The 2nd Battle Squadron was a naval squadron of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

consisting of battleships. The 2nd Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the ...

. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the Grand Fleet was reverted to its original name, the Atlantic Fleet. The squadron changed composition often as ships were damaged, retired or transferred.

History

First World War

As an element in the Grand Fleet, the Squadron participated in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vic ...

. MacIntyre

August 1914

On 5 August 1914, the squadron was constituted as follows: Dittmar & Colledge * HMS ''King George V'' * HMS ''Ajax'' * HMS ''Audacious'' * HMS ''Centurion'' * HMS ''Conqueror'' * HMS ''Monarch'' * HMS ''Orion'' * HMS ''Thunderer''

Battle of Jutland, June 1916

As an element in the Grand Fleet, the Squadron participated in the

. During the Battle of Jutland, the composition of the 2nd Battle Squadron was as follows: MacIntyre * First Division * HMS ''King George V''

Flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of Vice Admiral Sir Martyn Jerram;

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

F. L. Field; * HMS ''Ajax'' Captain G. H. Baird; * HMS ''Centurion'' Captain M. Culme-Seymour; * HMS ''Erin'' Captain the Honourable V. A. Stanley; * Second Division * HMS ''Orion'' Flagship of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

A. C. Leveson; Captain O. Backhouse; * HMS ''Monarch'' Captain G. H. Borrett; * HMS ''Conqueror'' Captain H. H. D. Tothill; * HMS ''Thunderer'' Captain J. A. Fergusson.

January 1918

By 1918, HMS ''Agincourt'' had been transferred from the

1st Battle Squadron The 1st Battle Squadron was a naval squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 1st Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to its original name, ...

Second World War

September 1939

By this time the squadron was in the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the Fi ...

and consisted of: Orbat * HMS ''Royal Oak'' Flagship of Rear Admiral

Henry Blagrove Rear-Admiral Henry Evelyn Charles Blagrove (26 April 1887 – 14 October 1939) was the first British Royal Navy officer of flag rank to be killed in the Second World War. An experienced staff officer and veteran of several actions of the ...

; Captain W.G. Benn; * HMS ''Royal Sovereign'' Captain L. V. Morgan; * HMS ''Ramilies'' Captain H. T. Baillie-Grohman; * Captain G. J. A. Miles; * HMS ''Rodney'' Captain E. N. Syfret.

Admirals commanding

Commanders were as follows: * Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe (May–December 1912) * Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender (1912–15) * Vice-Admiral Sir Martyn Jerram (1915–16) * Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck (1916–19) * Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Oliver (March–April 1919) * Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Leveson (1919–20) * Vice-Admiral Sir William Nicholson (1920–21) * Rear-Admiral

Reginald Drax Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, KCB, DSO, JP, DL ( Plunkett; 28 August 1880 – 16 October 1967), commonly known as Reginald Plunkett or Reginald Drax, was an Anglo-Irish admiral. The younger son of the 17th Ba ...

(1929–30) * Rear-Admiral Charles Little (1930–31) * Rear-Admiral Wilfred French (1931–32) * Rear-Admiral Ragnar Colvin (1932–33) * Rear-Admiral

Max Horton Admiral Sir Max Kennedy Horton, (29 November 1883 – 30 July 1951) was a British submariner during the First World War and commander-in-chief of the Western Approaches in the later half of the Second World War, responsible for British parti ...

(1933–35) * Rear-Admiral Charles Ramsey (1935–37) * Vice-Admiral Lachlan MacKinnon (1937–39) * Rear-Admiral

Lancelot Holland Vice-Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland, (13 September 1887 – 24 May 1941) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded the British force in the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941 against the German battleship ''Bismarck''. Holland was lost ...

(January–September 1939) * Rear-Admiral

(September–October 1939) * Vice-Admiral Sir Alban Curteis (1941–42) * Vice-Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser (1942–43) * Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Moore (1943–44)

Rear-Admirals Second-in-Command

Post holders included: * Rear-Admiral Herbert G. King-Hall, 29 March 1912 – 29 October 1912 * Rear-Admiral The Hon. Rosslyn E. Wemyss, 29 October 1912 – 28 October 1913 * Rear-Admiral Sir Robert K. Arbuthnot, Bart., 28 October 1913 – January 1915 * Rear-Admiral Arthur C. Leveson, 17 January 1915 – 4 December 1916 * Rear-Admiral Sir William E. Goodenough, 5 December 1916 – 31 March 1919 * Rear-Admiral Sir Douglas R. L. Nicholson, 1 April 1919 – 7 April 1919 * Rear-Admiral

Lewis Clinton-Baker Admiral Sir Lewis Clinton-Baker (16 March 1866 – 12 December 1939) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station. History Clinton-Baker joined the Royal Navy in 1879 He took part in the bombardment of Al ...

, 8 April 1919 * Rear-Admiral

Edward B. Kiddle Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

, 1 April 1920 – 8 April 1921 * Rear-Admiral Francis H. Mitchell, 5 May 1925 – 5 May 1926 * Rear-Admiral Charles J. C. Little, 26 April 1930 – 25 April 1931 * Rear-Admiral Lancelot E. Holland, 10 January 1939 – 25 August 1939 * Rear-Admiral Henry E. C. Blagrove, 25 August 1939 – 2 October 1939

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Second Battle Squadron at DreadnoughtProject.org
{{Battle squadrons of the Royal Navy, state=collapsed Battle squadrons of the Royal Navy Ship squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War I Squadrons of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations established in 1912 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944