Downs Station

The Downs Station also known as the Commander-in-Chief, the Downs or Admiral Commanding at the Downs was a formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy based at Deal. It was a major command of the Royal Navy from 1626 until 1834.

The Downs is a roadstead (area of sheltered, favourable sea) in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast. It is primarily known in naval history for the Dutch defeat of the Spanish in the Battle of the Downs in 1639.

History The Downs served as permanent base for naval vessels operating out of Deal, Kent.

It served as a base for warships patrolling the North Sea. The command generally covered an area in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast. The station lasted until 1815, when it was absorbed into the Commander-in-Chief, The Nore's control, whose role and geographic area of responsibility was re-defined by the Admiralty.

Commanders in chief Incomplete list includes: = died in post Commodore Sir Henry Palmer, 1626 Rear-Admiral Sir John Penington, 1626–1631 Vice-Admiral Sir John Penington, 1638–1645 Vice-Admiral Sir John Mennes, 1645–1649 Rear-Admiral Richard Badiley, 1649–1650 Vice-Admiral John Lawson, 1650–1656 Vice-Admiral Richard Badiley, 1656 Admiral Sir Edward Montagu, 1657–1663 Commodore Thomas Allin, 1663–1664 Admiral Sir William Penn, 1664–1666 Vice-Admiral Sir John Holmes, 1667–1679 Commodore Stafford Fairborne, 1695–1697 Rear-Admiral Basil Beaumont, 1699–1703 Commodore Richard Griffith, 1707 Commodore Gerard Ellwes, 1707–1708 Commodore Charles Cornwall, 1709–1710 Commodore Tudor Trevor, 1711–1712 Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Wager, 1712–1714 Captain Edward Vernon, 1716 Commodore Philip Cavendish, 1716 Admiral Edward Vernon, 1745 Vice-Admiral William Martin, 1745 Commodore Matthew Michell, 1745–1748 Admiral Thomas Smith, 1755–1758 Commodore Sir Peircy Brett, 1758–1761 Commodore John Moore, 1761–1766 Rear-Admiral John Montagu, 1771 Commodore John Elliot, 1777–1778 Vice-Admiral Matthew Buckle, 1778–1779 Vice-Admiral Francis William Drake, 1779–1782 Rear-Admiral John Evans, 1780–1781* Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, 1781–1782* Station not active 1782 to 1790 Rear-Admiral Sir Richard King, 1790–1791 Station not active 1791 to 1793 Rear-Admiral John MacBride, 1793–1794 Vice-Admiral Joseph Peyton, 1794–1799 Rear-Admiral John Bazely, 1796–1797* Vice-Admiral Skeffington Lutwidge, 1799–1802 Rear-Admiral Edward Thornbrough, 1803 Vice-Admiral Philip Patton, 1803–1804 Vice-Admiral John Holloway, 1804–1807 Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Rowley, 1807–1808 Vice-Admiral George Campbell, 1808–1811 Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, 1811–1815 Rear-Admiral William Hall Gage, 1833. Temporary command in absence of senior officer *

Notes

References

Ireland, Bernard (2001), Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail - War at Sea 1756–1815, 1st Ed, WW Norton & Co. . Rodger, N.A.M. (2004), The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company. .