Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces

Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces or COMUKMARFOR is a senior post in the Royal Navy. The post is the highest seagoing command in the Royal Navy and is part of the Fleet Battle Staff based in Portsmouth, part of the former Commander-in-Chief Fleet's staff and now accountable to Fleet Commander. The commander has the rank of rear admiral.

The Commander UK Maritime Forces is a renaming of a previous position, Commander United Kingdom Task Group. Despite the name change, he still performs the same function. He is in command (at sea) of naval task forces and task groups formed for specific operations. The commander would command the UK Amphibious Task Group. Previously, there was also Commander United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group (COMUKCSG); however, with the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, this has been removed. The new Commander UK Task Group (COMUKTG) specialises in maritime security. The UK Amphibious Task Group was renamed as Response Force Task Group as a result of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

COMUKMARFOR took on the duty of NATO Response Force Maritime Component Commander from 1 July 2004 for one year. Rear Admiral David Snelson, COMUKMARFOR, told Jane's Defence Weekly correspondent Richard Scott in May 2004 that in the lead up to assumption of duties as NATO Response Force Maritime Component Commander, there was to be a major exercise, Allied Action, in Italy. Allied Action was a command post exercise in which all three of the component commanders for NRF were to be located ashore so that the staffs could work together and the commanders could get to know one another.

COMUKMARFOR directs COMUKTG (who commands the Response Force Task Group). He works closely with his equal in the Fleet Battle Staff, the Commander UK Amphibious Forces (COMUKAMPHIBFOR) who is a Royal Marine of equivalent rank. COMUKMARFOR is responsible for blue-water warfare, as opposed to COMUKAMPIBFOR who is responsible for amphibious warfare. From March 2015, the COMUKTG title will be changed to Commander Amphibious Task Group – COMATG – demonstrating the core role provided by the RFTG. With the commissioning of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, the role of Commander Carrier Strike Group - COMCSG - has been revived again.

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