First Sea Lord: Difference between revisions

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==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
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*''Report from the Select Committee on Official Salaries: Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index''.  H.C. 611, 1850.
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Revision as of 09:13, 20 April 2014

Royal Navy
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The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff was (and remains today) the professional head of the Royal Navy. Before 1904 the holder of the position was known as Senior Naval Lord, and from 1904 to 1917 was known simply as First Sea Lord. In 1917 the First Sea Lord became Chief of the Naval Staff. The First Sea Lord was the senior naval officer on the Board of Admiralty, and served as chief naval adviser to the First Lord of the Admiralty, the politician responsible for the Navy.

History

Order in Council of 14 January, 1869

Under the terms of the Order in Council of 14 January, 1869, the First Naval Lord was granted a salary of £1,000 a year, with allowances and a house, or £1,200 a year, without a house. His duties were defined thus:

The First Naval Lord to be responsible to the First Lord of the Admiralty for the administration of so much of the business as relates to the "Personnel" of the Navy, and for the movement and condition of your Majesty's Fleet.

The First Naval Lord and the other members of the Board became "assistants to the First Lord" rather than colleagues, which according to Dr. C. I. Hamilton "annoyed many naval officers."[1]

Order in Council of 19 March, 1872

In 1872 it was decided to reinstitute the office of Second Naval Lord, and to remove the Controller from the Board. In accordance with the provisions of the Order in Council of 19 March, 1872, the First Naval Lord's responsibilities were less clearly defined:

The First Naval Lord, the Second Naval Lord, and the Junior Naval Lord to be responsible to the First Lord of the Admiralty for the Administration of so much of the business relating to the "Personnel" of the Navy, and to the movement and condition of your Majesty's Fleet, as shall be assigned to them, from time to time, by the First Lord.

Order in Council of 1 January, 1904

Under the provisions of the Order in Council of 1 January, 1904, the First Naval Lord was considered responsible for:

  1. Maritime Defence, Strategical, and all large questions of Naval Policy—to advise.
  2. Ships in Commission and in Fleet Reserve.
  3. Distribution and Organisation of the Fleet.
  4. Appointments of Commanders under Captains.
  5. General Supervision of Intelligence Department (including Naval Attachés) and of Mobilisation of the Fleet.
  6. Discipline—General and Special Questions.
  7. Courts Martial and Courts of Inquiry.
  8. Hydrographical Department.
  9. Signals.
  10. Collisions.
  11. Slaver Trade.
  12. Naval Ordnance Department (except as provided under Controller).
  13. Prize Questions.
  14. Leave to Officers and Men in Seagoing Ships.[2]

Order in Council of 20 October, 1904

The distribution of business was altered, so that by Order in Council of 20 October, 1904, the First Sea Lord was generally responsible for "Organisation for War and Distribution of the Fleet," and specifically responsible for:

  1. Preparation for War: All large Questions of Naval Policy and Maritime Warfare—to advise.
  2. The Fighting and Sea-going Efficiency of the Fleet, its Organisation and Mobilisation; the Distribution and Movements of all Ships in Commission or in Fleet Reserve.
  3. The Control of the Intelligence, Hydrographical and Naval Ordnance Departments.[3]

Great War

Order in Council of 19 May, 1917

By an Order in Council of 19 May, 1917, stemming from a Board memorial of 14 May, the First Sea Lord was formally given the extra title of "Chief of the Naval Staff" and recognised as such. He was to be assisted by two additional Naval Members of the Board of Admiralty in his capacity as Chief of Naval Staff, a Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.[4]

The full title was later formalised in a further Order in Council as "First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff."[5]

Duties

First Naval Lords, 1889–1904

Dates of appointment given:

First Sea Lords, 1904–1927

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Hamilton. p. 153. Dr. Hamilton unfortunately gives no evidence for this reaction, "Many naval officers" being such a broad generalisation.
  2. ↑ Cd. 2417. p. 4.
  3. ↑ Ibid.
  4. ↑ Order in Council of 19 May, 1917.
  5. ↑ Order in Council of 23 October, 1917.
  6. ↑ Adapted from table in Hamilton. The Making of the Modern Admiralty. p. 9. Original source is Barham Papers. National Maritime Museum. MID/6/10.
  7. ↑ Adapted from evidence in Q.2703 in Report from the Select Committee on Official Salaries (1850). p. 262.
  8. ↑ "Appendix No. 1. Distribution of Duties." Report of the Select Committee on the Board of Admiralty (1861). p. 639.
  9. ↑ A List of the Lords High Admiral and Commissioners for Executing the that Office, which have been from time to time appointed, since the year 1660. p. 35.
  10. ↑ Ibid. p. 35.
  11. ↑ Ibid. p. 37.
  12. ↑ Ibid. p. 37.
  13. ↑ Ibid. p. 38.
  14. ↑ Ibid. p. 39.
  15. ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. [Naval Staff.] p. 118.
  16. ↑ Ibid.
  17. ↑ Ibid.
  18. ↑ Ibid.
  19. ↑ Ibid.
  20. ↑ Ibid.
  21. ↑ Ibid.
  22. ↑ Ibid.
  23. ↑ Ibid.
  24. ↑ Ibid.
  25. ↑ Ibid.
  26. ↑ Ibid.
  27. ↑ Ibid.
  28. ↑ Naval Staff. p. 119.
  29. ↑ Ibid.
  30. ↑ Ibid.
  31. ↑ Ibid.
  32. ↑ Ibid.
  33. ↑ Ibid.
  34. ↑ Field Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 247.
  35. ↑ Chatfield Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 346.
  36. ↑ Backhouse Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 474.

Bibliography

  • Report from the Select Committee on Official Salaries: Together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index. H.C. 611, 1850.
  • Black, Nicholas (2009). The British Naval Staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843834427.
  • Hamilton, C. I. (2011). The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805-1927. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521765183. (on Amazon.co.uk).
  • Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division (1929). The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. Its Work and Development. B.R. 1845 (late C.B. 3013). Copy No. 8 at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.

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