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A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding 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 clas ...
of
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...
s or other small warships, typically a small
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...
or a large destroyer (known as a
destroyer leader Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955Blac ...
). The flotilla leader provided space, equipment and staff for the flotilla
commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...
(who typically held the rank of
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
), including a wireless room, senior engineering and gunnery officers, and administrative staff to support the officers. Originally, older
light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...
or scout cruisers were often used, but in the early 1900s, the rapidly increasing speed of new destroyer designs meant that such vessels could no longer keep pace with their charges. Accordingly, large destroyer designs were produced for use as leaders. As destroyers changed from specialized anti-
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 ...
vessels that operated in squadrons to larger multi-purpose ships that operated alone or as leaders of groups of smaller vessels, and as
command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization o ...
techniques improved (and the technology became more readily available), the need for specialized flotilla leaders decreased and their functions were adopted by all destroyers. The last specialized flotilla leader to be built for the
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 Fr ...
was HMS ''Inglefield'', launched in 1936. Subsequent leaders used the same design as the private ships of the class, with minor detailed changes to suit them to their role. In the Royal Navy, the flotilla leader and commanding officer were known as Captain (D). In the Royal Navy, flotilla leaders and divisional leaders could be identified by particular coloured bands painted on their funnels.


Flotilla leader designs


French Navy

* ''Jaguar''-class flotilla leader * ''Guépard''-class flotilla leaderLe Masson, p.14 * ''Aigle''-class flotilla leader * ''Le Fantasque''-class flotilla leader


German Navy

* Type 1936A-class destroyer


Imperial Japanese Navy

* ''Tenryū''-class light cruiser * ''Kuma''-class light cruiser * ''Nagara''-class light cruiser * ''Sendai''-class light cruiser * ''Agano''-class light cruiser


Royal Navy

* ''Swift'' – prototype (1907) * ''Faulknor''-class leader (1915) * ''Marksman''-class leader (1915) * ''Parker''-class leader (1916) * Admiralty V-class leader * Admiralty type leader (1918) *
Thornycroft type leader The Thornycroft type leader or ''Shakespeare'' class were a class of five destroyer leaders designed by John I. Thornycroft & Company and built by them at Woolston, Southampton for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I. They were nam ...
(1920) * The leader of each of the "interwar standard" A- through I-classes was built to a slightly enlarged design: ** ''Codrington'' (1930) ** ''Keith'' (1931) ** ''Kempenfelt'' (1932) ** ''Duncan'' (1933) ** ''Exmouth'' (1934) ** ''Faulknor'' (1935) ** ''Grenville'' (1936) ** ''Hardy'' (1936) ** ''Inglefield'' (1937)


Royal Italian Navy

* Capitani Romani-class flotilla leader


Royal Netherlands Navy

* ''Tromp''-class flotilla leader (Sometimes classed as a light cruiser)


Royal Romanian Navy

* ''Mărăști''-class flotilla leader


Royal Yugoslav Navy

* Destroyer ''Dubrovnik'' (1931) * Destroyer ''Split''


Soviet Navy

* ''Leningrad''-class destroyer * ''Tashkent''-class destroyer


United States Navy

* ''Porter''-class destroyers * ''Somers''-class destroyers * ''Atlanta''-class light cruisers (were originally designed as flotilla leaders, though soon retasked as anti-aircraft cruisers)Ewing, p.92 * See the
List of United States Navy destroyer leaders In the 1930s, the United States Navy built two classes of flotilla leaders, the ''Porter'' class, and the ''Somers'' class. Due to the regulations of the London Naval Treaty, these 13 ships had a displacement of 1,850 tons, compared to the 1,5 ...
for post-World War II ships


See also

*
Destroyer leader Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955Blac ...
* ''
Esploratori An esploratore (meaning "scout") was a type of Italian warship intermediate between destroyers and light cruisers. Before World War II, existing ''esploratori'' were reclassified as destroyers (Italian: ''cacciatorpediniere''). There was a furth ...
'' * Scout cruiser *
List of destroyers of the Second World War This is a list of destroyers of the Second World War. The List of ships of the Second World War contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically and by type. The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the ...


Notes


References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flotilla Leader Ship types Destroyers of the United States Navy