The 8th Submarine Flotilla was a

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...

of the British

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 ...

consisting of

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

and their supporting depot ships and

destroyers In navy, naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a Naval fleet, fleet, convoy or Carrier battle group, battle group and defend them against powerful short range attack ...

. It was established as part of the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

in 1912. The flotilla brought together the newer, longer range 'overseas' submarines for the purpose of carrying out offensive operations. Composition of the flotilla varied over time. It was disestablished in 1919. The flotilla was re-established in 1939 for service in the Second World War. It was disestablished again after the close of hostilities.

History

First World War

Organisation in August 1914

On 5 August 1914, the Eighth Submarine Flotilla was based at its war station at

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

and was constituted as follows: Submarines Depot ships Attached Destroyers HMS ''D.1'' was also notionally part of the flotilla, but was transferred to the

Dover Patrol The Dover Patrol and later known as the Dover Patrol Force was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dove ...

when war broke out. She re-joined the Flotilla on 23 August 1914

War Service 1914

The Flotilla carried out patrols in the

Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (german: Helgoländer Bucht) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends fro ...

and in the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

. It participated in the First Battle of Heligoland and the

Cuxhaven Raid The Raid on Cuxhaven (german: link=no, Weihnachtsangriff, Christmas Raid) was a British ship-based Airstrike, air-raid on the Imperial German Navy at Cuxhaven mounted on Christmas Day, 1914. Aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service were carried ...

and covered the passage of the British Expeditionary Force to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The development of a satellite base at

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

was commenced. Notable events and organisational changes are as follows: HMS ''E.10'' joined the Flotilla on completion of sea trials, 27 August ''E.9'' torpedoed and sank the

Scout cruiser A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers. Intended for fleet scouting duties a ...

''Hela'' south of

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

on 13 September HMS ''E.11'' joined the Flotilla on completion of sea trials, 2 October ''E.9'' torpedoed and sank the high seas

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...

''S.116'' on 6 October off the Ems

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

HMS ''E.12'' joined the Flotilla on completion of sea trials, 17 October ''E.1'' and ''E.9'' entered the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

for detached service with the Russian

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

, 17-18 October ''E.3'' was sunk by a torpedo fired by ''U-27'' of the Ems, 18 October ''D.5'' was sunk by a mine off Yarmouth, 3 November HMS ''E.15'' joined the Flotilla on completion of sea trials, 5 November HMS ''C.34'' was temporarily attached to the Flotilla from the Dover Patrol, 17 November until 20 December ''D.2'' was lost on a patrol to a billet off Heligoland, cause and location of loss unknown, on or after 25 November HMS ''S.1'' joined the Flotilla from the Dover Patrol, 2 December HMS ''C.16'' was temporarily attached to the Flotilla from the Dover Patrol, 2 to 16 December ''Archimède'' was temporarily attached to the Flotilla from the French 3e Escadrille, 2 to 16 December HMS ''E.13'' joined the Flotilla on completion of sea trials, 15 December

Organisation in February 1916

As at 1 February 1916, the flotilla had grown in size and was based at both

and

. It was constituted as follows: Submarines Depot ships Attached Destroyers HMS ''E.1'', HMS ''E.8'', HMS ''E.9'', HMS ''E.18'' and HMS ''E.19'' were notionally still in the flotilla, but were all on detached service with the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Flotilla re-constituted August 1916

Vessels based at Harwich were transferred to the re-established 9th Submarine Flotilla in August 1916 and only those submarines based at Yarmouth remained in 8th Flotilla

Organisation in October 1916

As at 1 October 1916 the flotilla was based at

and formed part of the

Harwich Force The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war. History After the outbreak of the First World War, a p ...

: Submarines Depot ship

Organisation in January 1919

As at 1 January 1919 the flotilla remained part of the

, but following the suspension of hostilities had moved to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and was constituted as follows: Submarines Depot ship

Second World War

September 1939 to August 1944

Service summary: Re-established on the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

September 1939, disestablished again May 1940. 4 'O' Class submarines. Re-established for the North Atlantic Command at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

December 1940, moving to

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

December 1943. Moved to the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air L ...

February 1944.

Southwest Pacific August 1944 to April 1945

The Flotilla was moved to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

in August 1944, for service with the

U.S. 7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

. ''Maidstone'' arrived on 4 September 1944 and the submarines arrived throughout the month. The Flotilla was constituted as follows: Submarines Depot ship The Flotilla carried out patrols against both enemy warships and commerce in the

South West Pacific Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...

. Principal events during 1944 in addition to the sinking of three merchant ships and 59 small coastal craft were as follows: ''Zwaardvisch'' torpedoed and sank ''U-168'', 6 October 1944 ''Zwaardvisch'' torpedoed and sank the Japanese

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

''Itsukushima'', 17 October 1944 ''Stoic'' returned home for refit and was replaced by HMS ''Spirit'' from 2nd Submarine Flotilla in December Operations continued from Fremantle in 1945, but up to the end of April enemy vessels proved hard to find. Principal events in addition to the sinking of one merchant ship, a small armed decoy and 29 small coastal craft were as follows: ''Tantivy'' returned home for refit and was replaced by HMS ''Tradewind'' in January ''Sirdar'' and ''Spirit'' returned home for refit and were replaced by HMS ''Tudor'', HMS ''Stygian'' and HMS ''Spark'' in March ''Stygian'' drove the Japanese

Special Minesweeper No. 104 Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

ashore with gunfire on

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

on 13 April

Philippines April to September 1945

''Maidstone'' left Fremantle on 19 April. The Flotilla was relocated to a new base at

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. ''Maidstone'' arrived on 20 May. The Flotilla was reconstituted there as follows: Submarines Depot ship

Commanding Officers

References

{{reflist Royal Navy flotillas Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War I Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II Submarine units and formations Military units and formations established in 1912 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945