Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf

The Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf was a Royal Navy command appointment who was responsible for administering the Persian Gulf Station military formation including its establishments and naval forces known as the Persian Gulf Squadron later called the Persian Gulf Division. Initially located at Basidu, Qishm Island in Persia (c. 1823–1850–1935), then Henjam Island, Persia, (1911–1935) and finally Ras Al-Jufair, Bahrain from 1935 to 1972.

Persian Gulf Station
Active1818-1972
CountryUnited Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeNaval station
Part of
Garrison/HQBasidu
Qishm Island
Persia
(c.1823-1850-1911)
Henjam Island
Persia
(1911-1935)
HMS Jufair
Ras Al-Jufair
Bahrain
(1935-1972)

The Persian Gulf Station encompassed the Persian Gulf and Straits of Hormuz.

History

British naval presence in the Persian Gulf began in the early nineteenth century with temporary naval forces assembled for specific operations until the establishment of a more constant naval force presence called the Persian Gulf Squadron [1] later the Persian Gulf Division.[2] The Senior Naval Office Persian Gulf gradually became an important position throughout the twentieth century by supporting Britain's strategic interests in the region, he reported to the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station. [3] The Persian Gulf was one of the areas of naval operations during First World War in which it assumed a level of importance during the Mesopotamian campaign, its operations consisted of patrolling, keeping the peace and ensuring the continued supply of oil from the region. In May 1942 it then became part of the Eastern Fleet command until May 1944 when it became part of the East Indies Fleet command until July 1945 when it was abolished. The station was re-established in April 1949 reporting to the C-in-C, East Indies Station until 1958. In 1959 the station was merged with the Red Sea Station under the new appointment of Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf. In 1962 the station was re-established under the Flag Officer, Middle East until it was abolished in 1972.

In 2003 the Royal Navy reestablished a post in the Persian Gulf, with a new title, the UK Maritime Component Command. On 1 November 2015, it was announced that HMS Jufair would be reestablished as a permanent Royal Navy base. On 5 April 2018, the UK Naval Support Facility was officially opened.[4]

Map of the Persian Gulf and location of the Straits of Hormuz

Headquarters

The British established a Persian Gulf Squadron in the mid-nineteenth century to support the Political Resident Persian Gulf, (PRPG) who was responsible for all of Britains relationships in the region. The SNOPG was originally headquartered at Basidu on-board his ship from 1823 onward.[5] A permanent depot and headquarters was first established at Basidu, Qishm Island in Persia around 1850. In 1911 his headquarters moved to Henjam Island in the Straits of Hormuz until 12 April 1935.[6] On 13 April 1935 a naval base and shore establishment called HMS Juffair was established at Ras Al-Jufair, Bahrain which served as headquarters for the SNO Persian Gulf until 1972.[7]

SNOPG, Ships

From 1885 to 1946 the SNO Persian Gulf was usually aboard an operational ship beginning with HMS Osprey, (1885–1890).[8] Followed by HMS Triad from 1909 to 21 April 1933 [9] It was replaced by HMS Shoreham (L32) 21 April 1933 to 1946.[10][11]

Four Loch-class frigates were stationed in the P4ersian Gulf circa 1957: HMS Loch Fada, HMS Loch Fyne, HMS Loch Killisport and HMS Loch Ruthven.[12]

Senior Naval Officers, Persian Gulf
Incomplete list of post holders included:[13][14]
RankInsig/FlagNameTermNotes/Ref
Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf
1CaptainFrancis Erskine Loch16 October 1818 - September 1837SNO Persian Gulf [15][16]
2CommodoreGeorge PepperOctober -1837 - 1 April 1838(SNO Persian Gulf) [17]
3CommanderC. Hawkins1 April - 12 June 1838SNO Persian Gulf [18]
4CommodoreCaptain Brucks12 June 1838-?Acting-SO Persian Gulf [19]
5CommodoreGeorge RobinsonJune 1852(as Commander, Persian Gulf Squadron) [20]
6CommanderC. M. Cruttenden1855 - 12 January 1861SNO Persian Gulf [21]
7CommanderH.W. DowdingOctober, 1885SNO Persian Gulf Division [22]
8CaptainJ. H. Pelly14 August, 1895 - May 1896SNO Persian Gulf [23]
9CaptainThomas W. Kemp1901 – 25 November, 1904Commander and SNO Persian Gulf [24]
10CommodoreDrury St. A. Wake18 October, 1915 – November, 1918(as Commodore, Persian Gulf) [25]
11CommodoreDavid T. NorrisDecember 1918-February 1920(as Commodore, Persian Gulf)
12CaptainGeorge Parker BevanNovember, 1919 – 14 January, 1920
13CaptainJohn L. Pearson6 February, 1920 – February, 1922later V.Adm
14CaptainAlexander R. PalmerFebruary 1922-March 1924later V.Adm
15CaptainErnest W. LeirMarch 1924-February 1926later R.Adm
16CaptainReginald St. P. ParryFebruary 1926-January 1928
17CaptainHector BoyesJanuary 1928-May 1930
18CaptainLewis G. E. CrabbeMay 1930-March 1933later V.Adm [26]
19CaptainJames V. CreaghMarch 1933-March 1935[27] later R.Adm
20CaptainVernon S. ButlerMarch 1935-March 1937[28] later R.Adm.
21CaptainGeorge H. Faulkner20 February, 1937 – 17 April, 1938
22CommodoreAllan PolandMarch 1937-April 1939as Captain then later Cmdre.
23CommodoreCosmo M. GrahamApril 1939-February 1942
From May 1942 the station is reporting to the C-in-C, Eastern, Fleet until May 1944
24Rear-AdmiralCharles Hamill2 February 1942-January 1944
From May 1944 the station is reporting to the C-in-C, East Indies, Fleet until July 1945 when its abolished
25CommodoreJohn M. HowsonJanuary-September 1944
26CommodoreIvan W. WhitehornSeptember 1944 - July, 1945[29]
The station is re-established in April 1949 reporting to the C-in-C, East Indies Station until 1959
27CaptainPeter SkeltonApril 1949-August 1950
28CaptainArthur H. WallisAugust 1950-April 1952
29CaptainHugh G. WatersApril 1952-October 1953
30CaptainAlan S. WebbOctober 1953-October 1954
31CaptainVere A. Wight-BoycottOctober 1954-April 1956
32CaptainStephen H. Beattie17 April 1956-April 1958
33CaptainGeorge F.M. BestApril 1958 – 1959Promoted to Cmdre. as Flag Officer, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf [30]
In 1959 this appointment was merged with that of the Red Sea to form the Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf Station. In 1962 the station re-established under the Flag Officer, Middle East until it was abolished in 1972.
34Rear-AdmiralFitzroy TalbotAugust 1960 - August 1962[31] Title changed to Flag Officer Middle East by May 1, 1962,[32] the date his HQ moved from Bahrain to Aden.
35CommodoreMichael D. Kyrle-PopeApril 1962-April 1964 [33]reporting to the Flag Officer, Middle East.
36CommodoreEdmund S. CarverApril 1964-October 1966reporting to the FOME.[34]
37CommodoreThomas E. FanshaweOctober 1966-December 1968reporting to the FOME.[35]
38CommodoreKenneth Lee-White, MBEDecember 1968-September 1970reporting to the FOME
39CommodoreSir Peter Anson, Bt.September 1970-1972Commander Naval Forces Gulf[36]

Included:

Naval UnitsBased atDateNotes
Persian Gulf DivisionManama, Bahrain1914 - 19582 cruisers, 1 minelayer cruiser, 1 scout cruiser 10 destroyers
Persian Gulf DivisionManama, Bahrain1936 - 1939Escort sloops – HMS Egret (L75), HMS Fleetwood (U47) (17 Nov 1936) [37]
21st Destroyer FlotillaShatt al-Arab, Basra1939- 1942
Minesweeping Group 156Shatt al-Arab, Basra19423 ships [38]
Minesweeping Group 157 Shatt al-Arab, Basra119423 ships [39]
9th Mine-Countermeasures SquadronManama, Bahrain1950-197118 ships
SloopsBasra/1922 - 193913 ships
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References
  1. Palmer, Michael A. (1999). "3: Middle East Oil and the Destiny of Europe (1946–1950)". Guardians of the Gulf: A History of America's Expanding Role in the Persion Gulf, 1883–1992. New York, NY, USA: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781439105801.
  2. Bankoff, Greg; Christensen, Joseph (2016). Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World: Bordering on Danger. Berlin, Germany: Springer. p. 281. ISBN 9781349948574.
  3. Macris, Jeffrey R. (2010). The Politics and Security of the Gulf: Anglo-American Hegemony and the Shaping of a Region. Cambridge, England: Routledge. p. 31. ISBN 9781135189440.
  4. "UK opens permanent military base in Bahrain". Reuters. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. Onley, James (2009). "Britain and the Gulf Shaikhdoms, 1820–1971: The Politics of Protection" (PDF). socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk. Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service in Qatar. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  6. Onley, James (2009). "Britain and the Gulf Shaikhdoms, 1820–1971: The Politics of Protection" (PDF). socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk. Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service in Qatar. p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  7. Onley, James (2007). "PART II AGENTS OF EMPIRE". The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj: Merchants, Rulers, and the British in the Nineteenth-Century Gulf. Oxford, England: OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191607769.
  8. Bankoff, Greg; Christensen, Joseph (2016). Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World: Bordering on Danger. Berlin, Germany: Springer. p. 281. ISBN 9781349948574.
  9. Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "H.M.S. Triad (1909) – The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell, 8 March 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  10. Macris, Jeffrey R. (2010). The Politics and Security of the Gulf: Anglo-American Hegemony and the Shaping of a Region. Cambridge, England: Routledge. p. 269. ISBN 9781135189440.
  11. Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "H.M.S. Shoreham (1930) – The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell, 12 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  12. Roberts, Safeguarding the Nation, 2009.
  13. Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "Persian Gulf – The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell, 30 September 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  14. Mackie, Colin. "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865: Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf, 1918 to 1960 and from 1962)" (PDF). Colin Mackie, July 2018. p. 175. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  15. Onley, James. "Britain's Native Agents in Arabia and Persia in the Nineteenth Century1" (PDF). socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk. University of Exeter, England. p. 134. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  16. O'Byrne, William Richard. "Loch, Francis Erskine". A Naval Biographical Dictionary. J. Murray, 1849. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  17. The Asiatic Journal. London, England: Black, Parbury, & Allen. September 1838. p. 237.
  18. The Asiatic Journal. London, England: Black, Parbury, & Allen. September 1838. p. 237.
  19. The Asiatic Journal. London, England: Black, Parbury, & Allen. September 1838. p. 237.
  20. "Letter No. 111: Commodore George Robinson, Commander of the Persian Gulf Squadron, Writing from the Honourable Company's Sloop Clive, Near Bassadore [Bāsa'īdū], to Captain Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire [21r] (1/4)". Qatar Digital Library. Qatar National Library. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  21. Pollock, Arthur William Alsager (12 January 1861). "List of the Indian Navy in Commission". The United Service Magazine. H. Colburn. 96: 287.
  22. Bankoff, Greg; Christensen, Joseph (2016). Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World: Bordering on Danger. Berlin, Germany: Springer. p. 281. ISBN 9781349948574.
  23. Rahman, Mizan (2012). The Emergence Of Qatar. Cambridge, England: Routledge. p. 253. ISBN 9781136753695.
  24. Ahmadi, Kourosh (2008). Islands and International Politics in the Persian Gulf: The Abu Musa and Tunbs in Strategic Context. Cambridge, England: Routledge. p. 64. ISBN 9781134046591.
  25. "Flag Officers in Commission". The Navy List. London England: HM Stationery Office. October 1915. p. 8.
  26. Residency, Persian Gulf Political; Agency, Muscat Political; (Kuwait), British Political Agency; Agency, Qatar Political; Agency, Trucial States Political; Agency, Bahrain Political; Residency, Bushire Political (1990). Political Diaries of the Persian Gulf: 1935–35. London, England: Archive Editions. pp. 321–679. ISBN 9781852072506.
  27. Residency, Persian Gulf Political; Agency, Muscat Political; (Kuwait), British Political Agency; Agency, Qatar Political; Agency, Trucial States Political; Agency, Bahrain Political; Residency, Bushire Political (1990). Political Diaries of the Persian Gulf: 1935–35. London, England: Archive Editions. pp. 321–679. ISBN 9781852072506.
  28. Residency, Persian Gulf Political; Agency, Muscat Political; (Kuwait), British Political Agency; Agency, Qatar Political; Agency, Trucial States Political; Agency, Bahrain Political; Residency, Bushire Political (1990). Political Diaries of the Persian Gulf: 1935–35. London, England: Archive Editions. pp. 321–679. ISBN 9781852072506.
  29. The Navy List. London, England: H. M. Stationery Office. October 1944. p. 2263.
  30. "OP SHIPS". Naval Review. 47: 105. 1959.
  31. Mackie, Colin. "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865: Commander-in-Chief, Levant: Flag Officer, Middle East" (PDF). gulabin,com. C. Mackie, p. 171, June 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  32. Mideast Mirror. 1962.
  33. Vat, Dan van der (20 October 2008). "Obituary: Rear Admiral Michael Kyrle Pope". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  34. "Captain Edmund 'Splash' Carver". Daliy Telegraph London. 10 September 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  35. "Captain Thomas Fanshawe". Daily Telegraph London. 26 June 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  36. https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersA5.html
  37. Kindell, Don. "Royal Navy Ships, August 1939". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 7 April 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  38. Kindell, Don. "North Atlantic Command, Force H, South Atlantic Command, America & West Indies Command, Eastern Fleet, January 1942". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 8 December 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  39. Kindell, Don. "North Atlantic Command, Force H, South Atlantic Command, America & West Indies Command, Eastern Fleet, January 1942". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith, 8 December 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2018.

Sources
  • Bankoff, Greg; Christensen, Joseph (2016). Natural Hazards and Peoples in the Indian Ocean World: Bordering on Danger. Berlin, Germany: Springer. ISBN 9781349948574.
  • Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. (2017) "Persian Gulf – The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell.
  • Kindell, Don. (2012) "North Atlantic Command, Force H, South Atlantic Command, America & West Indies Command, Eastern Fleet, January 1942". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith.
  • Macris, Jeffrey R. (2010). The Politics and Security of the Gulf: Anglo-American Hegemony and the Shaping of a Region. Cambridge, England: Routledge. ISBN 9781135189440.
  • Naval Review. (1959) "OP SHIPS" Volume 47: 105.
  • Onley, James. "Britain's Native Agents in Arabia and Persia in the Nineteenth Century1" (PDF). socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk. University of Exeter, England.
  • Pollock, Arthur William Alsager (1861). "List of the Indian Navy in Commission". The United Service Magazine. London. H. Colburn.
  • Residency, Persian Gulf Political; Agency, Muscat Political; (Kuwait), British Political Agency; Agency, Qatar Political; Agency, Trucial States Political; Agency, Bahrain Political; Residency, Bushire Political (1990). Political Diaries of the Persian Gulf: 1935–35. London, England: Archive Editions. ISBN 9781852072506.
  • The Navy List. (1915) "Flag Officers in Commission". London England: HM Stationery Office.
  • The Navy List. (1944) "Flag Officers in Commission". London, England: H. M. Stationery Office.
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