Northern Patrol

Northern Patrol 11th Cruiser Squadron
North Atlantic ocean
Active	1904–1917, 1939–1941
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Part of	Grand Fleet (First World War) Home Fleet (Second World War)
Garrison/HQ	Scapa Flow
Nickname(s)	The Muckle Flugga Hussars
Commanders
Notable commanders	Dudley de Chair Reginald Tupper Max Horton Robert Raikes Ernest Spooner

The Northern Patrol, also known as Cruiser Force B and the Northern Patrol Force, was an operation of the British Royal Navy during the First World War and Second World War. The Patrol was part of the British "distant" blockade of Germany. Its main task was to prevent trade to and from Germany by checking merchant ships and their cargoes. It was also to stop German warships, raiders and other German naval ships from leaving the North Sea for the Atlantic Ocean or entering the North Sea from the Atlantic, protect Shetland against invasion and to gather intelligence from intercepted neutral ships.^[1]

The Northern Patrol operated under the command of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. At first, Edgar-class cruisers were used but these were not built for the seas around Scotland in winter and were replaced by civilian ships pressed into service as Armed Merchant Cruisers.

In the Second World War the Northern Patrol was commanded by the Home Fleet. Perhaps the Northern Patrol's most famous action was the loss of the armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi on 23 November 1939. Captain Edward Kennedy RN, commander of Rawalpindi decided to fight the 11-inch gun German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The crew of Rawalpindi managed to inflict splinter damage on Scharnhorst during a short engagement before being sunk, only a few survivors being rescued by the Germans.^[2]