View source for Admiralty War Staff

==Inception==
On 5 November, 1911, Churchill wrote to the Prime Minister stating that Wilson was completely opposed to any Staff, and that he would have to be replaced as First Sea Lord before January, 1912 at the latest.  He also updated Asquith on the progress of plans for a War Staff:

<blockquote>It will probably comprise four distinct branches, all of which exist in imperfect combination at present:&mdash;<br>1) War Education, under the President of the War College;<br>2) War Information, under the Director of Naval Intelligence;<br>3) War Plans, under the Director of the War Division; and<br>4) War Organization, under the Director of Naval Mobilisation: the whole associated in a 'War Staff Circle' (or Committee) under the Chief of the War Staff, who will be the servant of the Board of Admiralty as a whole, tho' brought in special contact with the First Sea Lord.<ref>''Winston S. Churchill.  Companion Volume II Part 2''.  p. 1322.</ref></blockquote> 

On 8 January, 1912 Churchill released his [[Churchill Memorandum on a War Staff for the Royal Navy|''Memorandum on a War Staff for the Royal Navy'']] which detailed the administration of the War Staff.  On the same day, Rear-Admiral [[Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge|Ernest C. T. Troubridge]] was appointed Chief of the War Staff at the Admiralty,<ref>{{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  p. 78.</ref> and Captains [[George Alexander Ballard|George A. Ballard]], [[Thomas Jackson]] and [[Alexander Ludovic Duff|Alexander  L. Duff]] were appointed Directors of the Operations,<ref>{{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  p. 65.</ref> Intelligence,<ref>Jackson was actually appointed on the 9th.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  p. 496.</ref> and Mobilisation<ref>{{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  p. 80.</ref> Divisions, respectively.

Rear-Admiral [[Edmond John Warre Slade|Sir Edmond J. W. Slade]] recounted to Captain [[Herbert William Richmond|Herbert W. Richmond]] Battenberg's opinion:

:[He] won't listen to the idea that the First Sea Lord is really the C.O.S.  He says he could not lower the position of his office by becoming the Chief of Staff to a civilian First Lord.  That, I think, was the principal objection in his mind.  Then he said theoretically it was wrong, as he was the Executive head of the Navy, and he could not mix up Staff duties with executive work.<ref>Slade to Richmond.  Letter of 26 September, 1913.  National Maritime Museum.  Richmond Papers.  RIC/1/8.  Quoted in Marder.  ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow''.  '''I'''.  p. 266.</ref>

[[Arthur Marder (Naval Historian)|Arthur Marder]] opined:

:There was no serious effort made in Churchill's time to separate staff from administrative duties.  The First Sea Lord, who was responsible for operations, continued to carry out a multitude of other duties.  At any rate, war plans were no longer locked up in the brain of the First Sea Lord.<ref>Marder.  ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow''.  '''I'''.  p. 266.</ref>

==Opening Months of the War==
In 1919 Admiral [[Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, First Baron Wester Wemyss|Sir Rosslyn Wemyss]] wrote that:

:The Admiralty needs a large and efficient staff organisation.  At the commencement of the war this was lamentably inadequate."<ref>Quoted in Bennett.  ''Naval Battles of the First World War''.  p. 84.</ref>

Captain [[Herbert William Richmond|Richmond]], the Assistant Director of the Operations Division, wrote:

:The War Staff was deficient in all the characteristics needed for staff work.  The whole of the work passes through the Chief of Staff.  There is no decentralisation, and his mind has to grapple with every problem that arises, even in its details.  The result is that the First Sea Lord and Chief of Staff are so overworked that they cannot foresee and provide in advance.<ref>Quoted in Bennett.  ''Naval Battles of the First World War''.  p. 85.</ref>

==Assessment==
Historian [[Richard Hough (Naval Historian)|Richard Hough]] described the Staff at the time of Coronel as, "craven, inexperienced and not sufficiently brainy."<ref>Hough.  ''Former Naval Person''.  p. 64.</ref>  Vice-Admiral [[Kenneth Gilbert Balmain Dewar|Kenneth G. B. Dewar]], an opinionated officer (to put it mildly) wrote in his memoirs, "We had the opportunity but not the intellectual capital to float a staff."<ref>Dewar.  ''The Navy from Within''.  p. 154.</ref> However, Dewar was not referring, as is often assumed, to the Navy not having the men to serve on a Naval Staff, but to the ability of the instructors at the [[Royal Naval War College]] to teach them.

Admiral Wilfred Henderson, then retired, later claimed that:

:The plans provided by the heads of the departments of the Staff, which had only been instituted at the end of 1911, up to 1914 were also turned down on account of economy or because the Board considered them a departure from traditional policy and custom, and they were not taken seriously.<ref>"Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson."  ''Naval Review''.  p. 304.</ref>

==Chiefs of the Staff==
<div name=fredbot:office0 otitle="Chief of the Admiralty War Staff" nat="UK">
{{Tenure|rank=Rear-Admiral|name=Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge|nick=E. C. T. Troubridge|appt=8 January, 1912<ref>Troubridge Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 78.</ref>|end=6 January, 1913<ref>Troubridge Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 78.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank=Admiral|name=Henry Bradwardine Jackson|nick=Sir Henry B. Jackson|appt=28 January, 1913<ref>Jackson Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  p. 682.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank=Vice-Admiral|name=Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, First Baronet|nick=Sir F. C. Doveton Sturdee|appt=30 July, 1914<ref>Sturdee Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/87.}}  f. 70.</ref>|end=6 November, 1914<ref>Sturdee Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/87.}}  f. 70.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank=Acting {{ViceRN}}|name=Henry Francis Oliver|nick=Sir Henry F. Oliver|appt=5 November, 1914<ref>Oliver Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 319.</ref>|succBy=Himself as [[Deputy Chief of Naval Staff]]|end=31 May, 1917<ref>Oliver Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 319.</ref>}}
</div name=fredbot:office0>

==Assistants to the Chief of the Staff==
<div name=fredbot:office1 otitle="Assistant to the Chief of the Admiralty War Staff" nat="UK">
{{Tenure|rank=Commander|name=Tufton Percy Hamilton Beamish|nick=Tufton P. H. Beamish|appt=January, 1912|end=}}
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Arthur Vyell Vyvyan|nick=Arthur V. Vyvyan|appt=6 January, 1913<ref>Vyvyan Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/44/81.|}}  f. 91.</ref>|end=31 October, 1914<ref>Vyvyan Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/44/81.|}}  f. 91.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank=Lieutenant-Colonel|name=John Markham Rose|nick=John M. Rose|appt=September, 1914|end=}}
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Sydney Robert Fremantle|nick=Sydney F. Fremantle|appt=4 September, 1914<ref>Fremantle Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 473.</ref>|end=24 July, 1915<ref>Fremantle Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 473.</ref>}}
{{Tenure|rank=Lieutenant-Colonel|name=Harry Douglas Farquharson|nick=Harry D. Farquharson|appt=October, 1914{{BlackNavalStaff|p. 247}}|end=March, 1915}}
</div name=fredbot:office1>

==Footnotes==
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==Bibliography==
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[[Category:Pages with Offices]]