Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces

Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces or COMUKMARFOR is a senior post in the Royal Navy. The post is the highest seagoing command in the Royal Navy and is part of the Fleet Battle Staff based in Portsmouth, part of the former Commander-in-Chief Fleet's staff and now accountable to Fleet Commander. The commander has the rank of rear admiral.

History

The Commander UK Maritime Forces is a renaming of a previous position, Commander United Kingdom Task Group.^[1] Despite the name change, he still performs the same function. He is in command (at sea) of naval task forces and task groups formed for specific operations. The commander would command the UK Amphibious Task Group. Previously, there was also Commander United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group (COMUKCSG);^[2] however, with the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, this has been removed.^[3] The new Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG) specialises in maritime security.^[1] The UK Amphibious Task Group was renamed as Response Force Task Group as a result of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.^[1][4][5]

COMUKMARFOR took on the duty of NATO Response Force Maritime Component Commander from 1 July 2004 for one year. Rear Admiral David Snelson, COMUKMARFOR, told Jane's Defence Weekly correspondent Richard Scott in May 2004 that in the lead up to assumption of duties as NATO Response Force Maritime Component Commander, there was to be a major exercise, Allied Action, in Italy. Allied Action was a command post exercise in which all three of the component commanders for NRF were to be located ashore so that the staffs could work together and the commanders could get to know one another.^[6]

Organisation within the Royal Navy

COMUKMARFOR directs COMUKTG (who commands the Response Force Task Group).^[7] He works closely with his equal in the Fleet Battle Staff, the Commander UK Amphibious Forces (COMUKAMPHIBFOR) who is a Royal Marine of equivalent rank. COMUKMARFOR is responsible for blue-water warfare, as opposed to COMUKAMPIBFOR who is responsible for amphibious warfare.^[8] From March 2015, the COMUKTG title will be changed to Commander Amphibious Task Group – COMATG – demonstrating the core role provided by the RFTG.^[9] With the commissioning of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, the role of Commander Carrier Strike Group - COMCSG - has been revived again.^[10][11]

Past operational deployments directed by COMUKMARFOR

Commodore Cunningham, the previous COMUKCSG, flew his flag throughout the January to May Orion '08 deployment, as Commander Task Group 328.01,^[12] which included exercises with the Indian Navy, aboard HMS Illustrious.

The Naval Task Group for Operation VELA, a three month deployment to West Africa in 2006, was under the command of Commander UK Amphibious Group, Commodore Phil Jones. The VELA deployment involved a significant number of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, the Royal Marine Commandos and helicopters.^[13] The Task Group included HMS Albion, HMS Ocean, HMS Southampton, HMS Argyll, RFA Wave Knight, RFA Mounts Bay, RFA Sir Bedivere, RFA Fort Austin, HMS Enterprise, RFA Diligence, RFA Oakleaf, Mine Counter Measure Squadron 1 and a Fleet submarine together with the Fleet Lead Commando Group, consisting of 40 Commando Royal Marines, 59 Commando Independent Engineering Squadron, 29 Commando Royal Artillery and 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines. Also involved were elements of Fleet Diving Unit 2 and 849 (B) Flight from RNAS Culdrose. Embarked in HMS Ocean for the deployment a Tailored Air Group (TAG) was formed, consisting of Sea King helicopters of 845 Naval Air Squadron, 846 Naval Air Squadron, Merlin Mk 1 aircraft from 820 Naval Air Squadron and Lynx helicopters of 847 Naval Air Squadron. The Vela task group conducted an amphibious exercise, Exercise Green Eagle, in Sierra Leone.

Task Groups despatched to the Far East since 2003 have included deployments in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2003, Naval Task Group 03 had been intended to take part in FPDA exercises in the Asia-Pacific region but was diverted for involvement in the 2003 Iraq War. Eventually part of the naval task group including Liverpool, Marlborough and RFA Grey Rover departed Gulf waters, after the intervention phase of the Iraq War (2003), en route for Exercise Flying Fish, with Commonwealth-partners and members of the Five Power Defence Arrangements which are the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. In 2004, Exeter, Echo, RFA Diligence and RFA Grey Rover visited the Asia-Pacific region.

List of Commanders

Commanders have been as follows:^[14]

• Rear Admiral James Burnell-Nugent (2001–2002)
• Rear Admiral David Snelson (2002–2004)
• Rear Admiral Charles Style (2004–2005)
• Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti (2005–2007)
• Rear Admiral George Zambellas (2007–2008)
• Rear Admiral Philip Jones (2008–2009)
• Rear Admiral Peter Hudson (2009–2011)
• Rear Admiral Duncan Potts (2011–2013)
• Rear Admiral Robert Tarrant (2013–2014)
• Rear Admiral Tony Radakin (2014–2016)
• Rear Admiral Alex Burton (2016–present)

Deputy Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces

• Commodore Simon Ancona (Jan 2011 – Jun 2011)
• Commodore John Clink (Jun 2011 – Oct 2012)^[15]
• Commodore Jeremy Blunden (Oct 2012 – Feb 2015)^[16]
• Commodore Guy Robinson (Feb 2015–)^[17]

References