The First Cruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of cruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during World War I, then later as part of the Mediterranean during the Interwar period and World War II. It was first established in 1904 and existed until 1952.

History

First formation

The squadron was formed in December 1904 when Cruiser Squadron was re-designated the 1st Cruiser Squadron. In March 1909, then consisting of battlecruisers, it was assigned to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet until April 1912. When the First World War began, the squadron was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet where it participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau. It joined then Grand Fleet in January 1915 where it participated in the battles of Dogger Bank and the Battle of Jutland. It was disbanded after the battle as three of its four ships had been sunk in June 1916. In July 1917 H.M. Ships HMS Courageous (50), HMS Glorious and HMS Furious (47) were detached from the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron and named the First Cruiser Squadron, part of the newly formed Light Cruiser Force. It remained part of Light Cruiser Force until April 1919 when it was once again disbanded.

Rear/Vice Admiral commanding

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Composition, April–May 1907

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Composition, First World War

August 1914

As of: Light cruisers

24 January 1915

As of:

22 February 1915

As of:

30 May 1916

As of:

October 1917

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17 November 1917

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Second formation

In October 1924 the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron was re-designated the 1st Cruiser Squadron. This took effect in November 1924 and the squadron was reformed as an enlarged unit of the Mediterranean Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Arthur Waistell. In June 1942 the squadron under the commander of Rear-Admiral Louis Keppel Hamilton was assigned to provide distant cover for Convoy PQ 17. The squadron consisted of the British cruisers HMS London (69) (flagship) and HMS Norfolk (78), the American cruisers USS Wichita (CA-45) and USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and four destroyers, two from the United States Navy. Louis Mountbatten served as commander of the squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet after the war. Having been granted the substantive rank of vice admiral on 22 June 1949, Mountbatten became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1950.

Rear/Vice Admiral commanding

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Deployments

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Footnotes