At the top of the Admiralty was a group called the Board of Admiralty, consisting of politicians, civil servants and senior naval officers. The board consisted of a total of nine members, with its president known as the First Lord:
The Admiralty War Staff was the operational planning organisation, answerable to the First Sea Lord, and formed to advise the Board of Admiralty on operational matters, and consisted of four directorates:
The Royal Navy's major bases on the outbreak of war were on England's south coast, with additional ones in Scotland and Ireland
The British Isles were divided into three major geographical commands for the purposes of administration, with responsibility for a range of major functions, including providing divisions of ratings, training establishments for other ranks, dockyards and local defence forces.
In addition to the three major geographical commands based around the south of England, there were two other geographical commands with responsibility for other areas of the British Isles:
Admiral Commanding on the Coast of Scotland - Vice Admiral Sir Robert Lowry
Flag Officer, Cromarty - Rear Admiral Edmund Pears
A further command, Orkneys & Shetlands, was established on the outbreak of war with the primary purpose of maintaining the Grand Fleet's main operating base at Scapa Flow.
In addition to the command level organisations located in the British Isles, the Royal Navy operated a number of bases overseas for the purpose of maintaining its ships deployed outside home waters.
The Royal Marines was divided into two elements - the Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI) and the Royal Marine Artillery (RMA). The RMLI was divided into three operational divisions, each based at one of the Royal Navy's major ports in the south. A single division of the Royal Marine Artillery was based in Portsmouth, while the Royal Marines depot was at Deal in Kent. In August 1914, the Royal Marine Brigade was formed from untrained recruits from the depot, reservists and long-service marines, with each division of the RMLI forming a battalion. The brigade was planned for use as a mobile force intended to seize and protect forward naval bases.[4][note 22]
The Grand Fleet was the primary strike force of the Royal Navy, and was established on the outbreak of war from the First Fleet and elements of the Second Fleet, which were two of the three major formations of the Home Fleets. The primary elements of the Grand Fleet were four battle squadrons, to which all of the Royal Navy's dreadnoughtbattleships, plus a number of older pre-dreadnoughts were assigned. Upon its establishment, the Grand Fleet was under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.
The Grand Fleet's battlecruiser and cruiser squadrons operated under the name Cruiser Force A, with Vice Admiral David Beatty in overall command of the Grand Fleet's cruisers.
The Channel Fleet was formed from the remaining vessels of the Home Fleets that were not turned over to the Grand Fleet. The intention of the Channel Fleet was to serve as a defensive formation to protect the lines of communication between the United Kingdom and France for the British Expeditionary Force, and deny the German Navy access into the English Channel. The Channel Fleet also had a number of attached cruiser squadrons responsible for patrolling to the west of the British Isles.
The Harwich Force was formed in April 1914 and was intended to serve as a southern wing of the Grand Fleet, primarily consisting of light forces. In the first few months of the war, elements of the Harwich Force were subordinated to the Southern Force.
The Southern Force (also known as the "Combined Force") was formed in August 1914 around a cruiser squadron, with support from elements of the Harwich Force, and was intended to operate off the East Coast, protecting the coast of Belgium and communication channels to France.[10][note 53]
Although in peacetime the fledgling naval forces of the Dominions operated independently, during time of war they were intended to be subordinated to the command of the Admiralty in London.
^The Permanent Secretary was not one of the Lords of the Admiralty, but was instead the senior civil servant whose main role was to provide advice to the board in its decision making
^Battenburg resigned on 24 October and was replaced by Baron Fisher
^ abHamilton was appointed Second Sea Lord on 4 August in succession to Jellicoe, who was named as commander of the Grand Fleet in place of Admiral Sir George Callaghan
^ abKing Alfred was recommissioned as assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron in mid-August
^Queen Elizabeth was undergoing sea trials, and was commissioned on 22 December 1914
^Revenge was undergoing a refit for coastal bombardment duties as part of the Dover Patrol
^ abInvincible had undergone a major refit from March to August 1914, and was declared operational on 12 August. She had been part of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean, but upon her recommissioning was retained in home waters
^Aurora was commissioned in September 1914 and assigned as Flotilla Leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla
^ abTiger was undergoing sea trials, and was commissioned on 3 October, when she was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron
^Cordelia was undertaking sea trials prior to commissioning in January 1915
^ abMiller, as Rear Admiral in Command at Scapa Flow, took responsibility for the guard ships of the 9th Battle Squadron with his flag in Hannibal
^Paris was promoted to Major-General and assigned to command the Royal Naval Division in September.
^A Battalion was replaced by a new RMLI battalion formed from the depot and named as 12th (Deal) Battalion in September.
^During a full mobilisation of the battle fleet, Iron Duke was attached to the 4th Battle Squadron
^ abBayly and Burney swapped commands in December, with Bayly appointed as commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet, and Burney assuming command of the 1st Battle Squadron
^Audacious sank having struck a mine on 27 October 1914
^The 3rd Battle Squadron was primarily tasked with providing heavy support to the Northern Patrol
^Erin joined the 4th Battle Squadron on 5 September 1914
^Benbow and Emperor of India were working up at the start of the war and joined the 4th Battle Squadron in December
^New Zealand was transferred to the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron in mid-August 1914, before returning to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron in September
^ abGood Hope was transferred to the 4th Cruiser Squadron on 14th August, and assumed the role of flagship from Suffolk
^During a full mobilisation, Lord Nelson was attached to the 5th Battle Squadron
^The ships of the 6th Battle Squadron were transferred to the Grand Fleet in August 1914 to reinforce the Northern Patrol
^The 8th Battle Squadron was formed at the beginning of August 1914 by the amalgamation of the 7th and 8th Battle Squadrons
^The 8th Battle Squadron was broken up in late August 1914 with the majority of its ships sent to reinforce cruiser squadrons on trade protection duties
^Illustrious was sent to serve as guard ship at Loch Ewe at the end of August
^The 9th Battle Squadron was disbanded as a formation in early August 1914, and its ships used operationally as guard ships
^Although nominally attached to the Channel Fleet, the 4th Cruiser Squadron was primarily responsible for the former North America and West Indies Station
^The 5th Cruiser Squadron was redesignated as Cruiser Force D and assigned to patrol the Atlantic off north-west Africa
^The 9th Cruiser Squadron was redesignated as Cruiser Force I and assigned to patrol the Atlantic off north-west Africa
^The 11th Cruiser Squadron was redesignated as Cruiser Force E and assigned to patrol off the west coast of Ireland
^The 12th Cruiser Squadron was redesignated as Cruiser Force G and assigned to patrol the Western Channel
^The 10th Cruiser Squadron was formed by redesignating the Training Squadron stationed at Queenstown
^The 6th Destroyer Flotilla was removed from the command of the Admiral of Patrols and transferred to the newly established Dover Patrol in October 1914
^The Shetland Patrol Force was administered as part of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla
^Commodore Tyrwhitt was in overall command of the Grand Fleet's destroyers
^ abcdThe 1st and 3rd Destroyer Flotillas and 8th Submarine Flotilla were detached for operations with the Southern Force
^In August 1914, three passenger steamers belonging to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway were requisitioned and converted for use as seaplane tenders; these were subsequently assigned to the Harwich Force
^The 7th Cruiser Squadron was divided into two separate "cruiser forces" - Cruiser Force C consisted of Euryalus, Bacchante, Aboukir and Cressy, while Cruiser Force F consisted of Hogue and Sutlej
^Inflexible operated as part of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron
^Rear Admiral Gordon Moore was appointed as commander of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron from 1 September 1914, but raised his flag in Invincible on 12 August. The 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet to Cruiser Force A, initially with Invincible and New Zealand, in mid-August 1914; Inflexible replaced New Zealand from September, while Indomitable and Indefatigable were retained in the Mediterranean until November
^Weymouth was detached from the Mediterranean Fleet in August and sent to the East Indies station to assist in the hunt for the German light cruiser Emden