Departure of the Flying Squadron - ILN-1855-0331-0009

The Flying Squadron was a

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 ...

squadron formed at least three times. Its first formation existed from June 1869-November 1870.

First formation, 1869–70

The first Flying Squadron was established in 1869. It was made up, at various times, of ten wooden ships with auxiliary steam power. The squadron sailed from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 19 June 1869. It called at

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Melbourne, Sydney, and Hobart in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, and

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

in Brazil, before returning to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 15 November 1870.https://www.pdavis.nl/Flying.htm, accessed April 2020. Showing Flying Squadron at Wellington

Rear-Admiral

Geoffrey Hornby Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby GCB (10 February 1825 – 3 March 1895) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he saw action at the capture of Acre in November 1840 during the Egyptian–Ottoman War. As a captain ...

commanded the squadron from 19 June 1869 – 15 November 1870, flying his flag from . Other ships of the squadron included , (left at Bahia), , (left at Esquimalt), , , , and . Between 1866 and 1870, served in the Pacific with the

Commander-in-Chief, China The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

. She joined the Flying Squadron at Valparaiso in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, sailing home the rest of the way with them. B(1871) p015 FLYING SQUADRON, PLYMOUTH SOUND, JUNE, 1869.jpg, Plymouth Sound
(June, 1869) B(1871) p177 TASMANIA, RIVER DERWENT. - H.E. CHARLES DUCANE VISITING THE SQUADRON.jpg, Hobart, Tasmania
(January, 1870) B(1871) p227 AUCKLAND HARBOUR, N.Z.jpg, Auckland, New Zealand
(February, 1870) B(1871) p269 FLYING SQUADRON, ESQUIMALT HARBOR.jpg, Esquimalt Bay, Canada,
(May, 1870) B(1871) p283 FLYING SQUADRON, OFF HONOLULU, JUNE 1870.jpg, Honolulu, Hawaii
(June, 1870) B(1871) p307 ROUNDING CAPE HORN.jpg, Rounding Cape Horn
(September 13, 1870)

Second formation, 1870–72

The second Flying Squadron was formed in 1870, mostly made up of wooden ships, but including the very new

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

HMS ''Volage'', which circumnavigated the world to "show the flag". The squadron sailed from

on 3 December 1870 and called at

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, and the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

, before crossing the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and returning to England at the end of 1872.''Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica'' (1904), p. 84

Third formation, 1896

The third Flying Squadron was a special

squadron that operated during 1896.

Burt Burt is a given name and also a shortened form of other names, such as Burton and Herbert, or a place name. Burt may refer to: People *Burt Alvord (1866–after 1910), American Old West lawman and outlaw *Burt Aull (1871–1947), American footba ...

1988, pp. 81–82. Following the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

, the German Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

sent a telegram of support to President Kruger. This led to a war scare in Europe. To ready itself for the possibility of a war with the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, the Royal Navy formed the Particular Service Squadron at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, on 14 January 1896. It was soon renamed the Flying Squadron. Its flagship was the battleship , while the other ships in the squadron were the battleship , the and , and the s and . The squadron was commanded by Rear Admiral Alfred Taylor Dale. The Flying Squadron was held in readiness for ten months, and briefly was attached to the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

in mid-1896. No war broke out, and the Flying Squadron was disbanded in November 1896.

Notes

References

*
The cruise round the world of the Flying Squadron, 1869-1870, under the command of Rear-Admiral G. T. Phipps Hornby
- rare book in the collection of the

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

External links

* {{Squadrons of the Royal Navy, state=collapsed Royal Navy squadrons 19th-century history of the Royal Navy Military units and formations disestablished in the 1890s