Flag Officer, East Africa

In the early twentieth century the Royal Navy installation at Zanizibar was primarily used as a coaling station.{{cite book |title=Hazell's Annual |date=1905 |publisher=Hazell, Watson & Viney |location=Aylesbury, England |page=74 |language=en}}

British forces' principal role was to protect British commerce from German surface raiders – seen as a priority in 1914–1915.{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Graham |title=Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914–1918 |url=https://www.naval-history.net/xGW-RNOrganisation1914-1918.htm |website=naval-history.net |publisher=Gordon Smith, 27 October 2015 |access-date=4 July 2018}} As the likelihood of war with Germany increased, the Commander-in-Chief, Cape Station, Rear Admiral Herbert King-Hall, moved his ships in order to counter the threat posed by the German light cruiser {{SMS|Königsberg|1905|2}}, based at Dar es Salaam. On 31 July 1914, the British protected cruiser {{HMS|Pegasus|1897|6}} sighted Königsberg leaving Dar es Salaam, but was unable to keep track of the faster German cruiser.{{Harvnb|Corbett|1920|p=152}}{{Harvnb|Naval Staff Monograph No. 10|1921|pp=17–20}} King-Hall recognised that Königsberg outclassed Pegasus and intended that Pegasus should operate with the cruiser {{HMS|Astraea|1893|2}} while his flagship {{HMS|Hyacinth|1898|2}} operated independently to protect the trade routes around the Cape, but on 12 August, the Admiralty ordered Astraea to join Hyacinth off the Cape to escort troop convoys, leaving Pegasus unsupported at Zanzibar.{{Harvnb|Naval Staff Monograph No. 10|1921|pp=21–25}} On 20 September 1914, Königsberg surprised and sank Pegasus in the Battle of Zanzibar.

Königsberg then retreated into the Rufiji River to repair her engines. Before the repairs could be completed, British cruisers located Königsberg; the Navy List for April 1915 lists on the East Coast of Africa under Part XI, Other Foreign Stations, page 22 (1363), the light cruisers Hyacinth, {{HMS|Weymouth|1910|2}}, and {{HMAS|Pioneer}}. Unable to steam into the river to destroy Konigsberg, the Royal Navy ships set up a blockade. Aircraft were sent to join the effortPatience, Kevin (December 2011). "Sink the Königsberg: At All Costs". Britain at War. Stamford: Key Publishing (56): 70. and Squadron Commander Robert Gordon was appointed in January 1915 as commander of the Royal Naval Air Service in East Africa.[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Gordon_R.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore R Gordon], accessed December 2020. After several attempts to sink the ship during the Battle of Rufiji Delta, the British sent two monitors, {{HMS|Mersey|1914|2}} and {{HMS|Severn|1914|2}}, to destroy the German cruiser. On 11 July 1915, the two monitors got close enough to severely damage Königsberg, forcing her crew to scuttle the ship.

After the seizure of German East Africa, the Royal Navy added a base in Tanganyika to the existing one at Zanzibar.

Naval Officers-in-Charge were in post at Tanganyika (12 September 1918 – April 1919){{cite book |title=The Navy List: Supplement |date=April 1919 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |location=London, England |page=9 |url=https://www.navylistresearch.co.uk/}} and Zanzibar (20 November 1918 – 1919) later in the war.{{cite book |title=The Navy List |date=May 1919 |publisher=H.M Stationery Office |location=London, England |page=877}}

Ships and units that served off East Africa included:{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Graham |title=Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914–1918 |url=https://www.naval-history.net/xGW-RNOrganisation1914-1918.htm |website=www.naval-history.net |publisher=Gordon Smith, 27 October 2015 |access-date=5 July 2018}}

File:The Royal Navy during the Second World War A5191.jpg

Kilindini, in the British Kenya Colony, became the temporary home of Force B, the old Revenge-class battleships of the Eastern Fleet, along with other ships, from early 1942, until the Japanese naval threat to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) subsided.{{cite book |last1=Argyle |first1=C.J. |title=Japan at War, 1937–45 |date=1976 |publisher=A. Barker |location=London |isbn=9780213165864 |page=111}} In the early hours of 7 April 1942 the Admiralty signalled to Admiral Somerville, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet, 'discretion' to withdraw the R-class battleships to Africa, as they might be 'more of a liability than an asset'.S.W. Roskill, "War at Sea 1939-1945: Vol. II The Period of Balance," pp28-29, accessed at [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-RN-II/UK-RN-II-1.html], January 2022. Somerville in return signaled two days later that he indeed would send the slow division, Force B, back to East Africa.

Upon the arrival of the Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet, at Kilindini, on 10 May 1942 it appeared that "..[m]uch preliminary work, including berthing arrangements, had been completed by Vice Admiral, Second in Command (Vice Admiral A.U. Willis, CB, DSO) and the Flag Officer East Africa and Zanzibar (Rear Admiral A.D. Read), but available personnel and material were very scarce."{{cite web |last1=Eastern Fleet |title=Eastern Fleet, Admiralty War Diary 1942 |url=https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1942-Introduction.htm |website=www.naval-history.net |publisher=Gordon Smith, 14 July 2011 |access-date=5 July 2018}} Rear Admiral Read was then posted further east to take up the post of Flag Officer Ceylon.

On May 12, 1942, "..Rear Admiral C.G. Stuart, DSO, DSC, assumed duty as Flag Officer, East Africa and Zanzibar, with headquarters at Kilindini. He will operate and administrate local defence forces in his area and will be responsible for all East African bases and those in the Western Indian Ocean other than Addu Atoll." (Eastern Fleet War Diary) Stuart was subsequently Flag Officer East Africa & Zanzibar at HMS Sheba in Aden from 12.05.1942 - 02.09.1942; Flag Officer East Africa [HMS Tana, Kilindini, 03.09.1942 - 17.02.1943], and then Flag Officer East Africa & Admiral Superintendent Kilindini [HMS Tana, 18.02.1943 - 26.04.1944].{{Cite web|url=https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersS3.html|title=Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945 - S}}

Royal Naval Air Stations (RNAS) Kilidini (HMS Kipanga) and RNAS Mackinnon Road (HMS Kipanga II) were established and used between 1942 and 1944. RAF Port Reitz nearby was also used by the Fleet Air Arm while the Eastern Fleet was in the area. Rear-Admiral F. Elliott served as Commodore, Naval Air Stations, East Africa, from 19 August 1943 until 1 January 1945.{{cite book |title=The Navy List |date=1944 |publisher=London: His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London, England |pages=2182–2183 |url=https://archive.org/stream/navylistapr1944v2grea#page/2182/mode/2up}}

Local British naval reserve forces included the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in Kenya;[https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5405063822/in/photolist-9eCnay-BeKH8u-7wULt8-eKpQE9-7wULt4-7tJurd-2fqRDGN-5DGU7Y-7tkoRD-K9pYB8-2dpC9Gd-FXqgNS-SnwJYs-2454XGW-FYXFr5-2mdE3Va-2dpCac1-2dfFJWK-9ezhXX-246B7Sw-247XMcv-QKmZeV-FYXFLd-247XMQK-K9ngxD-K9ngRp-ErdQLr-ErdQCa-2mgssr8-2dbxmoP-2mgA68N-23TtzsK-2euVf38-9eCnZW-9ezgDe-9eCo79-9eCnFw-7H7eZi-Aj6tcP-bHXk6H-wzdXb-hLqP4o-2kAk5YY-frdUvs-eiUy1r-at88Hm-7HhMrH-CwrppR-wzciq-wz9AV K. 8690. African signallers working an Aldis Lamp], Part of CO 1069/139, 1945. Tanganyika Naval Volunteer Force (1939–1942), responsible for minesweeping, coast watching and coastal patrol duties and manning of signal stations,{{cite web |title=Tanganyika's Navy, c. 19 OCTOBER 1944 |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205057956 |website=Imperial War Museums |publisher=Imperial War Museum, UK |access-date=5 July 2018 |language=en}} and the Zanzibar Naval Volunteer Force (also 1939–1942).{{cite book |title=Navy List Quarterly Volume 1 |date=January 1945 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |page=352 |url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/93393062 |language=en}} From 1942 the two were merged into the East African Naval Force, active until 13 May 1952, and then renamed the Royal East African Navy until 1962.{{cite book |last1=Page |first1=Malcolm |title=King's African Rifles: A History |date=2011 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=9780850525380 |page=264 |language=en}} Kilidini became the force's headquarters.

{{reflist}}

• Argyle, C.J. (1976). Japan at War, 1937–45. London: A. Barker. {{ISBN|9780213165864}}.
• {{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Julian S. |title=Naval Operations: Volume 1: To the Battle of the Falklands December 1914 |series=History of the Great War |year=1920 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. |location=London}}
• {{cite book |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Naval Operations |volume=III |others=accompanying Map Case |first=J. S. |last=Corbett |year=1923 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. |location=London |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/navaloperations03corb |access-date=2 November 2016 |oclc=867968279|ref=none}}
• May 1915 to June 1916, Dardanelles, evacuation, destruction of {{SMS|Königsberg|1905|6}}; {{SS|Arabic|1902|6}} and {{HMS|Baralong}} (Baralong incidents), Irish Easter Rising, air raid on Schleswig air base and Battle of Jutland. Draft copied circulated during controversy about failures at Jutland and changes were instigated by Admiral David Beatty about his performance. Republished 1940 incorporating information from German official history, alterations for Beatty not restored; republished IWM-BP ndj 1995, IWM-NMP pbk. 2003.
• Friedman, Norman (2014). Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactic and Technology. Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. {{ISBN|9781848321892}}.
• Hazell's Annual. Aylesbury, England: Hazell, Watson & Viney. 1905.
• Houterman, J.N. "Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945: B.K. Shattock to W.W. Sitwell". UnitHistories.com. Houterman and Kloppes.
• Howell, Raymond (1987). The Royal Navy and the Slave Trade. London: Croom Helm. {{ISBN|9780709947707}}.
• {{cite book |ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 10|1921}} |title=Monograph No. 10.—East Africa to July 1915 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) |volume=II |year=1921 |publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.II_opt.pdf}}
• The Navy List. 1944, Quarterly Volume 1 (1945). London, England: H.M. Stationery Office.
• "Sudan's Twenty-Year Refugee Dilemma". International Journal of African Historical Studies, Africana Publishing Company. Vol. 21 (1–2): 184.
• Watson, Dr Graham (2015). "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914–1918". naval-history.net. Gordon Smith.
• Wells, Anne Sharp (2000). The Anglo-American "special relationship" during the Second World War: A selective guide to materials in the British Library. [London]: Eccles Centre for American Studies, The British Library. {{ISBN|0712344268}}.

• Commodore later Rear Admiral Charles G. Stuart, career summary [http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Charles_Gage_Stuart]

Category:Flag officers of the Royal Navy

Category:Military history of the Indian Ocean

Category:20th-century history of the Royal Navy