The Battle Cruiser Fleet, (BCF), later known as Battle Cruiser Force, a naval formation of fast

battlecruisers The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

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 ...

, operated from 1915 to 1919.

History

The Fleet was formed on 11 February 1915 when the Admiralty ordered the deployment of its faster Battlecruiser squadrons to the Rosyth Command and grouped them together as the new ''Battle Cruiser Fleet''. The name 'Fleet' remained until 1916 although it was officially subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet. The fleet initially contained the ''1st, 2nd and 3rd Battlecruiser Squadrons'' but this was reduced to the ''1st and 2nd BC Squadrons'' in June 1916. It also included ''two light cruiser squadrons'' and ''two destroyer flotillas'', in addition the new ''5th Battle Squadron'' that included the new fast Queen Elizabeth-class battleships operated with the fleet. On 29 November 1916 it was renamed ''Battle Cruiser Force''. The force was disbanded in April 1919.

Vice-Admirals commanding

Post holders included:

Chiefs of staff

Post holders included:

Components

:Included

References

Sources

* Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. (2015) "Battle Cruiser Force - The Dreadnought Project". www.dreadnoughtproject.org. Harley and Lovell. * Jordan, John. (2011). Warships after Washington: The Development of Five Major Fleets 1922–1930. Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. . * Mace, Martin. (2014). The Royal Navy and the War at Sea 1914–1919. Barnsley, England: Pen and Sword. . * Mackie, Colin. (2018) "Royal Navy Senior Appointments" (PDF). gulabin.com. Colin Mackie. * Smith, Gordon. (2015) "Royal Navy ship dispositions 1914–1918". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith. * Trevor, Royle. (2007). The flowers of the forest : Scotland and the First World War. Birlinn. . * Watson, Dr Graham. (2015) "Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployment, Inter-War Years 1914–1918". www.naval-history.net. Gordon Smith.

External links

{{Royal Navy fleets, state=collapsed Fleets of the Royal Navy 1915 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War I