Abstract of British Fleets in the Home and Irish Waters (see Tables II and IIIa):
| Battleships, including Battle Cruisers | 51 |
| Armoured Cruisers | 26 |
| Protected Cruisers | 40 |
| Scouts | 8 |
| Destroyers | 165 |
Total number of vessels in Home and Irish Waters when all are mobilised
|
290 |
A little over 18,000 men are sufficient at present to complete the crews of the 7th and 8th Squadrons of the 3rd Fleet to full commission.[1] These vessels are fully provisioned, and ammunition, stores, and coal laid in. The crews who are on shore ready to embark, can be shipped in a few hours.
A "nucleus crew consists of everything required to manage a ship, and to fight a ship, excepting only what maybe described as the unskilled maritime labour required for the purpose. These nucleus crews take out their ship. They practise the guns of their ship; they are not liable to those inevitable breakdowns which people changing to new machinery for the first time always experience."[2]
A skeleton, or maintenance, crew consists of everything necessary to keep the ship, machinery, and guns in perfect order.
Two cruisers of exceptionally high speed are attached to the Destroyer Flotilla. The eight scouts (small fast cruisers) act as "mother" or depot ships to the destroyers.[3]
The 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the 1st Fleet and 5th and 6th Squadrons of the 2nd Fleet are at present based on Chatham, Portsmouth, and Devonport, and the 7th and 8th Squadrons of the 3rd Fleet on Dover. When completed, Rosyth will form another base for the Fleet in the North Sea.
