Commander-in-Chief, North Sea

{{Infobox official post

| post = Commander-in-Chief, North Sea

| body =

| nativename =

| insignia = File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg

| insigniasize = 150px

| insigniacaption =

| image =

| imagesize =

| incumbent =

| incumbentsince =

| department = Department of Admiralty

| member_of =

| reports_to = Admiral of the Fleet

| nominator = First Lord of the Admiralty

| appointer = First Lord of the Admiralty

| appointer_qualified = Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council

| termlength = Not fixed , (usually 1-3 years)

| inaugural = Rear-Admiral of the Blue the Hon. John Byng

| formation = 1745-1815

| website=

}}

The Commander-in-Chief, North Sea,{{cite book|last1=Mace|first1=Martin|last2=Grehan|first2=John|title=British Battles of the Napoleonic Wars 1793-1806: Despatched from the Front|date=Nov 14, 2013|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781473831421|page=27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2sYVBAAAQBAJ&q=Commander-in-Chief%2C+North+Sea++napoleonic+wars&pg=PA102|language=en}} was senior appointment and an operational command of the British Royal Navy originally based at Great Yarmouth from 1745 to 1802 then at Ramsgate from 1803 until 1815.{{cite web |last1=Archives |first1=The National |title=Admiralty: Nore Station: Correspondence |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1860 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives, 1805-1939, ADM 151 |access-date=11 June 2018}}

The office holder commanded the North Sea Fleet.{{cite book|last1=Blake|first1=Richard|title=Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775-1815: Blue Lights & Psalm-singers|date=2008|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=9781843833598|page=133|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gV2PZ9tu_aQC&q=Commander-in-Chief%2C+North+Sea+Fleet+napoleonic+wars&pg=PA133|language=en}}

History

The North Sea has traditionally been an important command from the 13th to 15th centuries there was an Admiral of the North based at Yarmouth that office ceased when it was unified with the new office of Admiral of England. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Vice Admirals in the North Sea were appointed to the command of the North Sea Squadron though on an intermittent basis. From 1652 to 1654, Yarmouth used by the Royal Navy for stationing its fleets during the First Anglo-Dutch War.{{cite book|last1=Davies|first1=J. D.|title=Pepys Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89|date=2008|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=9781783830220|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1qe9AwAAQBAJ&q=Yarmouth+Roads+Anchorage+North+Sea&pg=PA195|language=en}} A more permanent appointment was then established in 1745 the Commander-in-Chief, North Sea he had overall responsibility for the North Sea Fleet usually anchored at Yarmouth Roads.{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Charles John|title=The History of Great Yarmouth, Designed as a Continuation of Manship's History of that Town|date=1856|publisher=Louis Alfred Meall, The Quay|page=275}} The fleet is most well known for its key role in the Battle of Camperdown against the Dutch Navy on 11 October 1797, which resulted in a decisive British victory. The fleet was also involved in trade protection, with the advent of the looming Napoleonic Wars, and later, it turned to the blockading of enemy ports. The fleet also played an instrumental part in the British anti-invasion preparations of 1803–05 in response to Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom.

In May 1804, under the Commander-in-Chief, North Sea Admiral of the White George Elphinstone, the North Sea Fleet would reach its largest composition. It consisted of around 170 to 179 ships and divided primarily between squadrons each commanded by competent admirals.{{cite book |last1=Rodger |first1=N.A.M. |title=The command of the ocean : a naval history of Britain 1649-1815 |date=2004 |publisher=Allen Lane |location=London |isbn=9780713994117 |pages=615–617 |chapter=Fleets:May 1804 Invasion Threat}}{{cite book |last1=Rodger |first1=N. A. M. |last2=Dancy |first2=Jeremiah Ross |last3=Wilson |first3=Evan |title=Strategy and the Sea: Essays in Honour of John B. Hattendorf |date=2016 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Woodbridge |isbn=9781783270989 |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ASYbDQAAQBAJ&q=Rear-Admiral+Edward+Thornborough%2C+Texel+Squadron+Royal+Navy+1804&pg=PA94 |language=en}}{{Additional citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The office was abolished in 1815, and its former duties were taken over by the Commander-in-Chief, The Nore whose role and geographic area of command was re-defined by the Admiralty.

Commander-in-Chief, North Sea

Included:

Rear-Admiral John Byng, 1745–1746.{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=The Hon. John Byng (1704-1757):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=180 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S,. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Rear-Admiral Thomas Smith, 1746–1747.{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Thomas Smith (c.1707-1762):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=1238 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrsion |access-date=20 June 2019 |date=2018}}
Commodore John Towry, 1747.
Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker, 1781-1782{{cite book|last1=Pettigrew|first1=Thomas Joseph|title=Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson|date=1849|publisher=T. and W. Boone|page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirslifevice00pettgoog/page/n70 55]|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirslifevice00pettgoog|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Sir Hyde Parker (1713/14-1783):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=2520 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Commodore Keith Stewart, 1782{{Cite NBD1849 |wstitle=Stewart, Keith |page=1117}}
Rear-Admiral John Lockhart-Ross, 1782.{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Sir John Lockhart (1721-1790):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=2143 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Vice-Admiral Mark Milbanke, 1782–1783.{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Harrison |title=Mark Milbanke (1724-1805):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=1480 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}

No fleet present 1784-1789

Vice-Admiral Samuel Hood, 1790.{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Sir Samuel Hood (1724-1816):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=1379 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}

No fleet present 1791-1793

Rear-Admiral Henry Harvey, 1794–1795.{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Henry Harvey (1737-1810) |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=8129 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S.Harrison |access-date=20 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Vice-Admiral Lord Duncan, 1795-1800{{cite book|last1=Chambers|first1=Robert|last2=Thomson|first2=Thomas|title=A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen: Crichton-Hamilton, John|date=1855|publisher=Blackie|page=165|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U5lHAAAAYAAJ&q=Admiral%2C+Viscount+Duncan+Commander-in-Chief++North+Sea+Fleet&pg=PA165|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Lord Adam Duncan (1731-1804):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=2568 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Admiral Archibald Dickson, 1800-1802{{cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=James Stanier|last2=McArthur|first2=John|title=The Naval Chronicle: Volume 3, January-July 1800: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects|date=Sep 2, 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108018425|page=330|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mazuuNaNY-oC&q=Commodore+Hon.+Keith+Stewart+Commander-in-Chief++North+Sea+Fleet&pg=PA330|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Sir Archibald Dickson (c.1739-1803): Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=338 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Admiral Lord Keith, 1803-07{{cite book|last1=(Viscount)|first1=Horatio Nelson Nelson|last2=Maffeo|first2=Steven E.|title=Seize, Burn, Or Sink: The Thoughts and Words of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson|date=2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810857810|page=597|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nm1nAAAAMAAJ&q=Admiral+George+Elphinstone,+Viscount+Keith+Commander-in-Chief++North+Sea+Fleet|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Sir George Keith Elphinstone (1745/46-1823): Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=409 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2010–2018}}
Rear-Admiral Thomas Macnamara Russell, 1807-1810{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=John|title=Royal Naval Biography: Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-Officers, Superannuated Rear-Admirals, Retired-Captains, Post-Captains, and Commanders|date=Nov 18, 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108022644|page=145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZ5d5GaXyosC&q=Admiral+Thomas+Macnamara+Russell+Commander-in-Chief++North+Sea+Fleet&pg=PA145|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Thomas Macnamara Russell (1743-1824):Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=2612 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S.Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, 1809–1810.{{cite web |last1=Harrsion |first1=Simon |title=Sir Richard John Strachan (d.1828): Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=13710 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1810–1811.{{cite book|title=A New Biographical Dictionary, of 3000 Cotemporary Public Characters, British and Foreign, of All Ranks and Professions|date=1835|publisher=G. B. Whittaker|page=36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f873UN0SOgAC&q=Vice-Admiral+Sir+Edward+Pellew+Commander-in-Chief++North+Sea+Fleet&pg=PA36|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Lord Edward Pellew (1757-1833). Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=1533 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}
Admiral Sir William Young, 1811–1815.{{cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=James Stanier|last2=McArthur|first2=John|title=The Naval Chronicle: Volume 26, July-December 1811: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects|date=Sep 2, 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108018654|page=337|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bD_bzet0tM4C&q=Rear-Admiral+Sir+Richard+Strachan+Commander-in-Chief++North+Sea+Fleet&pg=PA337|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Sir William Young (1751-1821): Appointments |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=19352 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=24 July 2019 |date=2018}}

References

Sources

A New Biographical Dictionary, of 3000 Contemporary Public Characters, British and Foreign, of All Ranks and Professions. G. B. Whittaker. 1835.
Archives, The National. "Admiralty: Nore Station: Correspondence". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives, 1805–1939, ADM 151.
Blake, Richard (2008). Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775-1815: Blue Lights & Psalm-singers. Boydell Press. {{ISBN|9781843833598}}.
Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas (1855). A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen: Crichton-Hamilton, John. Blackie.
Clarke, James Stanier; McArthur, John (2010). The Naval Chronicle: Volume 3, January–July 1800: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781108018425}}
Davies, J. D. (2008). Pepys Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649–89. Seaforth Publishing. {{ISBN|9781783830220}}.
Ireland, Bernard (2001), Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail - War at Sea 1756–1815, 1st Ed, WW Norton & Co. {{ISBN|9780393049831}}.
Knighton, edited by C.S.; Loades, David (2011). The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate for the Navy Records Society. {{ISBN|9781409418474}}.
Loades, D. M. (1996). John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, 1504–1553. Wotton-under-Edge, England: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|9780198201939}}.
Mace, Martin; Grehan, John (Nov 14, 2013). British Battles of the Napoleonic Wars 1793-1806: Despatched from the Front. Pen and Sword. {{ISBN|9781473831421}}.
Marshall, John (2010). Royal Naval Biography: Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-Officers, Superannuated Rear-Admirals, Retired-Captains, Post-Captains, and Commanders. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781108022644}}.
{{Cite NBD1849 |wstitle=Stewart, Keith |page=1117}}
Palmer, Charles John (1856). The History of Great Yarmouth, Designed as a Continuation of Manship's History of that Town. Louis Alfred Meall, The Quay.
Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph (1849). Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. T. and W. Boone.
Rodger, N.A.M. (2004), The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company. {{ISBN|9780393060508}}.
(Viscount), Horatio Nelson Nelson; Maffeo, Steven E. (2007). Seize, Burn, Or Sink: The Thoughts and Words of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Scarecrow Press. {{ISBN|9780810857810}}.

Category:Military units and formations established in 1781

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1815

Category:19th-century history of the Royal Navy