Grand Fleet Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main fleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. Formed in August 1914 from the First Fleet and elements of the Second Fleet of the Home Fleets, the Grand Fleet included 25–35 state-of-the-art capital ships. It was initially commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He was succeeded by Admiral Sir David Beatty in December 1916. The Grand Fleet was based first at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and later at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth. It took part in the biggest fleet action of the war – the Battle
Romanian Black Sea Fleet during World War I sea-going gunboat "Grivița" and the Romanian Navy's sole proper minelayer, "Alexandru cel Bun". The Black Sea Fleet was neglected for a long-time by the Romanian Command. Its warships were all built between 1880 and 1888, while the Romanian Danube Flotilla was equipped with modern vessels built as late as 1908. The protected cruiser "Elsiabeta" was converted to an anti-aircraft cruiser after the start of the war, her four 120 mm main guns being landed and her four 75 mm secondary guns being modified for anti-aircraft fire. She was also armed with four machine guns and four 356 mm (12 inch)