Misplaced Pages

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland
HMS Ark Royal on the River Clyde
Active	1913–2020
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Command (military formation)
Part of	Navy Command
Garrison/HQ	HM Naval Base Clyde

The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI) was a senior post in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It was based at HM Naval Base Clyde, and the holder of the post was the Royal Navy’s senior officer in Scotland. The post of FOSNI, dating from 1946, was re-scoped and re-named in 1994 to Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England & Northern Ireland (FOSNNI), then named back in 2015, before being dis-established in 2020.

History

The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland was the most senior naval position in Scotland and is the successor to appointments starting with the Senior Officer on the Coast of Scotland, established in 1913, just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. The title was altered to Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth in 1916. From 1946 the post became the Flag Officer Scotland & Northern Ireland. Between 1961 and 1994 the Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland was triple-hatted as Commander Northern Sub-Area (NORLANT) of Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT), and as Commander Nore Sub-Area Channel (NORECHAN) of Allied Command Channel. Based at RAF Pitreavie Castle, NORECHAN was tasked to prevent Soviet Navy ships and submarines from entering the North Sea. When the command moved from Rosyth to HMNB Clyde in 1994, it took responsibility for a larger area, becoming the Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. In 2015 the post reverted to Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland. The post was removed under the Royal Navy's Navy Command Transformation Programme and renamed Commodore Submarine Service (COSM).

Major subordinate stone frigates under C-in-C Rosyth on the outbreak of the Second World War included HMS Flora at Invergordon; HMS Bacchante (a shore establishment) at Aberdeen, HMS Claverhouse at Leith, and HMS Calliope on the Tyne. Bacchante had been commanded by the Senior Naval Officer, Aberdeen from 1915 to 1919 and then the Flag Officer-in-Charge, Aberdeen from 1942 to 1945. Wartime subsidiary bases included Aultbea on Loch Ewe. Facilities at Aultbea were established in February 1915 during World War I and partially deactivated in April 1919. Aultbea was reactivated during World War II in 1940 following the German attack on Scapa Flow and subsequent sinking of HMS Royal Oak, when the Home Fleet was temporarily based there. It was also a staging point for arctic convoys that operated out of Loch Ewe. It remained in operation until October 1967.

Admirals Commanding

Flag Officers have been:

Admiral Commanding on the Coast of Scotland; 1913–1916

Included:

Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth; 1913–1919

Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland; 1919–1939

Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth; 1939–1946

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland; 1946–1994

Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland; 1994–2015

Note: From 2005, the post holder also held the title of Flag Officer, Reserves and Flag Officer Regional Forces.

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland; 2015–2020

References

1. Royal Navy official site, FOSNNI
2. Army Quarterly and Defence Journal, Volume 124, page 230 (West of England Press, 1994).
3. "Submariners Association Newsletter In Depth 68" (PDF). Submariners Association. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
4. Watson, Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation in World War 2, 1939–1945". www.naval-history.net. Graham Smith, 19 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
5. Admiralty, Great Britain (December 1919). "Other Senior Naval Officers or Officers in Charge at Ports in the United Kingdom". Navy List. London England: HM Stationery Office. p. 699.
6. Admiralty, Great Britain (December 1942). "Flag Officers in Commission". Navy List. London England: HM Stationery Office. p. 1336.
7. Admiralty, Great Britain (January 1919). "The Royal Navy". Navy List. London England: HM Stationery Office. p. 769.
8. Smith, Peter C. (2008). The Great Ships: British Battleships in World War II. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, United States: Stackpole Books. p. 70. ISBN 9780811749350.
9. Archives, The National (1940–1967). "Aultbea Naval Base, Loch Ewe, Ross and Cromarty: a short history. With photographs and plan". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. London England: The National Archives. Retrieved 19 October 2018. ADM 1/31049
10. Listing compiled by historian Colin Mackie Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
11. Admiralty. British. (November 1914). The Navy List. List of Admirals by Seniority. Admirals. H.M.S.O. London. England. p86.
12. Committee, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence (2013). House of Commons - Defence Committee: The Defence Implications of Possible Independence - Volume I: HC 198: Sixth Report of Session 2013-14, Vol. 1: Report, Together with an Appendix, Formal Minutes and Oral Evidence. London: The Stationery Office. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-215-06246-8.
13. Warships Magazine, FLAG OFF SCOTLAND SPECIAL
14. ^ Royal Navy official site Base Braves the Elements to Wave Fond Farewell to Admiral, Tuesday, 6 September 2008
15. Lochside Press, New admiral takes the helm at Faslane, 27 July 2015
16. "No. 63039". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 June 2020. p. 11075.

v t e Historic fleets and naval commands of the Royal Navy
North and Irish Seas and English Channel	First Fleet Second Fleet Third Fleet Atlantic Fleet Battle Cruiser Fleet Channel Fleet Channel Squadron Coast of Ireland Coast of Scotland Devonport Dover Commander-in-Chief Fleet Grand Fleet British Naval Forces Germany Humber Home Fleet Irish Squadron Leith Nore North Sea Squadron Orkneys and Shetlands Plymouth Portsmouth Rosyth Reserve Fleet Western Approaches Western Naval Home Command Eastern English Channel Downs Channel Squadron (Navy Royal) Narrow Seas North North and West Western Squadron North Sea Fleet South West and Irish Sea West Yarmouth
Atlantic Ocean	Atlantic Fleet Barbadoes and Leeward Islands Good Hope Jamaica Division (1838-1905) Jamaica Station (to 1830) Leeward Islands Lisbon Newfoundland North America North America and West Indies North Atlantic Portugal South America Station South Atlantic and South America South Atlantic South East Coast of America West Africa Squadron Flag Officer, West Africa Senior Naval Officer, West Indies
Baltic, Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas	Adriatic Aegean Baltic Fleet Black Sea and Caspian Caspian Coast of Spain Eastern Mediterranean Egypt and Red Sea British Naval Forces Germany Gibraltar Levant Levant and East Mediterranean Malta Mediterranean Fleet Portugal
Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean	Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf Commander-in-Chief, Australia Commander-in-Chief, China East Indies East Indies and China East Indies Fleet Eastern Fleet Far East Fleet Egypt and Red Sea Senior British Naval Officer, Suez Canal Area Middle East New Zealand New Zealand Naval Forces Pacific Fleet Pacific Station Red Sea and Canal Area/Red Sea South America Station Persian Gulf

• Flag officers of the Royal Navy
• Military units and formations disestablished in 2020