Commander-in-Chief, North Atlantic


The Vice Admiral, Gibraltar was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Flag Officer Gibraltar and North Atlantic they were charged with the administration of the RN Naval Base, Gibraltar and North Atlantic geographic area. The admiral commanding's post later became the Flag Officer Gibraltar.

History

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Gibraltar command was elevated to North Atlantic Command with responsibility for the sea lanes on either side of the Straits of Gibraltar. Those duties remained in place although the flag officers' mission was often unclear due to the operations of both Force H and the Western Approaches Command. It was these ambiguous boundaries of command responsibility between Gibraltar and Force H that led to confusion in the conduct of operations. In his book The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean, Brown discusses this problem and the Admiralty's response: The division of responsibility between the Flag Officer North Atlantic Command and the Flag Officer Force H and the Commander in Chief Mediterranean was defined as follows:
F.O.C.N.A. was responsible for preventing the passage of Gibraltar Strait by all enemy vessels and by vessels of other nations as may be ordered by the Admiralty from time to time.
While Force H was based on Gibraltar, F.O.C.N.A. was to call on, Flag Officer, Force H for such assistance as be necessary. Except when directed to carry out specific tasks by the Admiralty.

Commanders

Included:

Components

Before 1939, there was a small force of destroyers based at Gibraltar.
Capital Ships
Squadrons and Flotillas
Sub-Divisions
Submarine and Minesweepers Groups
Escort Groups were based at Gibraltar.''