Second Fleet (United Kingdom)

The Second Fleet was a reserve formation of the Royal Navy that briefly existed before the First World War.

Second Fleet
Active	1 May 1912–1914
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet
Commanders
Notable commanders	Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney, Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick T. Hamilton

History

Formed on 1 May 1912 from the Third Division of the Home Fleet, its ships were manned by a nucleus crew during peacetime, but were intended to be manned by men from the naval schools when mobilised.^[1] It reported directly to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleets. The fleet was mobilised in late July 1914 as tensions increased between Great Britain and Imperial Germany and remained on active duty until war was declared on 4 August.^[2] It reformed the Channel Fleet upon the declaration of war and consisted of the Fifth and Sixth Battle Squadrons, equipped with a total of 15 pre-dreadnought battleships and the majority of the Home Defence Patrol Flotillas.^[3]

Commanders

	Rank	Flag	Name	Term
Vice-Admiral Commanding Second Fleet[4]
1	Vice-Admiral		Sir Frederick T. Hamilton	May 1912-December 1913
2	Vice-Admiral		Sir Cecil Burney	December 1913-August 1914

Components

Included^[5]

	Unit	Notes
1	5th Battle Squadron	(8 battleships)[6]
2	6th Battle Squadron	(5-7 battleships)[7]
3	5th Cruiser Squadron	(3-4 light cruisers)[8]
4	6th Cruiser Squadron	3–4 armoured cruisers)[9]
5	7th Destroyer Flotilla	20 destroyer-12 torpedo boat)[10]