First Sea Lord

The First Sea Lord or before 1904 the Senior Naval Lord was the predominant naval officer of the Royal Navy on the Board of Admiralty. He acted as chief naval advisor to the First Lord of the Admiralty and as such was subordinate to him. He was responsible for the ships of the fleet and their utilisation. In 1917 the position was combined with that of Chief of the Naval War Staff and the First Sea Lord became the operational as well as the materiel head of the Navy.

Senior Naval Lords, 1889–1904

• Sir Arthur Acland Hood 1886–1889
• Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton 1889–1891
• Sir Anthony Hoskins 1891–1893
• Sir Frederick Richards 1893–1899
• Lord Walter Kerr 1899–1904

First Sea Lords, 1904–1927

• Sir Jackie Fisher 1904–1910
• Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson 1910–1911
• Sir Francis Bridgeman 1911–1912
• Prince Louis of Battenberg 1912–1914
• The Lord Fisher 1914–1915
• Sir Henry Jackson 1915–1916
• Sir John Jellicoe 1916–1917
• Sir Rosslyn Wemyss 1917–1919
• The Earl Beatty 1919–1927