Commander-in-Chief Fleet

Commander-in-Chief Fleet
	Ensign of the Royal Navy
	Ministry of Defence
Member of	Admiralty Board
Reports to	First Sea Lord
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	Prime Minister; Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term length	Not fixed (typically 2–4 years)
Inaugural holder	Admiral Edward Ashmore

The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Naval Service. In its last years, as the Navy shrank, more administrative responsibilities were added.

In April 2012, the post was abolished, its rank downgraded from admiral to three-star vice admiral, and re-designated Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

History

In November 1971, force reductions resulted in the Western Fleet being amalgamated with the Far East Fleet. It was to be commanded by a four star admiral who held the title Commander-in-Chief Fleet,[1] with his headquarters at the Northwood Headquarters, Middlesex, England. Previous to November 1971, on 1 May 1971 CINCWF had already assumed responsibility for the administration of ships in the Far East Fleet. From 1971-72 CINCFLEET directed Flag Officer, Carriers and Amphibious Ships; Flag Officer First Flotilla; Flag Officer, Second Flotilla; Flag Officer Submarines; the Hydrographer of the Navy, Rear Admiral Geoffrey Hall (all survey vessels); Flag Officer Sea Training (all ships in workup at Portland); and Captain, Mine Countermeasures.[2] Operational control was delegated to FOSNI, Flag Officer Plymouth, Flag Officer Gibraltar, Flag Officer Malta, Senior Naval Officer West Indies, Commander, ANZUK Naval Forces, and Commodore-in-Charge, Hong Kong.

The post of CINCFLEET also was assigned the NATO appointments of Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic Area (CINCEASTLANT) and Commander-in-Chief Channel (CINCHAN).[3] On 1 July 1994, the Channel Command was disestablished: however most of its subordinate commands remained in existence although reshuffled: most of the headquarters were absorbed within Allied Command Europe particularly as part of the new Allied Forces Northwestern Europe.[4]

In 1992 Fleet Headquarters moved to Portsmouth. In 2005, the Second Sea Lord, reduced in rank from full Admiral to Vice-Admiral, came under CINCFLEET's command, a situation that lasted until 2012.

Responsibilities

Structure in 2010

Full command of the Fleet and responsibility for the Fleet element of military operational capability including the Royal Marines and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, was delegated to Commander-in-Chief Fleet, as is described in official descriptions circa 2010.[5] In 1971 after the amalgamation of the Western and Far East Fleets the headquarters was established at Northwood, in the London Borough of Hillingdon (HMS Warrior). Both the CINCFLEET and CINCEASTLANT staffs were co-located there.

By the early 21st century the headquarters was split. In 2002 a new Command Headquarters, the Navy Command Headquarters Building at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth[5] was completed. Thereafter the headquarters was split between the Command HQ and CINCFLEET's Operational Headquarters at Northwood, co-located with the Permanent Joint Headquarters.[5]

By the 2010s, CINCFLEET was supported by:[5]

Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, based in HMS Excellent, who was the Principal Personnel Officer for the Royal Navy. The CINCNAVHOME title lapsed in 2012.
Deputy CINCFLEET, based in HMS Excellent, who directed the work of the Fleet Headquarters
Commander Operations, based at Northwood, responsible for fleet operations
Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces, who was Commandant General Royal Marines
Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces (previously known as Commander UK Task Group),[6] who oversaw the commander of the UK Task Group (COMUKTG), subsequently renamed as the commander Amphibious Task Group (COMATG)[7][8][9] and the commander UK Carrier Strike Group (COMUKCSG).

Collectively, COMUKMARFOR, COMUKAMPHIBFOR, Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG), and the 3 Commando Brigade Headquarters comprised the "Fleet Battle Staff".[10]

Commanders-in-Chief Fleet

The Commanders-in-Chief were:[11]

Rank	Name	Term began	Term ended
Admiral of the Fleet	Sir Edward Ashmore	November 1971	December 1973
Admiral of the Fleet	Sir Terence Lewin	December 1973	October 1975
Admiral of the Fleet	Sir John Treacher	October 1975	March 1977
Admiral of the Fleet	Sir Henry Leach	March 1977	May 1979
Admiral	Sir James Eberle	May 1979	April 1981
Admiral of the Fleet	Sir John Fieldhouse	April 1981	October 1982
Admiral	Sir William Staveley	October 1982	June 1985
Admiral	Sir Nicholas Hunt	June 1985	May 1987
Admiral	Sir Julian Oswald	May 1987	April 1989
Admiral	Sir Benjamin Bathurst	April 1989	January 1991
Admiral	Sir Jock Slater	January 1991	December 1992
Admiral	Sir Hugo White	December 1992	June 1995
Admiral	Sir Peter Abbott	October 1995	September 1997
Admiral	Sir Michael Boyce	September 1997	September 1998
Admiral	Sir Nigel Essenhigh	September 1998	November 2000
Admiral	Sir Alan West	November 2000	September 2002
Admiral	Sir Jonathon Band	September 2002	November 2005
Admiral	Sir James Burnell-Nugent	November 2005	November 2007
Admiral	Sir Mark Stanhope	November 2007	June 2009
Admiral	Sir Trevor Soar[12]	June 2009	January 2012
Admiral	Sir George Zambellas[13]	January 2012	April 2012

Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and Chief of Staff

Deputy Commanders have included:[11]

Vice Admiral Sir Roy Newman, Feb 1990–June 1992
Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Biggs, June 1992–June 1994
Vice Admiral Sir Jonathan Tod, June 1994–June 1997
Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham, June 1997–Jan 1999
Vice Admiral Sir Fabian Malbon, Jan 1999–May 2001
Vice Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, May 2001–July 2002
Vice Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, July 2002–June 2004
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy McClement, June 2004–Oct 2006
Vice Admiral Paul Boissier, Oct 2006–July 2009
Vice Admiral Sir Richard Ibbotson, July 2009–Jan 2011
Vice Admiral Sir George Zambellas, Jan 2011–Dec 2011
Vice Admiral Philip Jones Dec 2011–April 2012[11]

Chiefs of Staff

The Commander-in-Chief, Fleet's principal staff officer was the Chief of Staff, Fleet, responsible for coordinating the supporting staff of Fleet Headquarters from November 1971 to 2012.[14]

#	post holder	see	dates	notes/ref
1.	Chief of Staff Fleet	Main article: Chief of Staff Fleet	1971-2012	In 1990 became a joint title of the Deputy C-in-C[15]
2.	Chief of Staff, (Warfare) Fleet		2002-2006	became CoS Capability[16]
3.	Chief of Staff (Capability) Fleet		2006-2012	[17]
4.	Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations		1971-2010	became ACOS Operations (Navy) in 2002[18]
5.	Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans		1971-2012	[19]
6.	Assistant Chief of Staff, Warfare		1973-2012	[20]
7.	Command Secretary, Fleet		1971-2012	[21][22]

Subordinate commands

At various times included:[23][24][25][26][27]

#	post holder	see	dates
1.	Chaplain of the Fleet and Director-General Naval Chaplaincy Services		1971-2012
2.	Commandant General Royal Marines	Main article: Commandant General Royal Marines	1971-2012
3.	Commander British Forces Gibraltar		1992-2012
4.	Commander Operations	Main article: Commander Operations (Royal Navy)	1993-2012
5.	Commander UK Amphibious Forces		2001-2012
6.	Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces		2001-2012
7.	Flag Officer, Carriers and Amphibious Ships	Main article: Flag Officer, Carriers and Amphibious Ships	1971-1979
8.	Flag Officer First Flotilla	Main article: Flag Officer First Flotilla	1971-1990
9.	Flag Officer Naval Air Command		1971-2010
10.	Flag Officer Gibraltar and Gibraltar Naval Base Commander		1971-1992
11.	Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland		1996-2012
12.	Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland	Main article: Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland	1971-1996
13.	Flag Officer Sea Training	Main article: Flag Officer Sea Training	1971-2012
14.	Flag Officer, Second Flotilla	Main article: Flag Officer, Second Flotilla	1971-1992
15.	Flag Officer Submarines		1971-1991
16.	Flag Officer, Surface Flotilla	Main article: Flag Officer, Surface Flotilla	1990-2002
17.	Flag Officer, Third Flotilla	Main article: Flag Officer, Third Flotilla	1979-1992

Structure charts

References

"Maritime Affairs". The Army Quarterly and Defence Journal. 101: 404. 1971.
Commander R.W. Moland RN. "One Fleet: A Structural Outline". RUSI Journal. 117 (666): 19.
NATO Handbook07. 25 March 1993. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
Young, Thomas-Durrell (1 June 1997). "Command in NATO After the Cold War: Alliance, National, and Multinational Considerations". U.S. Army Strategic Studies Institute. p. 11. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
"Navy Command Headquarters". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010.
"Fleet Battle Staff Headquarters". Archived from the original on 13 February 2011.
"Commander UK Maritime Force". Archived from the original on 11 February 2011.
"Cougar". Archived from the original on 11 December 2010.
"New Admiral Visits Fleet Flagship". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011.
"Commander UK Amphibious Force". Archived from the original on 16 March 2011.
"Royal Navy Senior Appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2012.
"Admiral Sir Trevor Soar takes up Navy fleet position". Portsmouth News. 11 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
"Admiral George Zambellas takes up role as CinC Fleet". British Forces News. 6 January 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
Mackie, Colin (January 2019). "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin. C. Mackie. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
Mackie 2019 p.135-136.
Mackie 2019 p.135.
Mackie 2019 p.135-136.
Mackie 2019 p.135-136.
Mackie 2019 p.135-136.
Mackie 2019 p.135-136.
The Civil Service Yearbook 1998 p.164.
The Civil Service Yearbook 2002 p.170.
Paxton, J. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book 1987-88. Springer. p. 1303. ISBN 9780230271166.
Brown, David (1987). The Royal Navy and Falklands War. Pen and Sword. p. 53. ISBN 9781473817791.
Eberle, Sir James (2007). Wider horizons: naval policy & international affairs. Roundtuit Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 9781904499176.
Roberts, John (2009). Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy. Seaforth Publishing. p. 236. ISBN 9781848320437.
Paxton, J. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book 1990-91. Springer. p. 1315. ISBN 9780230271197.
Smith, Gordon (12 July 2015). "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment 1947–2013: Summary of Fleet Organization 1972–1981". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith. Retrieved 31 December 2017.

Fleet structure (2002 to 2012)[28]
Parent unit	United Kingdom Maritime Forces
Components	Amphibious Task Group Carrier Strike Group DC UK Maritime Forces UK Task Group Faslane Flotilla Devonport Flotilla Portsmouth Flotilla

Historic fleets and naval commands of the Royal Navy
North and Irish Seas and English Channel	1st Fleet 2nd Fleet 3rd Fleet Atlantic Fleet Battle Cruiser Fleet Channel Fleet Channel Squadron (Navy Royal) Channel Squadron Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland Devonport Dover Downs Eastern English Channel Commander-in-Chief Fleet Grand Fleet British Naval Forces Germany Humber Home Fleet Irish Squadron Leith Narrow Seas Nore North North and West North Sea Fleet North Sea Squadron Orkneys and Shetlands Plymouth Portsmouth Rosyth Reserve Fleet South West and Irish Sea West Western Approaches Western Western Squadron Yarmouth
Atlantic Ocean	Atlantic Fleet Barbadoes and Leeward Islands Good Hope Jamaica Division Jamaica Station Leeward Islands Lisbon Newfoundland North America North America and West Indies North Atlantic Portugal South America Station South Atlantic and South America South Atlantic South Atlantic and Pacific South East Coast of America West Africa Squadron West Africa Station West Coast of Africa West Indies
Baltic Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas	Adriatic Aegean Baltic Fleet Black Sea and Caspian Caspian Coast of Spain Eastern Mediterranean Egypt and Red Sea Germany Gibraltar Gibraltar and Mediterranean Approaches Levant Levant and East Mediterranean Malta Malta and Central Mediterranean Mediterranean Fleet Portugal
Arabian Seas Indian and Pacific Oceans	Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf Commander-in-Chief, Australia Commander-in-Chief, China East Africa East Coast of Africa East Indies East Indies and China East Indies Fleet Eastern Fleet Far East Fleet Egypt and Red Sea Ismailia Middle East New Zealand New Zealand Naval Forces Pacific Fleet Pacific Station Red Sea and Canal Red Sea South America Station South Atlantic and Pacific Persian Gulf