The Red Sea Station was one of the geographical divisions into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. At various times it has also been referred to as Red Sea Division, Egypt Division and Red Sea and later the Red Sea and Canal Area it operated from 1846 until 1959 when it was unified with the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf under the new appointment of Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf.
History
The Royal Navy established a Red Sea formation as early as 1846, administered by the Royal Indian Navy. It was subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies until 1883, when it became part of the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1914 the station came under command of the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet until the end of the war. Following the war the Red Sea was reabsorbed back under the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. During the East African Campaign, the Red Sea Force fought the Italians. British code-breakers of the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park in the UK, deciphered Italian orders of 19 May 1940, coded using C38m machines, secretly to mobilise the army and air force in East Africa. Merchant traffic was stopped by the British on 24 May, pending the introduction of a convoy system. The Senior Naval Officer Red Sea, Rear-Admiral Murray, operational at Aden since April with the light cruisers and , was reinforced by the anti-aircraft cruiser, which sailed south with Convoy BS 4, the 28th Destroyer Flotilla comprising, Kimberley, and and three sloops from the Mediterranean. The force was to conduct a blockade Italian East Africa, attack the Red Sea Flotilla and protect the sea lanes from Aden to Suez. On 21 October 1941 the Mediterranean Fleet's responsibilities were extended to include the Red Sea and Aden, including the Gulf of Aden. The Mediterranean Fleet thus took over the Red Sea Division of the Red Sea Station, which was located between the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal, excluding Suez Port. Rear-Admiral Ronald Hallifax took command as Flag Officer, Red Sea. Three weeks later the responsibilities were adjusted once more. On 14 November 1941 the Senior Naval Officer-in-Charge, Suez, who was based at Port Tawfik was placed under the command of Rear Admiral Hallifax. Over a hundred kilometres to the north, half way up the Suez Canal, the Senior British Naval Officer, Suez Canal Area, based at Ismailia, remained responsible for all British naval policy questions in regards to the Suez Canal Company.. In January 1944 the station was transferred back from the Mediterranean Fleet to C-in-C East Indies. In 1958-59, when the Commander-in-Chief East Indies hauled down his flag for the last time, it was unified with the Persian Gulf Division under the new appointment of Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf reporting to the joint services Middle East Command in Aden.
Commodore Young-Jamieson's broad pennant was seemingly borne in, which was the name used for the base for British naval personnel in Egypt. First established at Port Said, it was commissioned on 8 January 1940. There were outposts at Adabya, Kabrit, Ismailia, Generiffa, Port Tewfik. It was paid off in May 1949. HMS Euphrates at Basra seemingly reported to Flag Officer, Red Sea and Canal Area, from its establishment in 1942.
