Commodore Submarine Service
Ensign of the Royal Navy
Incumbent
Commodore Paul Dunn OBE
since 26 July 2022
Ministry of Defence
Member ofBoard of Admiralty, Admiralty Board
Reports toFleet Commander
NominatorSecretary of State for Defence
AppointerPrime Minister
Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term lengthNot fixed (typically 2–3 years)
Inaugural holderRear-Admiral Douglas Dent
Formation1901

Commodore Submarine Service is a post in the Royal Navy which involves command of the Royal Navy Submarine Service. It evolved from the post of Inspecting Captain of Submarines in 1901 and would later evolve to become the post of Flag Officer Submarines in 1944.

History

In 1904 the Admiralty created the post of Inspecting Captain of Submarines which lasted until August 1912 when Captain Roger J. B. Keyes was appointed Commodore, Submarine Service. He held that position until February 1919[1] when the post holder was renamed Chief of the Submarine Service. It was for many years located at HMS Dolphin in Hampshire.[2]

On 30 August 1939 Rear Admiral Submarines, Rear Admiral Bertram Watson, moved his headquarters from Gosport to Aberdour, Scotland, though the administrative staff remained at Gosport. The RN started the Second World War with 60 submarines.[3] On 31 August 1939 the Second Submarine Flotilla at Dundee (Forth and ten submarines) and the Sixth Submarine Flotilla at Blyth (Titania and six submarines) were part of the Home Fleet. The submarines Clyde and Severn, part of the Seventh Submarine Flotilla, were at Freetown under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic. Ten submarines were in the Mediterranean along with the depot ship Maidstone (First Submarine Flotilla); and the submarine depot ship Medway and the Fourth Submarine Flotilla were under the Commander-in-Chief, China, split between Singapore and Hong Kong.[4] Roskill writes that the effective naval strength of the British Empire on the outbreak of war included 38 submarines.[4]

During the war the major operating arenas were the Norwegian waters; the Mediterranean where the Tenth Submarine Flotilla fought a successful battle against the Axis replenishment route to North Africa; and the Far East where Royal Navy submarines disrupted Japanese shipping operating in the Malacca Straits.[5]

In January 1940, Vice-Admiral Max Horton was made Rear Admiral Submarines. Horton's biographer, Rear Admiral William S. Chalmers, cites the opinion that a new regulation, which required the post holder to be an officer who had served aboard submarines in the Great War, was forced through for the sole purpose of ensuring that Horton was on a very short list of qualifiers for this post, almost ensuring his rapid transfer to Aberdour, so great was the desire of some within the Admiralty to have Horton revitalize the submarine arm.[6]

From 1953 the Flag Officer Submarines was dual-hatted as NATO Commander Submarine Force Eastern Atlantic (COMSUBEASTLANT) under Commander Submarine Allied Command Atlantic (COMSUBACLANT), a major command of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. Flag Officer Submarines moved from Dolphin to the Northwood Headquarters in 1978.[7] From 1993 the post of Flag Officer Submarines was dual-hatted with the post of Commander Operations.[8]

In 2015, Rear Admiral John Weale was appointed Rear Admiral Submarines/Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Submarines, while Rear Admiral Robert Tarrant is Commander Operations (Royal Navy), two distinct posts from 2015.[9][8] In 2016, a new entity, the Submarine Flotilla, was technically established, but its commander's post was to be held by Commander Faslane Flotilla.[10] A single submarine base was to be achieved by 2020 when HMS Talent and HMS Triumph moved their homeports to the Clyde in 2019 and 2020 respectively.[10]

On 1 April 2020, the post of Commander Submarine Flotilla was announced at HMNB Clyde,[11] seemingly a renaming of the post of Commander Faslane Flotilla.[11]

As of December 2020, official Royal Navy Freedom of Information responses said that "the combined 2* Rear Admiral post of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS) (Submarines)(SM), Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI) and Rear Admiral Submarines has been disestablished. The ACNS (SM) role and Rear Admiral Submarines roles have been [lowered] to Commodore and retitled Deputy Director Submarines and Commodore Submarine Service. The role of Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland role has been retitled as Senior Naval Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (SNOSNI) and is currently held by 1* Deputy Director Submarines."[12]

Commanding

Post holders have included:[8]

Inspecting Captain of Submarines

  • Captain Reginald H. S. Bacon, 20 August 1901 – 21 October 1904[1] Initial appointment title was Inspecting Captain of Submarine Boats (Richard Compton-Hall, 115).
  • Captain Edgar Lees, 21 October 1904, (later RAdm.)[1]
  • Captain Sydney S. Hall, 12 November 1906 – 14 November 1910 (later Adm.)[1]
  • Captain Roger J. B. Keyes, 14 November 1910 - July 1912[1]

Commodore Submarine Service

Chief of the Submarine Service

Rear-Admiral Submarines

Flag Officer Submarines

Rear-Admiral Submarines

Commodore Submarine Service

  • Commodore James Perks CBE (2020–2022): as of December 2020, Senior Naval Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland, Deputy Director Submarines, and Commodore Submarine Service.[12]
  • Commodore Paul Dunn OBE (2022–present)[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Harley & Lovell 2015.
  2. ↑ "Submarine School". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Royal, Dominion & Allied Navies in World War II: Beginning and End, 1939 and 1945". Naval-history.net. 2010.
  4. 1 2 Roskill, Stephen W. (1954). "Chapter 4: Allied and Enemy War Plans and Dispositions". History of the Second World War: The War at Sea 1939-1945: The Defensive. London: HMSO. pp. 47–49.
  5. ↑ "Submarine History: Submarine Service: Operations and Support". Royal Navy. 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008.
  6. ↑ Chalmers (1954), Chapter X.
  7. ↑ Conley, p. 136
  8. 1 2 3 "Senior Royal Navy Appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "Rear Admiral John Weale" (PDF). Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 Submariners Association (2016). "FORMATION OF THE SUBMARINE FLOTILLA (SUBFLOT) (Serial Galaxy 30-2015 Dated 15th December 2015)" (PDF). PERISCOPE VIEW The Newsletter of the Barrow-in Furness Branch of the Submariners Association.
  11. 1 2 See it here
  12. 1 2 "Response to Freedom of Information Request". Ministry of Defence. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  13. 1 2 "Rear Admiral Niall Kilgour (Chairman of Trustees) – Royal Navy Club of 1765 and 1785 (united 1889)". Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  14. ↑ "Celebrated head of the Royal Navy's Submarine Service retires". Royal Navy. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.

Sources

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