East Indies Station

Commander-in-Chief, East Indies
HMS Swiftsure at gunnery practice on the East Indies Station in the summer of 1913
Active	1744–1941
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet
Part of	Admiralty
Garrison/HQ	Trincomalee

The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies was a British Royal Navy admiral and the formation subordinate to him from 1865 to 1941.^[1] Even in official documents, the term East Indies Station was often used.

History

Navy House, Trincomalee, residence of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station from 1811 to 1942

The East Indies Station was established as a Royal Navy command in 1744. From 1831–1865, 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 British 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]

In early May 1941, the Commander-in-Chief directed forces to support the pursuit of Pinguin, the German raider that eventually sank after the Action of 8 May 1941 against HMS Cornwall.

On 7 December 1941, cruisers on the station included the heavy cruisers Cornwall, Dorsetshire, and Exeter; the light cruisers Glasgow, Danae, Dauntless, Durban, Emerald and Enterprise (some sources also place the heavy cruiser Hawkins as being on station on that date, while others report her being under refit and repair in the UK between early November 1941 & May 1942), 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][4][5]

Facilities

• Royal Naval Dockyard, Madras – home to East Indies Station 1796–1813^[6]
• Royal Naval Dockyard, Trincomalee, Trincomalee, Ceylon – home to East Indies Station from 1813
• Admiralty House, Trincomalee – official residence of the Commander-in-Chief from 1813
• Basra – during the Second World War
• HMS Sheba, Aden – naval base
• HMS Braganza, Bombay, India – naval base
• HMS Lanka, Colombo – naval base and shore station

Commanders-in-Chief

Commanders-in-Chief have included:

Commander-in-Chief, East Indies:^[7]

• Commodore Curtis Barnett (1744–1746)^[8]
• Commodore (later Rear- then Vice-Admiral) Thomas Griffin (1746–1748)^[9]
• Rear-Admiral Edward Boscawen (1748–1750)^[10]
• Commodore William Lisle (1750–1754)
• Rear-Admiral (later Vice-Admiral) Charles Watson (1754–1757)^[11]
• Vice-Admiral George Pocock (1757–1759)^[12]
• Commodore (later Rear-Admiral) Charles Steevens (1760–1761)^[13]
• Rear-Admiral (later Vice-Admiral) Samuel Cornish (1761–1763)^[14]
• Commodore John Byron (appointed 1764)^{[15][lower-alpha 1]}
• Commodore John (later Sir John) Lindsay (1769–1772)^[16]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Harland, 1st Baronet (1771–1775)^[17]
• Commodore Edward Hughes (1773–1777)^[18]
• Commodore (later Rear-Admiral) Sir Edward Vernon (1776–1780)^[19]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes (second time, 1780–1784)^[18]
  • Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet (appointed 1782 but lost at sea on his way out)^[20]
• Commodore Andrew Mitchell (1784–1785)^[21]
• Commodore Charles Hughes (1785–1787)
• Commodore William Cornwallis (1788–1794)^[22]
• Commodore (later Rear- then Vice-Admiral) Peter Rainier (1794–1805)^[23]
  • Vice-Admiral Sir George Keith Elphinstone (went to capture the Dutch East Indies in 1795 but Rainier had already done it)^[24]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Baronet (1804–1809)^[25]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet (jointly with Pellew, 1805–1807)^[26]
• Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury (1809–1811)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet (1811–1814)^[27]
• Commodore George Sayer (1814)^[28]
• Rear-Admiral Sir George Burlton (1814–1815)
• Commodore George Sayer (second time, 1815–1816)^[28]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Richard King, 2nd Baronet (1816–1820)^[29]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet (1820–1822)^[30]
• Commodore Charles Grant (1822–1824)
• Commodore Sir James Brisbane (1825–1826)^[31]
  • Rear-Admiral Joseph Bingham (appointed 1825 but died before taking up post)
• Rear-Admiral William Hall Gage (1825–1829)^[32]
• Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Owen (1829–1832)^[33]

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][34]

• 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)^[35]
• 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 (1912-1913)
• 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

• List of fleets and major commands of the Royal Navy
• List of Eastern Fleet ships

Notes

1. Byron's appointment was initially a subterfuge, designed to provide apparent legitimacy for a voyage along the coast of Spanish South America and around the Cape of Good Hope. Byron's true mission was to establish a British naval presence on an uninhabited island off Spanish South America, which he achieved via landings on the Falkland Islands in December 1764.^[15]

References

1. William Loney RN
2. Royal Navy foreign stations
3. The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse
4. "East Indies Fleet". Orders of Battle.
5. 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.
6. Coad, Jonathan (2013). Support for the Fleet: architecture and engineering of the Royal Navy's bases 1700–1914. Swindon, Wilts.: English Heritage.
7. Joseph Haydn, The Book of Dignities, Longman, Brown Green and Longmans, 1851, p. 272–273
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Clive Wilkinson, Boscawen, Edward (1711–1761), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
11. 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.
12. Tom Pocock, Pocock, Sir George (1706–1792), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. Rea, Robert R. (October 1981). "Florida and the Royal Navy's Floridas". The Florida Historical Quarterly. Florida Historical Society. 60 (2): 187.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. Andrew Lambert, Cornwallis, Sir William (1744–1819), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
23. Kenneth Breen, Rainier, Peter (1741–1808), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2011, accessed 17 Dec 2011.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. The United Service Magazine, 1831, Part 2, page 222
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. Whitaker's Almanacks 1900–1941.
35. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36763). London. 9 May 1902. p. 10.

External links

• The British Pacific and East Indies Fleets