North America and West Indies Station

North America and West Indies Station
The capture of USS Chesapeake on 1 June 1813 as depicted by John Christian Schetky
Active	North American Station (1745–1818) North America and West Indies Station (1818–1926) America and West Indies Station (1926–1956) West Indies (1956–1976) HMS Malabar (1976–1995)
Country	United Kingdom, Bermuda, and Canada
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet
Part of	Royal Navy
Garrison/HQ	Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax 1745-1905 & Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda 1795-1951
Notable ships	Fame, Invincible, Leopard, Resolute
Engagements	Battle of the Chesapeake, Battle of Cape Henry, Siege of Yorktown, Battle of St. Kitts (American Revolutionary War) USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere, Capture of HMS Frolic, Capture of USS Chesapeake, Capture of HMS Boxer, Burning of Washington (Chesapeake Campaign), Battle of Baltimore (Chesapeake Campaign) (War of 1812), pursuit of SM U-53 (1916), Battle of the Atlantic
Disbanded	1 April 1976

The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745-1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the two combined to form the North America and West Indies Station. It was renamed the America and West Indies Station in 1926. It was commanded by the Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station and subsequently by the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station.

The squadron was formed in 1745 to counter French forces in North America, with the headquarters at the Halifax Naval Yard in Nova Scotia (now CFB Halifax).

The area of command had first been designated as the North American Station in 1767, under the command of Commodore Samuel Hood, with the headquarters in Halifax from 1758 to 1794, and thereafter in Halifax and Bermuda. Land and buildings for a permanent Naval Yard were purchased by the Royal Navy in 1758 and the Yard was officially commissioned in 1759. The Yard served as the main base for the Royal Navy in North America during the Seven Years' War, the American Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars.

Following American independence in 1783, Bermuda was the only British territory left between Nova Scotia and the West Indies (by agreement with the Spanish government, a Royal Navy base was maintained in Florida until this was ceded to the United States), and was selected as the new headquarters for the region. The establishment of a base there was delayed for a dozen years, however, due to the need to survey the encircling barrier reef to locate channels suitable for large warships. Once this had been completed, a base was established at St. George's in 1794, with the fleet anchoring at Murray's Anchorage in the northern lagoon, named for Vice Admiral Sir George Murray, who became the Commander-in-Chief of the new River St. Lawrence and Coast of America and North America and West Indies Station. The Admiralty also began purchasing land at Bermuda's West End, including Ireland Island, Spanish Point, and smaller islands in the Great Sound with the intent of building the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, and a permanent naval base there, with its anchorage on Grassy Bay. The construction of this base was to drag on through much of the Nineteenth Century.