Special Service Squadron

This article is about the US Navy component. For the Royal Navy squadron of the same name, see Cruise of the Special Service Squadron. For other uses, see Special service (disambiguation).

The Special Service Squadron was a component of the United States Navy during the earlier part of the 20th century. The squadron patrolled the Caribbean Sea as an instrument of gunboat diplomacy. It was headquartered in Balboa, Panama Canal Zone.

Records of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet have correspondence from the Special Service Squadron in 1907.^[1] The Special Service Squadron was stood up as a separate command from the fleet in 1920. Its purpose was to protect the Canal and American interests both in the Caribbean and on the Pacific coast of Central America (and it remained a separate command when the Atlantic and Pacific fleets were combined as the United States Fleet in 1922). The squadron consisted mostly of small, older ships and was abolished in 1940 as part of the consolidation of U.S. naval commands in the early 1940s.^[2][3]

Commanders

Captain Julian L. Latimer. Photo taken while serving as Commandant of the Pelham Bay Naval Training Station, 1919.

• Rear Admiral Willard H. Brownson 1906 - 15 Oct 1906
• Rear Adimral Charles Stockton 1906 - 1907
• Rear Admiral C.H. Hockson 1907
• Rear Admiral William Kimball 1908 - 1910
• Rear Admiral Sidney Augustus Staunton 1910 - Jun 1912
• Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight 1912 - 1913
• Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo 1913 - 1914
• Rear Admiral Cameron M. Winslow 23 Apr 1914 - 21 Aug 1915
• ??
• Rear Admiral Spencer S. Wood
• Rear Admiral Henry F. Bryan 1920 - 31 Dec 1921
• Rear Admiral Casey Bruce Morgan 1921 - 29 Apr 1922
• Rear Admiral William C. Cole 29 Apr 1922 – 1923
• Rear Admiral John H. Dayton 1923 -
• ??
• Rear Admiral Julian Lane Latimer 7 May 1926 - 8 Jul 1927
• Rear Admiral David F. Sellers 8 Jul 1927 - 12 May 1929
• Rear Admiral Edward H. Campbell 12 May 1929 - 1930
• Rear Admiral Arthur St. Clair Smith 1930 - 1933
• Rear Admiral Charles Seymour Freeman 1933 - 1935
• Rear Admiral Yancey S. Williams 1936 - 30 Aug 1938^[4]
• Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr. 23 Aug 1938 - 3 Aug 1940
• Rear Admiral Henry K. Hewitt 3 Aug 1940 - Nov 1940

See also

• Service Squadron

References

1. "Letters sent by Rear Adm. C.H. Hockson, Special Service Squadron, 1907". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
2. Allen, Keith. "Notes on U.S. Fleet Organisation and Disposition, 1898-1941". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
3. Watson, Graham. "THE UNITED STATES NAVY: ITS RISE TO GLOBAL PARITY 1900-1922". Retrieved 20 January 2018.
4. "U.S.S. ERIE (PG-50)". Ship History. USS Erie.org. Retrieved April 16, 2015.