composed solely of 12-inch gunned dreadnoughts. The requisitioned battleship HMS Agincourt was about to be commissioned and had already been earmarked for service in the Squadron.

• Dreadnought
• Bellerophon
• Téméraire
• Agincourt

January, 1915

By the start of 1915 the Squadron had been brought up to strength with the addition of powerful ships of the Iron Duke Class and the new battleship HMS Erin.

• Dreadnought
• Bellerophon
• Téméraire
• Agincourt
• Erin - Joined after outbreak of war.
• Benbow - Joined, October, 1914.
• Emperor of India - Joined November, 1914.
• Superb - Joined January, 1915.

31 May, 1916

HMS Dreadnought and Emperor of India had both gone into refit in May, and consequently missed the Battle of Jutland.

• 3rd Division, Grand Fleet
  • Iron Duke - Flagship, Grand Fleet
  • Royal Oak
  • Superb - Flagship, Rear-Admiral 4th Battle Squadron.
  • Canada - Joined October, 1915.
• 4th Division, Grand Fleet
  • Benbow - Flagship, Vice-Admiral 4th Battle Squadron.
  • Bellerophon
  • Téméraire
  • Vanguard - Joined pre-Jutland.

Command of the 4th Battle Squadron

The Vice-Admiral Commanding the Battle Squadron commanded one division. His second in command, Rear-Admiral 4th Battle Squadron, commanded the other division.

Vice-Admiral, 4th Battle Squadron

• Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Briggs (? - February, 1914)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Douglas Austin Gamble (February, 1914 - February, 1915)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee (February, 1915 - February, 1918)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Montagu Edward Browning (February, 1918 -)

Rear-Admiral, 4th Battle Squadron

• Rear-Admiral Alexander Ludovic Duff (November, 1914 - January, 1917)
• Rear-Admiral Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes (January, 1917 - June, 1917)
• Rear-Admiral Douglas Nicholson (June, 1917 -)