TheWestern Squadron[1] was a squadron orformation of theRoyal Navy based atPlymouth Dockyard.[2] It operated in waters of theEnglish Channel, theWestern Approaches, and theNorth Atlantic. It defended British tradesea lanes from 1650 to 1814 and 1831 to 1854.[3] Following Admiralty orders toLord Anson he was instructed to combine all existing commands in the English Channel - those at theDowns,Narrow Seas,Plymouth and theSpithead - under a centralized command under the Commander-in-Chief, Western Squadron in 1746.[4] The squadron was commanded by the Flag Officer with the dual title ofCommander-in-Chief, English Channel[5] andCommander-in-Chief, Western Squadron[6]
In 1650 CaptainWilliam Penn, was charged with guarding the Channel fromBeachy Head toLand's End with six ships. This system continued followingthe Restoration. It was the start of what was to become a Western Squadron.[7] In 1690 theEdward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford was given command of a fleet in the channel.[citation needed] From 1705 until the 1740s it was essentially Cruising Squadron before it changed to blockading duties.[8] In 1746 the Admiralty authorised Admiral Anson to combine all the Channel commands into the Western Squadron, based in Plymouth.[9] During theSeven Years' War (1756-1763) the Western Squadron was one of Britain’s most critical military assets frequently patrolling[10] the entrance to the English Channel and making regular sweeps into the Bay of Biscay and the waters off Ushant.[11] One of its responsibilities was trade protection ensuring the safe return of inbound trade from the East Indies and West Indies.[12] The squadron was involved at theSecond Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747), theBattle of Quiberon Bay (1756),[13][14] and theBattle of Ushant (1778).[15] By 1801 its main role was still to stop French ships fromFrench naval bases atBrest,Le Havre and elsewhere in theBay of Biscay from entering the English Channel.[16][17] The Western Squadron was the forerunner of theChannel Squadron that was later known as theChannel Fleet.[18]
Influence on British naval policy, strategy and thinking
In the seventeen hundreds, British Naval policy had not changed very much in previous centuries. With British trade interests growing, however, so were the problems posed by French Naval expansion since the 1660s-1670s, along with the need to resolve them.[19] English War planners were constantly dealing with the threat of war with France but no strategy had been put in place to provide sufficient infrastructure to meet these challenges. The majority of the navy’s manufacturing capacity anddry-docking facilities were concentrated on the South East coast which had expanded to meet the demands faced by theAnglo-Dutch wars.[20] In 1689 when war with France eventually came the only dry dock facility in the channel was located at Portsmouth. In 1692 the main focus of naval activity shifted to west because the French moved their primary fleet toBrest.[21] In 1698 theAdmiralty authorised a complete new dockyard be built at Plymouth housing a dry dock andwet dock. Having both of these facilities allowed Western Squadron to grow fast and by the early 1740s it had become the navy's main battle fleet.[22] The British were concerned with maintaining control of their own sea lanes – particularly the English Channel - while restricting the activities, both military and economic, of their rivals and foes.[23] In 1747 Admiral Hawke suggested the squadron should be used for containment purposes and developed the idea that it keep an almost continual watch on theFrench Navy andFrench coast. This was agreed by theAdmiralty and thenaval blockade developed as a consequence of this policy.[24] During the 1759blockade of Brest, Admiral Hawke was the first to establish a system of replenishment at sea in order to maintain a blockade.[25]
^Saunders, Andrew (1997).Book of Channel defences. London: Batsford [u.a.] p. 32.ISBN9780713475944.
^Charters, Erica (2014). "The Royal Navy's Western Squadron".Disease, War, and the Imperial State: The Welfare of the British Armed Forces During the Seven Years' War. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press. pp. 125–128.ISBN9780226180007.
^Tucker, Spencer C. (2009).A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Santa Barbara, USA: ABC-CLIO. p. 830.ISBN9781851096725.
^Engerman, Lance Davis, Stanley L. (2012).Naval blockades in peace and war : an economic history since 1750 (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 620.ISBN9781107406155.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Morriss, Roger, ed. (2001).The Channel Fleet and the Blockade of Brest 1793 - 1801: based in part on transcripts made by the late Richard C. Saxby. Aldershot [u.a.]: Ashgate. p. 281.ISBN9780754602682.
^"The British "Western Squadron," as our ancestors of George II's time termed what we now call the Channel Squadron".Navy and Army Illustrated.16: 94. 1903.
Charters, Erica (2014)."The Royal Navy's Western Squadron." Disease, War, and the Imperial State: The Welfare of the British Armed Forces During the Seven Years' War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN9780226180007.
Duffy, Michael, ed. (1992).Parameters of British Naval Power: 1650-1850. Exeter, United Kingdom: University of Exeter Press.ISBN9780859893855.
Grant, R.G. (2017).1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. Chartwell.ISBN9780785835530.
Mackesy, Piers (1964). The War for America: 1775-1783. Lincoln, Nebraska, USA: U of Nebraska Press.ISBN0803281927.
Morriss, ed. by Roger (2001). The Channel Fleet and the Blockade of Brest 1793 - 1801 : based in part on transcripts made by the late Richard C. Saxby. Aldershot [u.a.]: Ashgate.ISBN9780754602682.
Palmer, Michael A. (2005). Command at Sea: Naval Command and Control Since the Sixteenth Century. Harvard, Mass, USA: Harvard University Press.ISBN9780674016811
Robson, Martin (2016). A History of the Royal Navy: The Seven Years' War. London, England: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.ISBN9781780765457
Saunders, Andrew (1997). Book of Channel defences. London: Batsford [u.a.]ISBN9780713475944.
Saxby, C. Richard. "The Western Squadron and the Blockade of Brest | History Today". www.historytoday.com. History Today Magazine, Volume 23 Issue 1 January 1973.
The Naval Gazetteer, Biographer and Chronologist: Containing a History of the Late Wars from 1793 to 1801; and from 1803 to 1815, and Continued, as to the Biographical Part to the Present Time. C. Wilson. 1842.
Tucker, Spencer C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Santa Barbara, USA: ABC-CLIO.ISBN9781851096725
N = died in post