Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland


The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland was a senior post in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It was based at HM Naval Base Clyde and the holder of the post was the Royal Navy’s senior officer in Scotland. The post of FOSNI is the successor to the now defunct Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England & Northern Ireland.The post appears to have been removed under the Royal Navy's Navy Command Transformation Programme and renamed as Commodore Submarine Service. The Army equivalent is General Officer Scotland while the Royal Air Force equivalent is Air Officer Scotland.

History

The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland is the most senior naval position in Scotland and is the successor to a number of post names starting with the Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth, formed in 1913, just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. From 1946 the post became designated as the Flag Officer Scotland & Northern Ireland. Between 1961 and 1994 the Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland triple-hatted as commander Northern Sub-Area of Allied Command Atlantic, and as commander Nore Sub-Area Channel of Allied Command Channel. Based at RAF Pitreavie Castle NORECHAN was tasked with preventing Soviet Navy ships and submarines from entering the North Sea. When the command moved from Rosyth to HMNB Clyde in 1994 so too did the designation change, becoming the Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland in 1994. In 2015 the post reverted to Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland. The post appears to have been removed under the Royal Navy's Navy Command Transformation Programme and renamed as Commodore Submarine Service.

Admirals Commanding

Flag Officers have been:

Admiral Commanding on the Coast of Scotland 1913–1916

Included:
#NameRankTenure fromTenure to
1Sir Robert LowryAdmiral

Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth 1913–1919

Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland 1919–1939

Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth 1939–1946

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland 1946–1994

Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland 1994–2015

Note: from 2005 until 2015 the post holder held the joint titles of Flag Officer, Reserves and Flag Officer Regional Forces.
#NameRankTenure fromTenure to
1John TolhurstRear-Admiral
2Michael GregoryRear-Admiral
3Derek AnthonyRear-Admiral
4Nick HarrisRear-Admiral
5Philip WilcocksRear-Admiral
6Tony Johnstone-BurtRear-Admiral
7Philip JonesRear-Admiral
8Martin AlabasterRear Admiral
9Christopher HockleyRear-Admiral
10John ClinkRear-Admiral

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland from 2015