Third Fleet
White Ensign
Active	1 May 1912–1914
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Reserve fleet
Size	2 x Battle squadrons 6 x Cruiser squadrons 3 x Local Defence Flotilla

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

History

Formed on 1 May 1912 from the 4th Division of the Home Fleet, its elderly ships were ordinarily only manned by a small maintenance crew during peacetime, but were intended to be manned by naval reservists when mobilised.^[1] It was conducting a test mobilisation in July 1914 as tensions increased between Great Britain and Imperial Germany^[2] and was only partially demobilised before full mobilisation was ordered on 2 August. At this time it consisted of the 7th and 8th Battle Squadrons of pre-dreadnought battleships and five squadrons of cruisers.^[3]

Vice-Admiral Commanding

	Rank	Name	Term
Vice-Admiral Commanding Third Fleet ^[4]
1	Vice-Admiral	Sir Frederick T. Hamilton	December 1911-December 1913
2	Vice-Admiral	Sir Cecil Burney	December 1913-August 1914.

Components

Included ^[5]

	Unit	Notes
1	7th Battle Squadron	(8 pre-dreadnoughts) ^[6]
2	8th Battle Squadron	(6 pre-dreadnoughts) ^[7]
3	7th Cruiser Squadron	(5 armoured cruisers) ^[8]
3	8th Cruiser Squadron	(5 armoured/protected cruisers) ^[9]
4	9th Cruiser Squadron	(8 armoured/protected cruisers) ^[10]
5	10th Cruiser Squadron	(7 protected cruisers)-from Training Squadron at Queenstown ^[11]
6	11th Cruiser Squadron	(5 protected cruisers) ^[12]
7	12th Cruiser Squadron	(4 protected cruisers) ^[13]
8	Devonport Local Defence Flotilla^[14]
9	Nore Local Defence Flotilla^[15]
10	Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla^[16]

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

Department of Admiralty

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Historic fleets and naval commands of the Royal Navy

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