The Admiral of Patrols  [ 1]   was a former command appointment within the Admiralty  during World War I  usually held by a junior flag officer. The post was established from 1912 to 1916.
 
In the preceding years before World War I the Admiralty were assessing the need to protect the navy's main capital ships in the future event of any war, which would be augmented by the possible implementation a coastal patrol and mine-sweeping initiative. The need for some sort of patrol protection function being established was indicated by Admiral Lord Charles Beresford  as early as 1907.
In 1909 Admiral Fisher obtained a small number of vessels for experimentation, Beginning about 1910 the Admiralty acknowledged that this sort of service may likely be in the form of local coastal patrol support for the regular navy at this time there was a lack of patrol capabilities within the Royal Navy.
On May 1, 1912 the post of Admiral of Patrols was created and under its command consisted four destroyer flotillas until 1913. In 1914, the Board of Admiralty  sent an order the Admiralty War Staff  asking the Chief of the War Staff to re-evaluate the patrols current functional role operating  off the Eastern Coast of Great Britain the First Sea Lord  envisaged that its current function of patrolling would now be that of coastal defence [ 2]   but would include an additional force the units of the Auxiliary Patrol .  After the implementation took place Admiral de Robeck was replaced by a new commander Commodore George A. Ballard .[ 3]    He assumed the duties of Admiral of Patrols on the 1 May 1914 [ 4]   and held the post until it was abolished in 1917.
 Commodore/Admiral of Patrols[ edit ]  
 
Rank 
Flag 
Name 
Term
  
Commodore/Admiral, of Patrols 
 
1 
Rear-Admiral 
 
John de Robeck  
8 April 1912 – 1 May 1914 (initially-Cdre, 1.Cls) [ 5]  
  
2 
Commodore 1st Class 
 
George A. Ballard  
1 May 1914 - 1916 (later-R.Adm)[ 6]  
  
Assistant to Admiral of Patrols [ edit ]  
Captain Walter H. Cowan , 1 May 1912 – 7 February 1914 [ 7]  
Captain Edward G. Lowther-Crofton, 7 February 1914 – 1 February 1916  
As of May 1912 – 1914:[ 8] [ 9]  
 
The Auxiliary Patrol was a component force under the (ADMP) and composed of a large number of small craft tasked with minesweeping and anti-submarine patrols, initially around the British Isles, but later also in the Mediterranean. The Auxiliary Patrol was the front-line force in the defence of initially the British Isles, but later also the Mediterranean, against German mines and submarines.
^   Abbatiello, John (May 2, 2006). Anti-Submarine Warfare in World War I: British Naval Aviation and the Defeat of the U-Boats  . Routledge. p. 84. ISBN  9781135989545  .  
 
^   Lambert, Nicholas A. (1999). Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution  (1st paperback print. ed.). Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p. 286. ISBN  9781570034923  .  
 
^   Lambert.  Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution .  p. 286. 
 
^   "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices).  The Times .  Friday, 1 May 1914.  Issue 40512 , col B, p. 6. 
 
^   Archives, The National. "Service Record, Robeck, ADM 196/42, f. 128" . discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk . The National Archives UK. Retrieved 6 February  2017 .  
 
^   "Official Appointments and Notices, Military and Naval". No. 40512. The Times, London, col B, p.6. 1 May 1914.  
 
^   Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service, Cowan, Walter Henry, Service Records, ADM 196/43/157, f. 249" . discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk . The National Archives. Retrieved 4 February  2017 .  
 
^   Smith, Gordon. "World War 1 Dispositions of Royal Navy ships" . naval-history.net . Naval History.net, 5 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February  2017 .  
 
^   Dunn, Steve (2017). "4: War August to October 1914" . Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914 - 1918 . Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN  9781848322516  .  
 
^   Smith, Gordon. "World War 1 Dispositions of Royal Navy ships" . naval-history.net . Naval History.net, 5 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February  2017 .  
 
^   Smith, Gordon. "World War 1 Dispositions of Royal Navy ships" . naval-history.net . Naval History.net, 5 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February  2017 .  
 
  
Primary source for this article is by Harley Simon, Lovell Tony, (2017), Admiral of Patrols, dreadnoughtproject.org, http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org .
Lambert, Nicholas A. (1999). Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution . Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN  1570032777  
Smith, Gordon. (2015). "World War 1 Dispositions of Royal Navy ships". naval-history.net. Naval History.net.  
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