British Home Fleet
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The Home Fleet is the traditional name of the fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdom's territorial waters.
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During World War I, the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet. The name "Home Fleet" was resurrected in 1932, as the new name for the Atlantic Fleet, following the Invergordon Mutiny.
The Home Fleet was the Royal Navy's main battle force in European waters during World War Two. It comprised the main battle squadrons and the fleet carriers, and its chief responsibility was to keep the German Navy from breaking out of the North Sea. For this purpose the World War I base at Scapa Flow was reactivated as it was well-placed for interceptions of ships trying to run the blockade.
The operational areas of the Home Fleet were not circumscribed, and units were detached to other zones quite freely, but the southern parts of the North Sea and the English Channel were made separate commands for light forces, and the growing intensity of the Battle of the Atlantic led to the creation of Western Approaches Command. Only with the final disposal of the Tirpitz in 1944 did the Home Fleet assume a lower priority, and most of its heavy units were withdrawn to be sent to the Far East.
Its Commanders-in-Chief during the Second World War were:
- Sir Charles Forbes (1939–1940),
- Sir John Tovey (1940–42),
- Sir Bruce Fraser (1942–44)
- and Sir Henry Moore (1944–45).
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