The 4th Light Cruiser Squadron was a naval formation of

Light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

s of the

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 ...

from 1915 to 1919.

History

World War One

Formed on 15 May 1915 it was then assigned to the

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 th ...

in August 1915 and remained attached the fleet until November 1918. At the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

, the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron consisted of four

C-Class cruisers C class may refer to: Ships * C-class destroyer (disambiguation), multiple destroyers * C-class submarine (disambiguation), multiple submarines * C-class corvette (disambiguation), ships of the Victorian Royal Navy * C-class cruiser, Royal Navy ...

HMS

Calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

, Caroline and

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; , ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. Cup-bearer of the god Dionysus, he was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr. His mythology occurs only in later antiquity. Duri ...

plus the Arethusa class cruiser HMS

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

. At Jutland, HMS Calliope flew the

broad pennant A broad pennant is a triangular swallow-tailed naval pennant flown from the masthead of a warship afloat or a naval headquarters ashore to indicate the presence of either: (a) a Royal Navy officer in the rank of Commodore, or (b) a U.S. Navy ...

as Commodore Le Mesurier's flagship. The 4th Light Cruiser Squadron was initially deployed as an anti-submarine screen directly ahead of the main British battle fleet, with HMS Calliope in the lead followed, in order, by Constance, Comus, Royalist and Caroline. Shortly after 8:05p.m. 31 May, the First Division of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron (Calliope, Constance and Comus), engaged with German destroyers and then sighted the main German battle fleet at which Calliope launched a torpedo before retiring under heavy German fire.

Interwar

In 1919 the squadron was assigned to the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

Commodores/Rear-Admirals commanding

Post holders included:

References

Footnotes Sources * Corbett, Julian S. (1923) ''Naval Operations. Official History of the War. Vol.III''. London: Longmans, Green & Co. * Harper, J. E. T. (2016) ''The Jutland Scandal: The Truth about the First World War's Greatest Sea Battle''. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, ISBN 978-1-5107-0871-6. * Lambert, Andrew D.; Blyth, Robert J.; Rüger, Jan (2011). ''The Dreadnought and the Edwardian Age''. Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. . * Mackie, Colin, (2018), ''British Armed Services between 1860 and the present day — Royal Navy - Senior Appointments'', http://www.gulabin.com/. * Watson, Dr Graham. (2015) "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914-1918". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith. * Watson, Dr Graham. (2015) "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1919-1939". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith.

External links

{{Light-cruiser squadrons of the Royal Navy, state=collapsed Light Cruiser squadrons of the Royal Navy Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War I