Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
HMS Victory, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
Active	1697–1969
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet
Garrison/HQ	Fort Southwick

The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Portsmouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the post.

History

An admiral commanding in Portsmouth has been attested as early as 1697, but the first Flag Officer who records clearly establish was responsible for Portsmouth was Rear-Admiral Sir John Moore, appointed in 1766.^[1] The Command extended along the south coast from Newhaven in East Sussex to Portland in Dorset.^[2] In 1889 the Commander-in-Chief took HMS Victory as his Flagship.^[3]

Admiralty House, HMNB Portsmouth

In the late 18th century port admirals began to reside ashore, rather than on board their flagships; the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was provided with a large house in the High Street (formerly home to one Philip Varlo, four times Mayor of Portsmouth). In the 1830s this Admiralty House was sold to the War Office (as Government House, it went on to house the Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth for the next fifty years).^[4] The Commander-in-Chief moved in turn into the former Dockyard Commissioner's house, which still stands within HMNB Portsmouth.^[5]

During the Second World War the Command Headquarters was at Fort Southwick.^[6]

In 1952 the Commander-in-Chief took up the NATO post of Commander-in-Chief, Channel (CINCHAN). This move added Allied Command Channel to the NATO Military Command Structure. The admiral commanding at Portsmouth had control naval operations in the area since 1949 under WUDO auspices.^[7]

The post of Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was merged with that of Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1969 to form the post of Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command (CINCNAVHOME).^[1] The posts of Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command were amalgamated in 1994 following the rationalisation of the British Armed Forces following the end of the Cold War.^[8] In 2012, however, all distinct Commander-in-Chief appointments were discontinued, with full operational command being vested instead in the First Sea Lord; he now flies his flag from HMS Victory.^[9]

Commanders-in-Chief

Commanders-in-Chief have included:^[1][10][11]
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth

• 1745 – 1747 Admiral James Steuart
• 1748 – 1752 Admiral Sir Edward Hawke

• 1755 – 1756 Admiral Sir Edward Hawke
• 1756 – 1757 Admiral Henry Osborn
• 1758 – 1766 Admiral Sir Francis Holburne
• 1766 – 1769 Admiral Sir John Moore
• 1769 – 1771 Admiral Sir Francis Geary
• 1771 – 1774 Admiral Thomas Pye
• 1774 – 1777 Admiral Sir James Douglas
• 1777 – 1783 Admiral Thomas Pye
• 1783 – 1786 Admiral John Montagu
• 1786 – 1789 Admiral Viscount Hood
• 1789 – 1792 Admiral Robert Roddam
• 1792 – 1793 Admiral Viscount Hood
• 1793 – 1799 Admiral Sir Peter Parker
• 1799 – 1803 Admiral Mark Milbanke
• Mar – Jun 1803 Admiral Lord Gardner
• 1803 – 1809 Admiral Sir George Montagu
• 1809 – 1812 Admiral Sir Roger Curtis
• 1812 – 1815 Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton
• 1815 – 1818 Admiral Sir Edward Thornbrough
• 1818 – 1821 Admiral Sir George Campbell
• 1821 – 1824 Admiral Sir James Hawkins-Whitshed
• 1824 – 1827 Admiral Sir George Martin
• 1827 – 1830 Admiral Sir Robert Stopford
• 1830 – 1833 Admiral Sir Thomas Foley
• 1833 – 1836 Admiral Sir Thomas Williams
• 1836 – 1839 Admiral Sir Philip Durham
• Apr – Nov 1839 Admiral Charles Elphinstone Fleeming
• 1839 – 1842 Admiral Sir Edward Codrington
• 1842 – 1845 Admiral Sir Charles Rowley
• 1845 – 1848 Admiral Sir Charles Ogle
• 1848 – 1851 Admiral Sir Thomas Capel
• 1851 – 1852 Admiral Sir Thomas Briggs
• 1852 – 1856 Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane
• 1856 – 1859 Admiral Sir George Seymour
• 1859 – 1660 Admiral Sir William Bowles
• 1860 – 1863 Admiral Sir Henry Bruce
• 1863 – 1866 Admiral Sir Michael Seymour
• 1866 – 1869 Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley
• 1869 – 1872 Admiral Sir James Hope
• 1872 – 1875 Admiral Sir Rodney Mundy
• 1875 – 1878 Admiral Sir George Elliot
• 1878 – 1879 Admiral Sir Edward Fanshawe
• 1879 – 1882 Admiral Sir Alfred Ryder
• 1882 – 1886 Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby
• 1886 – 1888 Admiral Sir George Willes
• 1888 – 1891 Admiral Sir John Commerell
• 1891 – 1894 Admiral The Earl of Clanwilliam
• 1894 – 1897 Admiral Sir Nowell Salmon
• 1897 – 1900 Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Seymour
• 1900 – 1903 Admiral Sir Charles Hotham
• 1903 – 1904 Admiral Sir John Fisher
• 1905 – 1907 Admiral Sir Archibald Douglas
• 1907 – 1908 Admiral Sir Day Bosanquet
• 1908 – 1910 Admiral Sir Arthur Fanshawe
• 1910 – 1911 Admiral Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe
• 1911 – 1912 Admiral Sir Arthur Moore
• 1912 – 1916 Admiral of the Fleet Sir Hedworth Meux
• 1916 – 1919 Admiral Sir Stanley Colville
• 1919 – 1920 Admiral Sir Cecil Burney
• 1920 – 1923 Admiral Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe
• 1923 – 1926 Admiral Sir Sydney Fremantle
• 1926 – 1929 Admiral Sir Osmond Brock
• 1929 – 1931 Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes
• 1931 – 1934 Admiral Sir Arthur Waistell
• 1934 – 1936 Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Kelly
• 1936 – 1937 Admiral Sir William Fisher
• 1937 – 1939 Admiral of the Fleet The Earl of Cork and Orrery
• 1939 – 1942 Admiral Sir William James
• 1942 – 1945 Admiral Sir Charles Little
• 1945 – 1947 Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton
• 1947 – 1948 Admiral The Lord Fraser of North Cape
• 1948 – 1950 Admiral of the Fleet Sir Algernon Willis
• 1950 – 1952 Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Power
• 1952 – 1954 Admiral Sir John Edelsten
• 1954 – 1957 Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Creasy
• 1957 – 1959 Admiral Sir Guy Grantham^[12]
• 1959 – 1961 Admiral Sir Manley Power
• 1961 – 1963 Admiral Sir Alexander Bingley
• 1963 – 1965 Admiral Sir Wilfrid Woods
• 1965 – 1966 Admiral Sir Varyl Begg
• 1966 – 1967 Admiral Sir Frank Hopkins
• 1967 – 1969 Admiral Sir John Frewen

Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command

• 1969 – 1970 Admiral Sir John Frewen
• 1970 – 1972 Admiral Sir Horace Law
• 1972 – 1974 Admiral Sir Andrew Lewis
• 1974 – 1975 Admiral Sir Derek Empson
• 1975 – 1976 Admiral Sir Terence Lewin
• 1976 – 1979 Admiral Sir David Williams
• 1979 – 1981 Admiral Sir Richard Clayton
• 1981 – 1983 Admiral Sir James Eberle
• 1983 – 1984 Admiral Sir Desmond Cassidi
• 1984 – 1987 Admiral Sir Peter Stanford
• 1987 – 1989 Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward
• 1989 – 1991 Admiral Sir Jeremy Black
• 1991 – 1993 Admiral Sir John Kerr
• 1993 – 1994 Admiral Sir Michael Layard

References

1. History in Portsmouth
2. Sea Your History
3. A Chronolgy of HMS Victory Royal Naval Museum
4. "Dockyard Chronology" (PDF). Potsmouth Dockyard. p. 63. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
5. "History in Portsmouth: Government House".
6. Capel, A.F., Commanding Canadians: the Second World War diaries of A.F.C. Layard, page 310 University of Columbia Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-7748-1193-4
7. "Fort Southwick NATO Communications Centre". Subterranean Britain. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
8. Admiral Sir Michael Layard, KCB, CBE
9. "An independent report into the structure and management of the Ministry of Defence" (PDF).
10. Whitaker's Almanacks 1869 – 1969
11. William Loney RN
12. "Letter regarding CINCHAN appointment" (PDF). NATO. Retrieved 20 February 2015.