The 3rd and 4th Divisions was a naval
formation of the
Home Fleet,
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. It was created before the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
from March 1909 until May 1912.
In March 1909, following a Royal Navy re-organisation, the
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.
History
Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
was absorbed by the
Home Fleet. The ships in home waters, including the former Channel Fleet, then became the Home Fleet's First and Second Divisions. The former Home Fleet as it then stood became the Third and Fourth Divisions, which was actually a single formation under a vice-admiral. These new divisions was made up of an 8-12 ship battle squadron that included either
dreadnought battleship
The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...
s or
pre-dreadnought battleship
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appli ...
s. Within the Home Fleet there were two levels of availability - the ships of the 1st and 2nd Divisions which were fully operational, and those of the 3rd and 4th divisions that were either in reserve or partially manned.
Vice-Admirals Commanding 3rd and 4th Divisions
:Post holders included:
Rear Admirals in the 3rd and 4th Divisions
:''Post holders included'':
Devonport Division
:''Post holders included'':
Components
:''Included:''
Nore Division
The Rear-Admiral Commanding, Nore Division, Home Fleet from 4 January, 1909 - 5 January, 1910 was Rear Admiral
Charles J. Briggs.
Components
:''Included:''
Portsmouth Division
:''Post holders included'':
Components
:''Included:''
[Watson. 2015]
References
Sources
* Friedman, Norman (2014). Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactic and Technology. Seaforth Publishing. .
* Mackie, Gordon. "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin.com. Gordon Mackie, p. 199. December 2017.
* Watson, Dr Graham. (2015) "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployments 1900-1914". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith.
Further reading
*
{{Royal Navy fleets
Royal Navy divisions
Military units and formations established in 1909
Military units and formations disestablished in 1912