Admiralty War Staff

Admiralty War Staff
Agency overview
Formed	8 January 1912
Preceding agency	Admiralty Navy War Council ;
Dissolved	May 1917
Superseding agency	Admiralty Naval Staff ;
Jurisdiction	Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters	Admiralty Building; Whitehall ; London
Agency executives	Chief of the War Staff; Assistant Chief of the War Staff; Special Services War Staff;
Parent department	Admiralty

Last updated December 24, 2024

The Admiralty War Staff^[1] was the former senior naval staff operational planning organisation within the British Admiralty that existed from 1912 to 1917. It was instituted on 8 January 1912 by Winston Churchill in his capacity as First Lord of the Admiralty ^[2] and was in effect a war council whose head reported directly to the First Sea Lord. After the First World War ended, the War Staff was replaced by the Admiralty Naval Staff department.^[3]^[4]

History and development

The department's development can be traced back to 1887. It evolved out of some of the functions within the Naval Intelligence Department (NID), which originally administered two divisions: Foreign Intelligence Division and Mobilisation Division.

In 1900 a Defence Division was created, later called the War Division, to deal with issues of strategy and defence. In 1902 a fourth function was added, the Trade Division, which was created for matters relating to the protection of merchant shipping.

The Trade Division was abolished in October 1909 in the wake of the Committee of Imperial Defence inquiry into the feud between the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir John Fisher and former Commander-in-Chief Channel Fleet, Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, when it was discovered that the captain heading the Trade Division had been supplying the latter with confidential information during the inquiry.^[5]

Following restructuring the NID was relieved of its responsibility for war planning and strategy when the outgoing Fisher created an Admiralty Navy War Council ^[6] as a stop-gap remedy to criticisms emanating from the Beresford Inquiry that the Navy needed a naval staff, a role the NID had been in fact fulfilling since at least 1900, if not earlier. After this re-organisation, war planning and strategic matters were transferred to the newly created Naval Mobilisation Department (NMD), and the NID reverted to the position it held prior to 1887, an intelligence collection and collation organisation,^[7] but its director remained one of the First Sea Lord's principal advisors.

Sir John Fisher had made known his support for the need of a Naval Staff as early as 1902. In creating a staff the Admiralty was certainly lagging behind, particularly when the War Office had a General Staff department as early as 1904, to deal with the aftermath of the Boer War and an assessment of the problems they faced the Admiralty. However, at this point it had no Senior Staff department.

In May 1909, the Director of Naval Intelligence, Rear-Admiral The Honourable Alexander E. Bethell, submitted a proposal for a Navy War Council composed of the First Sea Lord as President, the Director of Naval Intelligence as Vice-President, an Assistant Director for War, the President and the Captain of the Royal Naval War College, and the Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord. The head of the Naval Intelligence Department's War Division and the Commander of the Royal Naval War College were to act as Joint Secretaries.^[8]

Establishment

In 1911, Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, communicated to the Prime Minister that the Admiral of the Fleet was opposed to any formation of a new naval staff, and because of this he insisted that he be relieved of his duties by January 1912. Churchill would continue to brief the Prime Minister as the project developed and advised him as to what the composition of the new staff department might initially entail:

War Education Division
War Information Division
War Planning Division
War Mobilisation Division

These divisions would be headed by a new Chief of the War Staff answerable to the Board of Admiralty and supported by an Assistant Chief of the War Staff. In January 1912, the First Lord released his communique detailing the administrative function of the new department and listed the following new appointments.

Chief of the War Staff
Director of the Operations Division
Director of the Intelligence Division
Director of the Mobilization Division

From 1912, onward additional divisions were established headed by directors responsible for their particular function.

At its founding, 12 officers were selected to undergo the new course of training for staff officer. Reginald Plunkett was the first officer selected.^[2]

Duties

As stated in the Churchill Memorandum on a War Staff for the Royal Navy ^[9] Point 10: The functions of the War Staff will be advisory. The Chief of the Staff, when decision has been taken upon any proposal, will be jointly responsible with the secretary for the precise form in which the necessary orders to the Fleet are issued, but the Staff will possess no executive authority. It will discharge no administrative duties. Its responsibilities will end with the tendering of advice and with the accuracy of the facts on which that advice is based.

Disestablishment

In early spring 1917 the name "War Staff" was abolished and a replaced by an Admiralty Naval Staff. The First Sea Lord also assumed title of Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and staff functions were grouped under two new heads, the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) and the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS).

Chiefs of the War Staff

Chiefs of the War Staff included:^[10]

Rank	Name	In office	Reference
Rear Admiral	Ernest Troubridge	January 1912 – January 1913	^[11]
Admiral	Sir Henry Jackson	January 1913 – July 1914	^[11]
Vice Admiral	Sir Doveton Sturdee	July 1914 – November 1914	^[11]
Admiral	Henry Oliver	November 1914 – May 1917	^[11]

Assistants to the Chief of the War Staff

Assistants to the Chiefs of the War Staff included:^[11]

Rank	Name	In office	Reference
Commander	Tufton Beamish	January 1912 – April 1913	^[12]
Captain	Arthur Vyvyan	January 1913 – October 1914
Lieutenant colonel	John Rose, RMLI	September 1914 – October 1914
Captain	Sydney Fremantle	September 1914 – July 1915
Lieutenant colonel	Harry Farquharson, RM	October 1914 – March 1915
Captain	Arthur May	May 1915 – January 1918
Captain	Henry W. Grant	May 1915 – January 1918

Special Service, War Staff

Special Service, War Staff included:^[11]

Rank	Name	In office	Notes
Vice Admiral	Sir Edmond Slade	April 1915 – November 1918	retired flag officer
Vice Admiral	Sir Douglas Gamble	July 1915 – May 1917	retired flag officer
Vice Admiral	Sir Robert Ommanney	August 1915 - – November 1918	retired flag officer
Captain	the Hon. Charles Dormer	July 1915 – November 1918
Captain	Egerton Scrivener	July 1915 – November 1918

Operational divisions

As of December 1916, operational divisions included:^[10]

Anti-Submarine Division, formed in 1916
Naval Intelligence Division, formed in 1912
Operations Division, formed in 1912
Mobilisation Division, formed in 1912
Signals Section (Combined Operations), formed in 1916
Trade Division, formed in 1914

Related Research Articles

The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of its history, from the early 18th century until its abolition, the role of the Lord High Admiral was almost invariably put "in commission" and exercised by the Lords Commissioner of the Admiralty, who sat on the governing Board of Admiralty, rather than by a single person. The Admiralty was replaced by the Admiralty Board in 1964, as part of the reforms that created the Ministry of Defence and its Navy Department.

The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) was created as a component part of the Admiralty War Staff in 1912. It was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Intelligence Staff in 1964. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of naval intelligence. It was also known as "Room 39", after its room number at the Admiralty.

The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer currently to serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establishments. Originally titled Second Naval Lord in 1830, the post was restyled Second Sea Lord in 1904. They are based at Navy Command, Headquarters.

The Fifth Sea Lord was formerly one of the Naval Lords and members of the Board of Admiralty that controlled the Royal Navy. The post's incumbent had responsibility for naval aviation.

The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requirements of the Royal Navy; at that point administrative control of the navy was still the responsibility of the Navy Board, established in 1546. This system remained in place until 1832, when the Board of Admiralty became the sole authority charged with both administrative and operational control of the navy when the Navy Board was abolished. The term Admiralty has become synonymous with the command and control of the Royal Navy, partly personified in the Board of Admiralty and in the Admiralty buildings in London from where operations were in large part directed. It existed until 1964 when the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was finally abolished and the functions of the Lords Commissioners were transferred to the new Admiralty Board and the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom.

The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (A.C.N.S.) is a senior appointment in the Royal Navy usually a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7.

The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Navy currently held by the Second Sea Lord. The incumbent is usually a three-star rank and had a NATO ranking code of OF-8, but the position has previously been held by an acting two-star ranked officer and a four-star ranked officer.

The Deputy First Sea Lord (D.F.S.L.) was a senior Royal Navy flag officer on the Board of Admiralty of the Royal Navy.

The Admiralty Naval Staff was the former senior command, operational planning, policy and strategy department within the British Admiralty. It was established in 1917 and existed until 1964 when the department of the Admiralty was abolished. It was replaced by the Ministry of Defence as part of the Ministry of Defence Navy Department.

The Admiral of Patrols was a former command appointment within the Admiralty during World War I usually held by a junior flag officer the post was established from 1912 to 1916.

The Operations Division was a former directorate of the Admiralty Naval Staff responsible for the creation and implementation of long-term policy in regards to the composition of all Royal Navy fleets, squadrons and commands and including operational planning and monitoring from 1912 to 1961.

The Anti-Submarine Division its original name, was the former anti-submarine warfare, planning and prevention directorate of the Admiralty Department from 1912 to 1963.

The Naval Intelligence Department (NID) was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty from 1887 until 1912 when most of its subsidiary divisions were absorbed during the creation of the Admiralty War Staff department that included a new Naval Intelligence Division that concentrated in that sphere solely. It dealt with intelligence matters concerning British naval plans, and with the collection of naval intelligence in regard to coastal defences, foreign powers, mobilisation, trade and war.

The Naval Mobilisation Department also known as the Mobilisation and Movements Department was a former department of the British Admiralty initially from 1909 to 1912 and then again from 1918 to 1932. It was mainly responsible for plans, mobilisation and manning during the pre-World War I and post war period.

The Mobilisation Division was the former Directorate of the British Admiralty Naval Staff responsible for mobilisation requirements, manning and war preparation planning from 1912–1918.

The Gunnery and Torpedo Division was the former Directorate of the Admiralty Naval Staff responsible for weapons policy making, development and assessing weapon requirements from 1918-1920.

The Admiralty Navy War Council was a temporary war planning and naval strategy advising committee of the Admiralty established in October, 1909 under Admiral Fisher it existed until 1911 when it was later replaced by the Admiralty War Staff.

The Department of the Director of Dockyards, also known as the Dockyard Branch and later as the Dockyards and Fleet Maintenance Department, was the British Admiralty department responsible from 1872 to 1964 for civil administration of dockyards, the building of ships, the maintenance and repair of ships at dockyards and factories, and the supervision of all civil dockyard personnel.

The Admiral Commanding, Reserves, was a senior Royal Navy post that existed from 1875 to 1976.

The Directorate of Navigation and Tactical Control (Naval) was a directorate of the Navy Department, Naval Staff first established in 1912, as the Navigation Department of Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty. In 1945, it was renamed the Navigation Division and assigned to the Admiralty Naval Staff. In 1946, it was redesignated Navigation and Direction Division until 1966, and now part of the Navy Department Naval Staff it was renamed the Directorate of Navigation and Tactical Control (Naval). The staff directorate was administered by the Director Navigation Tactical Control (Naval) who reported to the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Warfare) it existed until 1968.

References

↑ Black, Nicholas (2011). British naval staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 15–52. ISBN 978-1843836551.
1 2 "Obituary: Sir Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax – First Director of the Naval Staff College". The Times . 18 October 1967. p. 12.
↑ Moretz, Joseph (6 December 2012). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period: An Operational Perspective. Routledge. p. 247. ISBN 9781136340369.
↑ Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
↑ Hurd, Archibald (1921). "The Merchant Navy". John Murray. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
↑ Kennedy, Paul (24 April 2014). The War Plans of the Great Powers (RLE The First World War): 1880-1914. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 9781317702528.
↑ Strachan, Hew (2003). The First World War: Volume I: To Arms. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199261918.
↑ Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "Navy War Council - The Dreadnought Project". dreadnoughtproject.org. Lovell and Harley, 2007.
↑ Churchill, Randolph S. (1969). Winston S. Churchill (Repr. ed.). London: Heinemann. pp. 1486–1490. ISBN 0434130087.
1 2 Black, Nicholas Duncan. "The Admiralty War Staff and its influence on the conduct of the naval war between 1914 and 1918" (PDF). discovery.ucl.ac.uk. University College London, 2005. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Black, Nicholas Duncan (2005). "The Admiralty War Staff and its influence on the conduct of the naval war between 1914 and 1918" (PDF). discovery.ucl.ac.uk. University College London. pp. 236–237. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
↑ Great Britain, Admiralty (1912). The Navy List. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 100.

Attribution

Primary source for this article is by Harley Simon, Lovell Tony, (2017), Admiralty War Staff (Royal Navy), dreadnoughtproject.org, http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org.

Sources

Black, Nicholas (2009). The British Naval Staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843834427.
Harley, Simon and Lovell, Tony (2007).The Admiralty War Staff, dreadnoughtproject.org, Harley and Lovell.
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 at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.
"Proposals by Director of Naval Intelligence for carrying out the Duties of a General Staff and Re-organisation of the Naval Intelligence Department." 15 May 1909. The National Archives. ADM 1/8047.
Rodger. N.A.M., (1979) The Admiralty (offices of state), T. Dalton, Lavenham, ISBN 978-0900963940.

External links

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[1] Black, Nicholas (2011). British naval staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 15–52. ISBN 978-1843836551.

[times-2] 1 2 "Obituary: Sir Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax – First Director of the Naval Staff College". The Times . 18 October 1967. p. 12.

[3] Moretz, Joseph (6 December 2012). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period: An Operational Perspective. Routledge. p. 247. ISBN 9781136340369.

[4] Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives. Retrieved 19 January 2017.

[5] Hurd, Archibald (1921). "The Merchant Navy". John Murray. Retrieved 7 November 2015.

[6] Kennedy, Paul (24 April 2014). The War Plans of the Great Powers (RLE The First World War): 1880-1914. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 9781317702528.

[7] Strachan, Hew (2003). The First World War: Volume I: To Arms. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199261918.

[8] Harley, Simon; Lovell, Tony. "Navy War Council - The Dreadnought Project". dreadnoughtproject.org. Lovell and Harley, 2007.

[9] Churchill, Randolph S. (1969). Winston S. Churchill (Repr. ed.). London: Heinemann. pp. 1486–1490. ISBN 0434130087.

[Black-10] 1 2 Black, Nicholas Duncan. "The Admiralty War Staff and its influence on the conduct of the naval war between 1914 and 1918" (PDF). discovery.ucl.ac.uk. University College London, 2005. Retrieved 18 January 2017.

[black-11] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Black, Nicholas Duncan (2005). "The Admiralty War Staff and its influence on the conduct of the naval war between 1914 and 1918" (PDF). discovery.ucl.ac.uk. University College London. pp. 236–237. Retrieved 19 January 2017.

[12] Great Britain, Admiralty (1912). The Navy List. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 100.

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