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The Channel Fleet is the historical name used for the group of Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 warship
Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way than cargo ship....
s that defended the waters of the English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
.

Various fleets of Royal Navy ships have operated in the channel since the 16th century to fight (for example) the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was the Habsburg Spain fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Alonso de Guzm?n El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, leading to the Drake-Norris Expedition of 1589, also known as the English Armada....
 in 1588 or the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 invasion fleet that brought William of Orange
William III of England

William III was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as List_of_stadtholders_for_the_Low_Countries_provinces William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic....
 to England in 1688.

A Channel Fleet as a permanent establishment was first set up during the 18th century in order to defend England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 against the threat from the French naval bases
French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale , is the maritime arm of the French military. It consists of a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, and includes one nuclear aircraft carrier and ten nuclear submarines ....
 at Brest
Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Brittany peninsula, Brest is an important port and naval base....
, Le Havre
Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the northwest region of France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it outlets into the Bay of the Seine section of the English Channel....
 and elsewhere in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay is a Headlands and bays of the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest, France south to the Spain border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Punta de Estaca de Bares, and is named for the Spanish province of Biscay....
.






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The Channel Fleet is the historical name used for the group of Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 warship
Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way than cargo ship....
s that defended the waters of the English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
.

Various fleets of Royal Navy ships have operated in the channel since the 16th century to fight (for example) the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada was the Habsburg Spain fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Alonso de Guzm?n El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, leading to the Drake-Norris Expedition of 1589, also known as the English Armada....
 in 1588 or the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 invasion fleet that brought William of Orange
William III of England

William III was a Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 onwards, he governed as List_of_stadtholders_for_the_Low_Countries_provinces William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic....
 to England in 1688.

A Channel Fleet as a permanent establishment was first set up during the 18th century in order to defend England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 against the threat from the French naval bases
French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale , is the maritime arm of the French military. It consists of a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, and includes one nuclear aircraft carrier and ten nuclear submarines ....
 at Brest
Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Brittany peninsula, Brest is an important port and naval base....
, Le Havre
Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the northwest region of France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it outlets into the Bay of the Seine section of the English Channel....
 and elsewhere in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay is a Headlands and bays of the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest, France south to the Spain border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Punta de Estaca de Bares, and is named for the Spanish province of Biscay....
. It was based variously at Torbay
Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth....
, Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall

Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port in the Carrick, Cornwall District on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It has a total resident population of 21,635....
, and Plymouth
Plymouth

Plymouth is a City status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers River Plym to the east and River Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound....
. During the long Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
, many of the ships stayed at sea for months on-end being replenished with specially-built supply vessels able to bring fresh water in tanks as well as fresh food.

During the 19th century as the French developed Cherbourg as a base for steam-powered ships, the Royal Navy developed Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world....
 as a base for the fleet. The gravel and sand dredging that the construction of a deep sea harbour required extended to gravel banks as far round the coast as Start Bay
Start Bay

Start Bay is the bay in the English Channel in Devon, England between the River Dart's estuary and Start Point, Devon. On the coast, from south to north, are Hallsands, Beesands, Torcross, the Slapton Sands, Strete, Devon, Blackpool, Devon and Stoke Fleming....
 whose removal was responsible for much damaging coastal erosion
Coastal erosion

Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land or the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, Tide, wave currents, or drainage . Waves, generated by storms, wind, or fast moving motor craft, cause coastal erosion, which may take the form of long-term losses of sediment and Rock , or merely the temporary redistribution of coastal sed...
.

With the amelioration of Anglo-French relations, and the rise of German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 militarism towards 1900, the need for the Channel Fleet diminished and the main European naval arena shifted to the North Sea
North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
. The Channel Fleet was absorbed into the Home Fleet after the end of the Great War.

Channel Fleet in literature


The Channel Fleet features in several historical novel
Historical novel

A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author....
s about the Royal Navy, notably Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower and the Hotspur

Hornblower and the Hotspur is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester.It is the third in the series, following Lieutenant Hornblower....
 by C. S. Forester
C. S. Forester

Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an England novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades....
, in which Forester's fictional hero becomes a favorite of the real Channel Fleet commander, Admiral William Cornwallis
William Cornwallis

Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, Order of the Bath was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, the Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India....
. The fleet also features in several of the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian

Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire was an England novelist and translation, best known for his Aubrey?Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centered on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen Maturin....
.

The novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. His first three books gained much attention, the first becoming a bestseller, but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime....
 is set on board ships of the Channel Fleet, in the immediate aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies
Spithead and Nore mutinies

The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutiny by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. There was also discontent and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year....
 of 1797.

Commanding Officers

  • Admiral Lord Anson
    George Anson, 1st Baron Anson

    Admiral George Anson, 1st Baron Anson Privy Council of Great Britain Royal Navy was a Kingdom of Great Britain admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe....
     1747
  • First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Anson 1758
  • Admiral Earl Howe
    Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe

    Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Order of the Garter was a Kingdom of Great Britain admiral, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars....
     (1793-1795)
  • Admiral Lord Bridport
    Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport

    Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, Order of the Bath was an commissioned officer of the United Kingdom Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, and the brother of Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood....
     (1795–1800)
  • Admiral Sir William Cornwallis
    William Cornwallis

    Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, Order of the Bath was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, the Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India....
     (1803-06)
  • Admiral Lord St Vincent
    John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent

    Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent Order of the Bath Privy Council of the United Kingdom Royal Navy was an Admiral in the Royal Navy....
     (1806-07)
  • Admiral Lord Gardner
    Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner

    Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner was a United Kingdom Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He became one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral....
     (1807-1809)
  • Admiral of the Blue
    Admiral (United Kingdom)

    Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet .King Edward I of England appointed the first English Admiral in 1297 when he named William de Leyburn ?Admiral of the sea of the King of England?....
     John Thomas Duckworth
    John Thomas Duckworth

    Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, Order of the Bath was a Royal Navy officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom during his semi-retirement....
     (1809-1811)
  • Admiral Lord Keith (1812-1814)
  • Admiral Sir Charles Napier
    Charles Napier (naval officer)

    Admiral Sir Charles John Napier Order of the Bath Order of the Tower and Sword Royal Navy was a British naval officer whose sixty years in the Royal Navy included service in the Napoleonic Wars, Syrian War and the Crimean War, and a period commanding the Portuguese navy in the Liberal Wars....
     (May 1847 – April 1849)
  • Admiral Sir George Hornby
    Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby

    Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath , was a United Kingdom Admiral of the Fleet .He was the son of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby, elder brother of James John Hornby, the first cousin and brother-in-law of Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, by a daughter of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne, commonly dis...
     (1860s - before 1877)
  • Admiral Lord Hood (1880–1882)
  • Admiral Sir Henry Fairfax (1892 - )
  • Admiral Arthur Wilson
    Arthur Knyvet Wilson

    Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson Victoria Cross, Order of the Bath, Order of Merit, Royal Victorian Order , was an England Admiral and First Sea Lord....
     (1901-1903)