The Flying Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron formed at least three times. Its first formation existed from June 1869-November 1870

Showing Flying Squadron at Wellington… 1870 Showing the Flying Squadron under Rear-Admiral Hornby at Wellington and the ships Rosario, Barossa, Endymion, Scylla, Liverpool (flag ship), Phoebe and Liffey.
Depicted place	Wellington
Date	25 January 1870

First formation, 1869-70[edit]

The first Flying Squadron was established in 1869. It was made up, at various times, of ten wooden ships with auxiliary steam power. The squadron sailed from Plymouth on 19 June 1869. It called at Madeira, South America, South Africa, Melbourne, Sydney, and Hobart in Australia, Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttleton in New Zealand, Japan, Canada Hawaii, and Bahia in Brazil, before returning to England on 15 November 1870.^[2][3]

Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Hornby commanded the squadron from 19 June 1869 – 15 November 1870,^[4] flying his flag from HMS Liverpool (1860).^[3] Other ships of the squadron included HMS Liffey (1856), HMS Bristol (left at Bahia), HMS Endymion (1865), HMS Scylla (left at Esquimalt), HMS Barrosa (1860), HMS Phoebe, HMS Pearl, and HMS Charybdis. Between 1866 and 1870, HMS Satellite (1855) served in the Pacific with the Commander-in-Chief, China. She joined the Flying Squadron at Valparaiso in Chile, sailing home the rest of the way with them.

• Plymouth Sound
  (June, 1869)
• Hobart, Tasmania
  (January, 1870)
• Auckland, New Zealand
  (February, 1870)
• Esquimalt Bay, Canada,
  (May, 1870)
• Honolulu, Hawaii
  (June, 1870)
• Rounding Cape Horn
  (September 13, 1870)