The Commander-in-Chief, Africa was the last title of a
Royal Navy's formation commander located in
South Africa from 1795 to 1939. Under varying titles, it was one of the longest-lived formations of the
Royal Navy. It was also often known as the Cape of Good Hope Station.
History
From 1750 to 1779 the
Cape of Good Hope became strategically important due to the increasing competition between France and Great Britain for control of the seas.[2] In 1780 Holland joined the
American Revolutionary War[3] in alliance[4] with France and Spain against Great Britain; the British Government were aware of the consequences should the Cape of Good Hope fall and the impact it would have on its trade links with India and put a plan into place to capture the Cape and circumvent its use by the enemy. The first attempt was subject to prolonged delays and the fact that the French were able to reinforce their defences enabled them to successfully defend it from the British attack. From 1781 to 1791 various attempts[5] were made to capture the station: all failed and it remained under the control of France and the French were successful in attacking and disrupting the trade cargo of the
East India Company's ships that were travelling between
Asian subcontinent and Europe.[6] In 1792 hostilities temporarily ceased and by 1793 the Directors of the East India Company expressed their concern[7] about the cape being retained by the French. The
British government and the
Admiralty decided to act and successfully retook it in 1795:[8] the first Naval base was established at
Table Bay.[9]
In 1802 the British government agreed to restore the Cape to the Dutch control but this was not finalized until 1803 and lasted until 1806,[10] when a new British Administration under
William Pitt cancelled the agreement between both countries and re-took the Cape once more in 1806,[11] which effectively from this point on remained under British control. In 1811 the Royal Navy decided it wanted to move from its current base to a new base at
Simon's Town bay; however the initial facilities took approximately three years to complete and were not ready until 1814.[12] From 1815 to 1849 the base was mainly used for re-fitting and repair work on vessels and acted as a port of call for nautical surveyors who were mapping the region. During the 1850s and 1860s improvements were made to the dockyard facilities with some being re-built in order to accommodate larger ships. On 17 January 1865, it was combined with the
East Indies Station to form the East Indies and Cape of Good Hope Station; however, the station was recreated as a separate station on 29 July 1867. From 1870, it absorbed the former
West Africa Squadron.[13] By the start of the
Second Boer War in 1899 a long period of relative peace had existed; the station became the main base for British Forces disembarking and embarking during the war and for supplies and equipment being shipped from Britain for the duration of the conflict.[14]
First World War
In 1910 a new East Dock was built together with a dry dock facility which proved timely in the event of the breakout of the
First World War. From 1914 to 1919 its primary tasks was to seek out and destroy German commerce raiders.[15]HMS Pegasus remained as part of the Cape Station on the outbreak of the
First World War. As the likelihood of war with Germany increased, the Commander-in-Chief on the Cape Station, Rear Admiral
Herbert King-Hall, deployed his ships in order to counter the threat posed by the German light cruiser
Königsberg, based at
Dar es Salaam. On 31 July 1914, Pegasus sighted Königsberg leaving Dar es Salaam, but was unable to keep track of the faster German cruiser.[16][17] King-Hall recognised that Königsberg outclassed Pegasus and intended that Pegasus should operate with the cruiser
Astraea while his flagship
Hyacinth operated independently to protect the trade routes around the Cape, but on 12 August, the
Admiralty ordered Astraea to join Hyacinth off the Cape to escort troop convoys, leaving Pegasus unsupported at
Zanzibar.[18] On 23 August Pegasus sailed to the port of
Bagamoyo in
German East Africa with the intention of forcing a truce so that the port would take no further part in the war. Similar agreements had previously been made with the authorities of Dar es Salaam and
Tanga.[19] When the port authorities refused to agree to such a truce, Pegasus shelled the port's Customs House.[19]
During the interwar period the Cape Station resumed the work of maintaining and refitting vessels stationed there and those travelling en route to Asia. In 1939, at the start of the
Second World War, the base played an early prominent role in the
Battle of the Atlantic, and the hunt for the
German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, that led to the
Battle of the River Plate. After the conclusion of that engagement the station ceased as a command operations center with the senior naval staff moving to the newly formed
South Atlantic station headquartered at Freetown. The naval base remained as part of that command until 1957.[20] In 1958 the British government handed over the facility to the
South African Navy.[21]
Commanders-in-Chief
The commanders-in-chief were:[22] N = died in post
^Robbins, Louise E. (2002). Elephant slaves and pampered parrots : exotic animals in eighteenth century Paris ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Baltimore [u.a.]: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 54.
ISBN9780801867538.
^Ward, Peter A. (2013). British naval power in the East, 1794-1805 : the command of Admiral Peter Rainier (1. publ. ed.). Woodbridge: Boydell Press. p. 231.
ISBN9781843838487.
^Goosen, C (1973). South Africa's Navy - the first Fifty years. W. J. Flesch & partners. pp. 131–132.
ISBN0-949989-02-9.
^"Bertie, Admiral Sir Albemarle". The annual biography and obituary for the year 1825. Vol. 9. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. 1825. p. 396.
^Great Britain H.M. Stationery Office, House of Commons; State Library, Bavarian (1 January 1821). Journals of the House of Commons, Digitized 23 Jun 2010. Vol. 76. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 794.
^Colbourn, H (1830).
"The United Service Magazine, 1830". p. 249, The University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized, 12 Apr 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
Corbett, Julian S. (1920). Naval Operations: Volume 1: To the Battle of the Falklands December 1914. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
The Commander-in-Chief, Africa was the last title of a
Royal Navy's formation commander located in
South Africa from 1795 to 1939. Under varying titles, it was one of the longest-lived formations of the
Royal Navy. It was also often known as the Cape of Good Hope Station.
History
From 1750 to 1779 the
Cape of Good Hope became strategically important due to the increasing competition between France and Great Britain for control of the seas.[2] In 1780 Holland joined the
American Revolutionary War[3] in alliance[4] with France and Spain against Great Britain; the British Government were aware of the consequences should the Cape of Good Hope fall and the impact it would have on its trade links with India and put a plan into place to capture the Cape and circumvent its use by the enemy. The first attempt was subject to prolonged delays and the fact that the French were able to reinforce their defences enabled them to successfully defend it from the British attack. From 1781 to 1791 various attempts[5] were made to capture the station: all failed and it remained under the control of France and the French were successful in attacking and disrupting the trade cargo of the
East India Company's ships that were travelling between
Asian subcontinent and Europe.[6] In 1792 hostilities temporarily ceased and by 1793 the Directors of the East India Company expressed their concern[7] about the cape being retained by the French. The
British government and the
Admiralty decided to act and successfully retook it in 1795:[8] the first Naval base was established at
Table Bay.[9]
In 1802 the British government agreed to restore the Cape to the Dutch control but this was not finalized until 1803 and lasted until 1806,[10] when a new British Administration under
William Pitt cancelled the agreement between both countries and re-took the Cape once more in 1806,[11] which effectively from this point on remained under British control. In 1811 the Royal Navy decided it wanted to move from its current base to a new base at
Simon's Town bay; however the initial facilities took approximately three years to complete and were not ready until 1814.[12] From 1815 to 1849 the base was mainly used for re-fitting and repair work on vessels and acted as a port of call for nautical surveyors who were mapping the region. During the 1850s and 1860s improvements were made to the dockyard facilities with some being re-built in order to accommodate larger ships. On 17 January 1865, it was combined with the
East Indies Station to form the East Indies and Cape of Good Hope Station; however, the station was recreated as a separate station on 29 July 1867. From 1870, it absorbed the former
West Africa Squadron.[13] By the start of the
Second Boer War in 1899 a long period of relative peace had existed; the station became the main base for British Forces disembarking and embarking during the war and for supplies and equipment being shipped from Britain for the duration of the conflict.[14]
First World War
In 1910 a new East Dock was built together with a dry dock facility which proved timely in the event of the breakout of the
First World War. From 1914 to 1919 its primary tasks was to seek out and destroy German commerce raiders.[15]HMS Pegasus remained as part of the Cape Station on the outbreak of the
First World War. As the likelihood of war with Germany increased, the Commander-in-Chief on the Cape Station, Rear Admiral
Herbert King-Hall, deployed his ships in order to counter the threat posed by the German light cruiser
Königsberg, based at
Dar es Salaam. On 31 July 1914, Pegasus sighted Königsberg leaving Dar es Salaam, but was unable to keep track of the faster German cruiser.[16][17] King-Hall recognised that Königsberg outclassed Pegasus and intended that Pegasus should operate with the cruiser
Astraea while his flagship
Hyacinth operated independently to protect the trade routes around the Cape, but on 12 August, the
Admiralty ordered Astraea to join Hyacinth off the Cape to escort troop convoys, leaving Pegasus unsupported at
Zanzibar.[18] On 23 August Pegasus sailed to the port of
Bagamoyo in
German East Africa with the intention of forcing a truce so that the port would take no further part in the war. Similar agreements had previously been made with the authorities of Dar es Salaam and
Tanga.[19] When the port authorities refused to agree to such a truce, Pegasus shelled the port's Customs House.[19]
During the interwar period the Cape Station resumed the work of maintaining and refitting vessels stationed there and those travelling en route to Asia. In 1939, at the start of the
Second World War, the base played an early prominent role in the
Battle of the Atlantic, and the hunt for the
German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, that led to the
Battle of the River Plate. After the conclusion of that engagement the station ceased as a command operations center with the senior naval staff moving to the newly formed
South Atlantic station headquartered at Freetown. The naval base remained as part of that command until 1957.[20] In 1958 the British government handed over the facility to the
South African Navy.[21]
Commanders-in-Chief
The commanders-in-chief were:[22] N = died in post
^Robbins, Louise E. (2002). Elephant slaves and pampered parrots : exotic animals in eighteenth century Paris ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Baltimore [u.a.]: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 54.
ISBN9780801867538.
^Ward, Peter A. (2013). British naval power in the East, 1794-1805 : the command of Admiral Peter Rainier (1. publ. ed.). Woodbridge: Boydell Press. p. 231.
ISBN9781843838487.
^Goosen, C (1973). South Africa's Navy - the first Fifty years. W. J. Flesch & partners. pp. 131–132.
ISBN0-949989-02-9.
^"Bertie, Admiral Sir Albemarle". The annual biography and obituary for the year 1825. Vol. 9. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. 1825. p. 396.
^Great Britain H.M. Stationery Office, House of Commons; State Library, Bavarian (1 January 1821). Journals of the House of Commons, Digitized 23 Jun 2010. Vol. 76. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 794.
^Colbourn, H (1830).
"The United Service Magazine, 1830". p. 249, The University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized, 12 Apr 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
Corbett, Julian S. (1920). Naval Operations: Volume 1: To the Battle of the Falklands December 1914. History of the Great War. London: Longmans, Green and Co.