The Admiral of Patrols was a former command appointment within the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

during

world war one 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 ...

usually held by a junior flag officer the post was established from 1912 to 1916.

History

In the preceding years before world war the Admiralty were assessing the need to protect the navy's main capital ships in the future event of any war, which would be augmented by the possible implementation a coastal patrol and mine-sweeping initiative. The need for some sort of patrol protection function being established was indicated by Admiral Sir Charles Beresford as early as 1907. In 1909 Admiral Fisher obtained a small number of vessels for experimentation, Beginning about 1910 the Admiralty acknowledged that this sort of service may likely be in the form of local coastal patrol support for the regular navy at this time there was a lack of patrol capabilities within the Royal Navy. On May 1, 1912 the post of Admiral of Patrols was created and under its command consisted four destroyer flotillas until 1913. In 1914, the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

sent an order the

Admiralty War Staff The Admiralty War Staff was the former senior naval staff operational planning organisation within the British Admiralty that existed from 1912 to 1917. It was instituted on 8 January 1912 by Winston Churchill in his capacity as First Lord of ...

asking the Chief of the War Staff to re-evaluate the patrols current functional role operating off the Eastern Coast of Great Britain the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed ...

envisaged that its current function of patrolling would now be that of coastal defence but would include an additional force the units of the

Auxiliary Patrol The Auxiliary Patrol was an antisubmarine patrols initiative by the British to help combat German submarine operations in the early stages of World War I. It was under the command of the Admiral of Patrols at the Admiralty and was the pioneer of ...

. After the implementation took place Admiral de Robeck was replaced by a new commander Commodore George A. Ballard. He assumed the duties of Admiral of Patrols on the 1 May 1914 and held the post until it was abolished in 1917.

Commodore/Admiral of Patrols

Assistant to Admiral of Patrols

* Captain Walter H. Cowan, 1 May 1912 – 7 February 1914 * Captain Edward G. Lowther-Crofton, 7 February 1914 – 1 February 1916

Patrol formations under this command

As of May 1912 – 1914:

Units

Auxiliary patrol

The Auxiliary Patrol was a component force under the (ADMP) and composed of a large number of small craft tasked with minesweeping and anti-submarine patrols, initially around the British Isles, but later also in the Mediterranean. The Auxiliary Patrol was the front-line force in the defence of initially the British Isles, but later also the Mediterranean, against German mines and submarines.

References

Attribution

Primary source for this article is by Harley Simon, Lovell Tony, (2017), Admiral of Patrols, dreadnoughtproject.org, http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org.

Sources

* Lambert, Nicholas A. (1999). ''Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution''. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. * Smith, Gordon. (2015). "World War 1 Dispositions of Royal Navy ships". naval-history.net. Naval History.net.

External links

{{Admiralty Department, state=collapsed Op 1912 establishments in the United Kingdom United Kingdom in World War I