The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was a short-lived

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

battlecruisers The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

that saw service as part of the

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during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Creation

HMS Invincible (1907) British Battleship

The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was created in 1915, with the return to home waters of two of the three s— and —following the

Battle of the Falkland Islands The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, sen ...

and the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

operation. They were joined by their

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

, and, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood, the squadron was based at

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, Scotland.

Battle of Jutland

* ''Invincible'' - flagship of Rear Admiral the Honourable H. L. A. Hood; Captain A. L. Cay * ''Inflexible'' - Captain E. H. F. Heaton-Ellis * ''Indomitable'' - Captain F. W. Kennedy On 31 May 1916, the squadron—attached to the

rather than David Beatty's

Battlecruiser Fleet The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

—participated in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

. During the battle, ''Invincible'' was hit in her "Q" turret by a salvo from the

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battlecruiser , causing a massive explosion. The ship broke in two and sank with the loss of all but six of her crew of 1,021. Admiral Hood was among the dead.

After Jutland

With the loss of ''Invincible'' and several other battlecruisers at Jutland, the squadron was no longer required. ''Indomitable'' and ''Inflexible'' were transferred to the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron in June 1916.

Rear-Admirals commanding

Post holders included:

References

Sources

* *

External links

{{Battle Cruiser squadrons of the Royal Navy, state=collapsed Battlecruiser squadrons of the Royal Navy Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War I