The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI) 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, dating from 1946, was re-scoped and re-named in 1994 to Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England & Northern Ireland (FOSNNI), then named back in 2015, before being dis-established in 2020.

History The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland was the most senior naval position in Scotland and is the successor to appointments starting with the Senior Officer on the Coast of Scotland, established in 1913, just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. The title was altered to Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth in 1916. From 1946 the post became the Flag Officer Scotland & Northern Ireland. Between 1961 and 1994 the Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland was triple-hatted as Commander Northern Sub-Area (NORLANT) of Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT), and as Commander Nore Sub-Area Channel (NORECHAN) of Allied Command Channel.See for example Hansard, for Dunbar-Nasmith, 1970-72. Based at RAF Pitreavie Castle, NORECHAN was tasked to prevent Soviet Navy ships and submarines from entering the North Sea. Vice-Admiral Arthur Hezlet, commanding in 1961-64, flew his flag from the shore establishment HMS Cochrane at Rosyth.

When the command moved from Rosyth to HMNB Clyde in 1994, it took responsibility for a larger area, becoming the Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. Army Quarterly and Defence Journal, Volume 124, page 230 (West of England Press, 1994). In 2015 the post reverted to Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland. The post was removed under the Royal Navy's Navy Command Transformation Programme. The replacement post at Commodore level was Commodore Submarine Service (COSM).

Major subordinate naval bases ("stone frigates") under C-in-C Rosyth on the outbreak of the Second World War included HMS Flora at Invergordon; HMS Bacchante (a shore establishment) at Aberdeen, HMS Claverhouse at Leith, and HMS Calliope on the Tyne. Bacchante had been commanded by the Senior Naval Officer, Aberdeen from 1915 to 1919 and then the Flag Officer-in-Charge, Aberdeen from 1942 to 1945. Wartime subsidiary bases included Aultbea on Loch Ewe. Facilities at Aultbea were established in February 1915 during World War I and partially deactivated in April 1919. Aultbea was reactivated during World War II in 1940 following the German attack on Scapa Flow and subsequent sinking of HMS Royal Oak, when the Home Fleet was temporarily based there. It was also a staging point for arctic convoys that operated out of Loch Ewe. It remained in operation until October 1967.

Admirals Commanding Flag Officers have been:

Admiral Commanding on the Coast of Scotland; 1913–1916 Included:

S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office1 Sir Robert LowryAdmiralty. British. (November 1914). The Navy List. List of Admirals by Seniority. Admirals. H.M.S.O. London. England. p86. Admiral

Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth; 1913–1919 S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office 1 Sir Frederick Hamilton Admiral 2 Sir Cecil Burney Admiral

Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland; 1919–1939 S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office1 Sir Herbert Heath Admiral 2 Sir John Green Vice-Admiral 3 Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt, Bt. Rear-Admiral 4 Sir Walter Cowan Vice-Admiral 5 Humphrey Bowring Rear-Admiral 6 John Cameron Rear-Admiral 7 Theodore Hallett Rear-Admiral 8 the Hon. William Leveson-Gower Vice-Admiral 9 Everard Hardman-Jones Rear-Admiral 10 Robert Davenport Rear-Admiral 11 Evelyn Thomson Vice-Admiral

Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth; 1939–1946 S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office1 Sir Charles Ramsey Admiral 2 Sir Wilbraham Ford Admiral 3 Sir William Whitworth Admiral

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland; 1946–1994 S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office1 Sir Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton Admiral 2 Sir Ernest Archer Vice-Admiral 3 Sir Angus Cunninghame Graham Vice-Admiral 4 John Crombie Rear-Admiral 5 Sir Geoffrey Robson Vice-Admiral 6 Sir John Cuthbert Vice-Admiral 7 David Luce Vice-Admiral 8 Sir Royston Wright Vice-Admiral 9 Sir Arthur Hezlet Vice-Admiral 10 Sir David Gregory Vice-Admiral 11 Sir John Hayes Vice-Admiral 12 Sir Ian McGeoch Vice-Admiral 13 David Dunbar-Nasmith Rear-Admiral 14 Martin Lucey Rear-Admiral 15 Sir Anthony Troup Vice-Admiral 16 Sir Cameron Rusby Vice-Admiral 17 Sir Thomas Baird Vice-Admiral 18 Robert Squires Vice-Admiral 19 Sir Nicholas Hunt Vice-Admiral 20 Sir George Vallings Vice-AdmiralMay 1985October 1987 21 Sir Jock Slater Vice-Admiral 22 Sir Michael Livesay Vice-Admiral 23 Sir Hugo White Vice-Admiral 24 Sir Christopher Morgan Vice-Admiral

Flag Officer Scotland, Northern England, Northern Ireland; 1994–2015 Note: From 2005, the post holder also held the title of Flag Officer, Reserves and Flag Officer Regional Forces. S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office1 John Tolhurst Rear-Admiral 2 Michael Gregory Rear-Admiral 3 Derek Anthony Rear-Admiral 4 Nick Harris Rear-Admiral 5 Philip Wilcocks Rear-Admiral 6 Tony Johnstone-Burt Rear-Admiral 7 Philip Jones Rear-Admiral 8 Martin Alabaster Rear Admiral 9 Christopher Hockley Rear-Admiral 10 John Clink Rear-Admiral

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland; 2015–2020 S.No Name Rank Assumed office Left office1 John Weale Rear-AdmiralMay 2020

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