Fifth Sea Lord
The Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Service was a member of the Board of Admiralty between 1917 and 1918.
History
The position of Fifth Sea Lord was instituted by Order in Council of 10 January, 1917, to head the Royal Naval Air Service and to represent it on the Air Board.
The Order in Council reads:
WHEREAS by Order in Council of the 10th August 1904, and 17th January, 1912, the constitution and business of the Board of Admiralty were settled and defined:
And whereas it has been considered desirable that a Sea Lord should be added to the Board for business connected with the Naval Air Services, and to represent the Admiralty on the Air Board.
We beg leave humbly to propose to Your Majesty that an additional Naval Officer be appointed to the Board as 5th Sea Lord, to be responsible to the First Lord for the administration of so much of the business relating to the Naval Air Services as shall be assigned to him from time to time by the First Lord.[1]
The additional title of the Fifth Sea Lord has been seen given as "Director of Air Services,"[2][3] "Chief of Naval Air Services,"[4] "Director of Naval Aviation,"[5] and "Chief of Naval Air Service."[6][7] The complete title as given in the Order in Council of 23 October, 1917, reads "Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Service."[8]
The first and only Fifth Sea Lord of the Great War was Godfrey M. Paine, a licensed pilot who had served as head of the Central Flying School at Upavon and the Royal Naval Air Service's training establishment at Cranwell.
Fifth Sea Lord, 1917-18
Dates of appointment given:
- Commodore, First Class Godfrey M. Paine, 11 January, 1917[9] – 10 January, 1918[10]
Fifth Sea Lord, 1938-
Dates of appointment given:
- Admiral Sir Alexander R. M. Ramsay, 1938 – 1939
- Vice-Admiral Sir Guy C. C. Royle, 1939 – 1941
- Rear-Admiral Sir Arthur L. St. G. Lyster, 1941 – 1942
- Vice-Admiral Sir Denis W. Boyd, 1943 – 1945
- Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas H. Troubridge, 1945 – 1946
- Admiral Sir Philip L. Vian, 1946 – 1948
- Vice-Admiral Sir George E. Creasy, 1948 – 1949
- Vice-Admiral Sir Maurice J. Mansergh, 1949 – September, 1951
- Vice-Admiral Sir Edmund W. Anstice, September, 1951 – June, 1954
- Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander N. C. Bingley, June, 1954 – 1956
- Vice-Admiral Sir Manley L. Power, 1957 – 1959
- Vice-Admiral Sir Lawrence G. Durlacher, 1959
Footnotes
- ↑ The Orders in Council for the Regulation of the Naval Service. XI. p. 1211.
- ↑ Paine Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 228.
- ↑ Roskill. ed. Documents Relating to the Naval Air Service. p. 455.
- ↑ The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 541.
- ↑ Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation: Rear Admiral (Air Vice-Marshal) Sir Godfrey Paine.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 87.
- ↑ The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 531.
- ↑ Order in Council of 23 October, 1917.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 126, or 31 January, according to Paine Service Record, The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 228.
- ↑ Paine Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 228.
Bibliography
- 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.
