List of squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy


This is a List of squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy.

Type squadrons

Aircraft carriers

Numbered

Named

Battleships

Battlecruisers

Cruisers

Starting around the time that steam cruisers became popular in the 1870s, the Royal Navy tended to organise such ships into groups called Cruiser Squadrons. Squadrons were commanded by a rear-admiral whose title was given as Flag Officer Cruiser Squadron n, or CSn for short.
During peacetime the grouping was primarily for administrative purposes, but during war the whole squadron tended to be operated as a unified fighting unit and such units would train in this formation during peace. In the main fighting fleets members of a given squadron were normally of the same or similar classes. The use of Cruiser Squadrons died out as the number of such ships decreased following World War II.

Light Cruisers

Defence boats

Destroyers

Escorts

Fast patrol boats

Fisheries

Frigates

Heavy

  • Heavy Squadron, consisted of mixed naval units including the battleship, aircraft carriers and cruisers of the Home fleet.

Minesweepers

Coastal minesweepers

Fleet minesweepers

Inshore minesweepers

Mine counter-measures

Submarines

Training

Type flotillas

Destroyers

See Pennant number#Flotilla bands

Escorts

Local defences

Included:

Minesweepers

Motor torpedo boats

Port

Submarine flotilla

numbered

named

Training flotilla