The Coast of Ireland Station was a historic command of the Royal Navy based at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland.
The command dates back to 1797 and was originally known as "Admiral Commanding in Ireland" or "Commander-in-Chief, Cork Station". The post remained unfilled between 1831 and 1843. It was renamed "Commander in Chief, Queenstown" in 1849 following a visit by Queen Victoria when she renamed the town of Cobh "Queenstown".
The post became "Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland Station" in 1876 and "Commander in Chief, Western Approaches" in 1919 and was disbanded at the end of the Irish War of Independence in 1922 although the Royal Navy continued to station ships in Ireland, in accordance with the Anglo-Irish Treaty, until 1938. The command was based at Admiralty House in Cobh (Cobh was known as Queenstown between 1849 and 1922).
Commanders
Commanders included:
Commander-in-Chief, Cork Station
Vice-Admiral Robert Kingsmill (1797-1800)
Vice-Admiral Lord Gardner (1800-1807)
Vice-Admiral James Hawkins-Whitshed (1807-1810)
Vice-Admiral Edward Thornbrough (1810-1813)
Vice-Admiral Herbert Sawyer (1813-1815)
Rear-Admiral Benjamin Hallowell (1816-1818)
Rear-Admiral Josias Rowley (1818-1821)
Rear-Admiral Lord Colville (1821-1825)
Rear-Admiral Robert Plampin (1825-1828)
Rear-Admiral Charles Paget (1828-1831)
Note:
the post remained unfilled between 1831 and 1843
Rear-Admiral Hugh Pigot (1844-1847)
Rear-Admiral Thomas Ussher (1847-1848)
Commander-in-Chief, Queenstown
Rear-Admiral Donald Mackay (1848-1850)
Rear-Admiral Manley Dixon (1850-1852)
Rear-Admiral John Purvis (1852-1855)
Rear-Admiral George Sartorius (1855-1856)
Rear-Admiral Henry Chads (1856-1858)
Rear-Admiral Charles Talbot (1858-1862)
Rear-Admiral Sir Lewis Jones (1862-1865)
Vice-Admiral Charles Frederick (1865-1867)
Rear-Admiral Claude Buckle (1867-1868)
Rear-Admiral Frederick Warden (1868-1869)
Rear-Admiral Arthur Forbes (1869-1871)
Rear-Admiral Edmund Heathcote (1871-1874)
Rear-Admiral Robert Coote (1874-1876)
Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland Station
Rear-Admiral Henry Hillyar (1876-1878)
Vice-Admiral William Dowell (1878-1880)
Rear-Admiral Richard Hamilton (1880-1883)
Rear-Admiral Thomas Lethbridge (1883-1885)
Rear-Admiral Henry Hickley (1885-1886)
Rear-Admiral Walter Carpenter (1887-1888)
Rear-Admiral James Erskine (1888-1892)
Rear-Admiral Henry St John (1892-1895)
Rear-Admiral Claude Buckle (1895-1898)
Rear-Admiral Atwell Lake (1898-1901)
Vice-Admiral Edmund Jeffreys (1901-1904)
Vice-Admiral Angus MacLeod (1904-1906)
Rear-Admiral Sir George King-Hall (1906-1908)
Rear-Admiral Sir Alfred Paget (1908-1911)
Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Coke (1911-1915)
Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland Station
Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly (1915-1919) (title changed from Senior Officer, Coast of Ireland, to Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland on 4 June, 1917)
Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches
Admiral Sir Reginald Tupper (1919-1921)
Admiral Sir Ernest Gaunt (1921-1922)
