The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a
formation 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 ...
. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between the United Kingdom and the majority of the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
in the Eastern Hemisphere. The first Commander-in-Chief for the Mediterranean Fleet was the appointment of General at Sea
Robert Blake in September 1654 (styled as Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet). The Fleet was in existence until 1967.
Pre-Second World War

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 ...
gained a foothold in the Mediterranean Sea when
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
was
captured by the British in 1704 during the
War of Spanish Succession, and formally allocated to Britain in the 1713
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
. Though the British had maintained a naval presence in the Mediterranean before, the capture of
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
allowed the British to establish their first naval base there. The British also used
Port Mahon, on the island of
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...
, as a
naval base. However, British control there was only temporary; Menorca changed hands numerous times, and was permanently ceded to Spain in 1802 under the
Treaty of Amiens. In 1800, the British took
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, which was to be handed over to the
Knights of Malta under the Treaty of Amiens. When the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
resumed in 1803, the British kept Malta for use as a naval base. Following Napoleon's defeat, the British continued their presence in Malta, and turned it into the main base for the Mediterranean Fleet. Between the 1860s and 1900s, the British undertook a number of projects to improve the harbours and dockyard facilities, and Malta's harbours were sufficient to allow the entire fleet to be safely moored there.
In the last decade of the nineteenth century, the Mediterranean Fleet was the largest single
squadron of the Royal Navy, with ten first-class battleships—double the number in the
Channel Fleet—and a large number of smaller warships.
On 22 June 1893, the bulk of the fleet, eight
battleship
A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
s and three large
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
s, were conducting their annual summer exercises off
Tripoli,
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, when the fleet's flagship, the battleship , collided with the battleship . ''Victoria'' sank within fifteen minutes, taking 358 crew with her.
Vice-Admiral Sir
George Tryon, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, was among the dead.
Of the three original s which entered service in the first half of 1908, two ( and ) joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1914. They and formed the nucleus of the fleet at the start of 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 ...
when British forces
pursued the German ships ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau''.
A recently modernised became the flagship of the
Commander-in-Chief and
Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1926.
Second World War
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
, as part of the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
from 1814, was a shipping station and was the headquarters for the Mediterranean Fleet until the mid-1930s. Due to the perceived threat of air-attack from the Italian mainland, the fleet was moved to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Sir Andrew Cunningham took command of the fleet from on 3 September 1939, and under him the major formations of the Fleet were the
1st Battle Squadron (, , and )
1st Cruiser Squadron (, , and ),
3rd Cruiser Squadron (, , ), Rear Admiral
John Tovey, with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Destroyer Flotillas, and the aircraft carrier .
In 1940, the Mediterranean Fleet carried out a successful aircraft carrier attack on the
Italian Fleet at
Taranto by air. Other major actions included the
Battle of Cape Matapan and the
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...
. The Fleet had to block Italian and later German reinforcements and supplies for the
North African Campaign
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...
.
Post war
In October 1946, hit a mine in the Corfu Channel, starting a series of events known as the
Corfu Channel Incident. The channel was cleared in "Operation Recoil" the next month, involving 11 minesweepers under the guidance of , two cruisers, three destroyers, and three frigates.
In May 1948, Sir
Arthur Power took over as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, and in his first act arranged a show of force to discourage the crossing of Jewish refugees into
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. When later that year Britain pulled out of the
British Mandate of Palestine, ''Ocean'', four destroyers, and two frigates escorted the departing High Commissioner, aboard the cruiser . The force stayed to cover the evacuation of British troops into the
Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
enclave and south via Gaza.
From 1952 to 1967, the post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet was given a dual-hatted role as
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
Commander in Chief of
Allied Forces Mediterranean in charge of all forces assigned to NATO in the Mediterranean Area. The British made strong representations within NATO in discussions regarding the development of the Mediterranean NATO command structure, wishing to retain their direction of NATO naval command in the Mediterranean to protect their
sea lines of communication running through the Mediterranean to the Middle East and Far East.
When a NATO naval commander, Admiral
Robert B. Carney, C-in-C
Allied Forces Southern Europe, was appointed, relations with the incumbent British C-in-C, Admiral Sir
John Edelsten, were frosty. Edlesten, on making an apparently friendly offer of the use of communications facilities to Carney, who initially lacked secure communications facilities, was met with "I'm not about to play
Faust to your
Mephistopheles through the medium of communications!"
In 1956, ships of the fleet, together with the
French Navy
The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
, took part in the
Suez War against
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.
From 1957 to 1959, Rear Admiral
Charles Madden held the post of
Flag Officer, Malta, with responsibilities for three squadrons of minesweepers, an amphibious warfare squadron, and a flotilla of submarines stationed at the bases around Valletta Harbour. In this capacity, he had to employ considerable diplomatic skill to maintain good relations with
Dom Mintoff, the nationalistic prime minister of
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
.
In the 1960s, as the importance of maintaining the link between the United Kingdom and British territories and commitments
East of Suez decreased as the
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
was dismantled, and the focus of
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
naval responsibilities moved to the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Fleet was gradually drawn down, finally disbanding in June 1967. Eric Grove, in ''Vanguard to Trident'', details how by the mid-1960s the permanent strength of the Fleet was "reduced to a single small escort squadron
ppears to have been 30th Escort Squadron with , , plus another shipand a coastal minesweeper squadron." Deployments to the
Beira Patrol and elsewhere reduced the escort total in 1966 from four to two ships, and then to no frigates at all. The Fleet's assets and area of responsibility were absorbed into the new
Western Fleet. As a result of this change, the UK relinquished the NATO post of Commander in Chief,
Allied Forces Mediterranean, which was abolished.
Principal officers
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Sea
Note: This list is incomplete. The majority of officers listed were appointed as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Sea sometimes Commander-in-Chief, at the Mediterranean Sea earlier officers appointed to command either fleets/squadrons stationed in the Mediterranean for particular operations were styled differently see notes next to their listing
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet

The first Commander-in-Chief for the Mediterranean Fleet may have been named as early as 1665. Commanders-in-chief have included:
[Whitaker's Almanacks 1900–1967]
Chief of Staff
The Chief of Staff was the principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary
aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief.
Fleet Headquarters
The Mediterranean Fleets shore headquarters was initially based at
Port Mahon Dockyard,
Minorca for most of the eighteenth century. It rotated between
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
and
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
from 1791 to 1812. From 1813 to July 1939 it was permanently at
Malta Dockyard. In August 1939 the C-in-C Mediterranean Fleet moved his HQ afloat on board until April 1940. He was then back onshore at Malta until February 1941. He transferred it again to HMS ''Warspite'' until July 1942. In August 1942 headquarters were moved to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
where they remained from June 1940 to February 1943. HQ was changed again but this time in rotation between
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
and
Taranto until June 1944.
It then moved back to Malta until it was abolished in 1967.
=Senior Flag Officers with fleet responsibilities
=
Subordinate formations
''Note: At various times included the following''.
Parts of the
Admiral of Patrols'
Auxiliary Patrol during World War One were within the Mediterranean. Several patrol zones were under British authority.
Major support sub-commands
''Note: At various times included the following''.
Minor shore sub-commands
Included:
Notes
References
Further reading
* Corbett, Julian Stafford. ''England in the Mediterranean; a study of the rise and influence of British power within the Straits, 1603–1713'' (1904
online* D'Angelo, Michela. "In the 'English' Mediterranean (1511–1815)." ''Journal of Mediterranean Studies'' 12.2 (2002): 271–285.
* Dietz, Peter. ''The British in the Mediterranean'' (Potomac Books Inc, 1994).
* Haggie, Paul. "The royal navy and war planning in the Fisher era." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 8.3 (1973): 113–131
online*
* Hattendorf, John B., ed. ''Naval Strategy and Power in the Mediterranean: Past, Present and Future'' (Routledge, 2013).
* Holland, Robert. ''Blue-water empire: the British in the Mediterranean since 1800'' (Penguin UK, 2012)
excerpt* Holland, Robert. "Cyprus and Malta: two colonial experiences." ''Journal of Mediterranean Studies'' 23.1 (2014): 9–20.
* Pack, S.W.C ''Sea Power in the Mediterranean'' – has a complete list of fleet commanders
* Syrett, David. "A Study of Peacetime Operations: The Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 1752–5." ''The Mariner's Mirror'' 90.1 (2004): 42–50.
* Williams, Kenneth. '' Britain And The Mediterranean'' (1940
online free
{{Royal Navy fleets
Fleets of the Royal Navy
Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II
Crete in World War II
1967 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Military units and formations established in 1690
Military units and formations disestablished in 1967
1690 establishments in the British Empire
Military history of the Mediterranean