Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic
| South Atlantic Station | |
|---|---|
 HMS Bermuda, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic in the early 1950s | |
| Active | 1939–1967 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Type | Fleet |
| Garrison/HQ | Freetown, Simonstown, and Port Stanley |
The South Atlantic Station was a formation of the Royal Navy. It was formed from the former Cape of Good Hope Station.
Although the South Atlantic and Pacific Station briefly existed in the First World War, the South Atlantic Station had a more substantial existence during and after the Second World War having been created from the Africa Station. Its area of responsibility covered the Atlantic Ocean south of a line drawn between the northern French West African (now Mauritanian) border and French Guiana and the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean east of a line drawn south from the western entrance to the Magellan Strait and west of a line drawn south from the South African/ Mozambican border.[1] The South Atlantic Station had bases at Freetown, Simonstown, and Port Stanley. It was absorbed into the Western Fleet in 1967 when that Command assumed responsibility for all ships "West of Suez".[2]
The frigate Lynx served as Admiral Talbot's flagship in the 1960s. She was the last ship remaining on the station and returned home after April 1967 and the abolishing of the CINCSASA post.[3] After 11 April 1967, a Senior British Naval Officer South Africa with the rank of Commodore remained, responsible to Commander-in-Chief Western Fleet, until February 1976 when the post was disestablished and HMS Afrikander closed.[4]
Commanders-in-Chief
Commanders-in-Chief have included:
Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and Pacific
- Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee (1914)[5]
Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic
- Vice Admiral Sir George Lyon (1939-1940)[1]
- Vice Admiral Sir Robert Raikes (1940-1941)[6]
- Vice Admiral Sir Algernon Willis (1941-1942)[7]
- Vice Admiral Sir Campbell Tait (1942-1944)[8]
- Vice Admiral Sir Robert Burnett (1944-1946)[9]
- Vice Admiral Sir Clement Moody (1946-1948)[10]
- Vice Admiral Sir Desmond McCarthy (1948-1950)[11]
- Vice Admiral Sir Herbert Packer (1950-1952)[12]
- Vice Admiral Sir Peveril William-Powlett (1952-1954)[13]
- Vice Admiral Sir Ian Campbell (1954-1956)[14]
- Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Robson (1956-1958)[15]
Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and South America
- Vice Admiral Sir Dymock Watson (1958-1960)[16]
- Vice Admiral Sir Nicholas Copeman (1960-1963)[17]
- Vice Admiral Sir Fitzroy Talbot (1963-1965)[18]
- Vice Admiral Sir John Gray (1965-1967)[19]
See also
References
- ^ a b Royal Navy foreign stations
- ^ Royal Navy (Command System) Hansard, 5 June 1967
- ^ du Toit in Hore 2012, 204, as well as Cats and Cathedrals website.
- ^ du Toit in Hore 2012, 210.
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Doveton Sturdee
- ^ S. W Roskill, The War at Sea, Vol.1, p.275
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Algernon Willis
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Campbell Tait
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Robert Burnett
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Clement Moody
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Desmond McCarthy
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Herbert Packer
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Peveril William-Powlett
- ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1956
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Geoffrey Robson
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Dymock Watson
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Nicholas Copeman
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: Fitzroy Talbot
- ^ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives: John Gray
Sources
- Rear Admiral Allan du Toit, RAN, 'Simon's Town and the Cape Sea Route,' in Captain Peter Hore, RN (ed), 'Dreadnought to Daring: 100 Years of Comment, Controversy, and Debate in the Naval Review,' Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2012.
