| Commander-in-Chief, East Indies | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1865–1941 |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch |
 Royal Navy |
| Type | Formation (military) |
| Part of | Admiralty |
| Garrison/HQ | Colombo, Trincomalee, Bombay, Basra and Aden |
The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies was a British Royal Navy admiral, and effectively the formation subordinate to him, from 1865 to 1941.[1] Even in official documents, the term East Indies Station was often used.
From 1831 to 1865 the East Indies and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station.[1] The East Indies Station, established in 1865, covered the Indian Ocean (excluding the waters around the Dutch East Indies, South Africa and Australia) and included the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.[2] These responsibilities did not imply territorial claims, but rather that the navy would actively protect Britain's trading interests.
The East Indies Station had bases at Colombo, Trincomalee, Bombay, Basra and Aden. In response to increased Japanese threats, the separate East Indies Station was merged with the China Station in December 1941 to form the Eastern Fleet.[3]
On 7 December 1941 cruisers on the station included the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall, HMS Dorsetshire, and HMS Exeter; the light cruisers HMS Glasgow, HMS Danae, HMS Dauntless, HMS Durban, HMS Emerald, and HMS Enterprise (some sources also place the WWI-era heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins as being on station on that date,[4] while others report her being under refit and repair in the U.K. between early November 1941 & May 1942[5]); and six armed merchant cruisers. Also assigned to the station was 814 Naval Air Squadron at China Bay, Ceylon, which unit was at that time equipped with Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers.[4]
Facilities[]
- Royal Naval Dockyard, Trincomalee, Trincomalee, Ceylon – home to East Indies Station during World War II
- Basra – during World War II
- HMS Sheba, Aden – naval base
- HMS Braganza, Mumbai – naval base
- HMS Lanka, Colombo – naval base and shore station
Commanders-in-Chief[]
Commanders-in-Chief have included:
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies:[6]
- Commodore Curtis Barnett (1744–1746)[7]
- Commodore (later Rear- then Vice-Admiral) Thomas Griffin (1746–1748)[8]
- Rear-Admiral Edward Boscawen (1748–1750)[9]
- Commodore William Lisle (1750–1754)
- Rear-Admiral (later Vice-Admiral) Charles Watson (1754–1757)[10]
- Vice-Admiral George Pocock (1757–1759)[11]
- Commodore (later Rear-Admiral) Charles Steevens (1760–1761)[12]
- Rear-Admiral (later Vice-Admiral) Samuel Cornish (1761–1763)[13]
- ...
- Commodore John (later Sir John) Lindsay (1769–1772)[14]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Harland, 1st Baronet (1771–1775)[15]
- Commodore Edward Hughes (1773–1777)[16]
- Commodore (later Rear-Admiral) Sir Edward Vernon (1776–1780)[17]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes (second time, 1780–1784)[16]
- Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet (appointed 1782 but lost at sea on his way out)[18]
- Commodore Andrew Mitchell (1784–1785)[19]
- Commodore Charles Hughes (1785–1787)
- Commodore William Cornwallis (1788–1794)[20]
- Commodore (later Rear- then Vice-Admiral) Peter Rainier (1794–1805)[21]
- Vice-Admiral Sir George Keith Elphinstone (went to capture the Dutch East Indies in 1795 but Rainier had already done it)[22]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Baronet (1804–1809)[23]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet (jointly with Pellew, 1805–1807)[24]
- Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury (1809–1811)
- Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet (1811–1814)[25]
- Commodore George Sayer (1814)[26]
- Rear-Admiral Sir George Burlton (1814–1815)
- Commodore George Sayer (second time, 1815–1816)[26]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Richard King, 2nd Baronet (1816–1820)[27]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet (1820–1822)[28]
- Commodore Charles Grant (1822–1824)
- Commodore Sir James Brisbane (1825–1826)[29]
- Rear-Admiral Joseph Bingham (appointed 1825 but died before taking up post)
- Rear-Admiral William Hall Gage (1825–1829)[30]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Owen (1829–1832)[31]
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station
- 1831–1865, see separate article
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies & Cape of Good Hope Station[1]
- Commodore Frederick Montresor (1865)
- Commodore Charles Hillyar (1865–1867)
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station[1][32]
- Rear Admiral Leopold Heath (1867–1870)
- Rear Admiral James Cockburn (1870–1872)
- Rear Admiral Arthur Cumming (1872–1875)
- Rear Admiral Reginald Macdonald (1875–1877)
- Rear Admiral John Corbett (1877–1879)
- Rear Admiral William Gore Jones (1879–1882)
- Rear Admiral William Hewett (1882–1885)
- Rear Admiral Frederick Richards (1885–1888)
- Rear Admiral Edmund Fremantle (1888–1891)
- Rear Admiral Frederick Robinson (1891–1892)
- Rear Admiral William Kennedy (1892–1895)
- Rear Admiral Edmund Drummond (1895–1898)
- Rear Admiral Archibald Douglas (1898–1899)
- Rear Admiral Day Bosanquet (1899–1902)
- Rear Admiral Charles Drury (1902–1903)
- Rear Admiral George Atkinson-Willes (1903–1905)
- Rear Admiral Edmund Poë (1905–1907)
- Rear Admiral Sir George Warrender (1907–1909)
- Rear Admiral Edmond Slade (1909–1912)
- Rear Admiral Alexander Bethell (1912)
- Rear Admiral Richard Peirse (1913–1915)
- Rear Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss (1916–1917)
- Rear Admiral Ernest Gaunt (1917–1919)
- Rear Admiral Hugh Tothill (1919–1921)
- Rear Admiral Lewis Clinton-Baker (1921–1923)
- Rear Admiral Herbert Richmond (1923–1925)
- Rear Admiral Walter Ellerton (1925–1927)
- Rear Admiral Bertram Thesiger (1927–1929)
- Rear Admiral Eric Fullerton (1929–1932)
- Rear Admiral Martin Dunbar-Nasmith (1932–1934)
- Vice Admiral Forrester Rose (1934–1936)
- Vice Admiral Alexander Ramsay (1936–1938)
- Vice Admiral James Somerville (1938–1939)
- Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham (1939–1941)
- Vice Admiral Geoffrey Arbuthnot (1941–42)[4]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 William Loney RN
- ↑ Royal Navy foreign stations
- ↑ The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/017_britain/41-12-08/navy/eastern_fleet_east-indies.html
- ↑ Whitley, Mike J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two : An International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). London: Arms and Armour Press. p. 80. ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
- ↑ Joseph Haydn, The Book of Dignities, Longman, Brown Green and Longmans, 1851, p. 272–273
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Barnett, Curtis (d. 1746), rev. Richard Harding, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Griffin, Thomas (1692/3–1771), rev. Richard Harding, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ Clive Wilkinson, Boscawen, Edward (1711–1761), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Watson, Charles (1714–1757), rev. A. W. H. Pearsall, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ Tom Pocock, Pocock, Sir George (1706–1792), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Steevens, Charles (bap. 1705, d. 1761), rev. Richard Harding, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Cornish, Sir Samuel, baronet (c. 1715–1770), rev. Nicholas Tracy, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Lindsay, Sir John (1737–1788), rev. Clive Wilkinson, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2007, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Harland, Sir Robert, first baronet (c.1715–1784), rev. Randolph Cock, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 J. K. Laughton, Hughes, Sir Edward (c.1720–1794), rev. Roger Knight, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Nicholas Tracy, Vernon, Sir Edward (1723–1794), rev. Nicholas Tracy, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Parker, Sir Hyde, fifth baronet (1714–1782/3), rev. Alan G. Jamieson, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Mitchell, Sir Andrew (1757–1806), rev. P. L. C. Webb, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ Andrew Lambert, Cornwallis, Sir William (1744–1819), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ Kenneth Breen, Rainier, Peter (1741–1808), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2011, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
- ↑ C. H. H. Owen, Elphinstone, George Keith, Viscount Keith (1746–1823), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ Christopher D. Hall, Pellew, Edward, first Viscount Exmouth (1757–1833), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ P. K. Crimmin, Troubridge, Sir Thomas, first baronet (c.1758–1807), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Hood, Sir Samuel, first baronet (1762–1814), rev. Michael Duffy, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 The United Service Magazine, 1831, Part 2, page 222
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Andrew Lambert, King, Sir Richard, second baronet (1774–1834), rev. Andrew Lambert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Blackwood, Sir Henry, first baronet (1770–1832), rev. Andrew Lambert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Brisbane, Sir James (1774–1826), rev. Andrew Lambert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Roger Morriss, Gage, Sir William Hall (1777–1864), rev. Roger Morriss, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ J. K. Laughton, Owen, Sir Edward Campbell Rich (1771–1849), rev. Andrew Lambert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2010, accessed 18 Dec 2011.
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanacks 1900–1941.
External links[]
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The original article can be found at East Indies Station and the edit history here.