Office of the Naval Secretary | |
---|---|
Ministry of Defence | |
Member of | Navy Command |
Nominator | Secretary of State for Defence |
Appointer | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
Term length | Not fixed (typically 1–3 years) |
Inaugural holder | Captain John Harrison |
Formation | 1800-current |
Website | royalnavy.mod.uk |
The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers). [1]
Their counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equivalent is the Air Secretary. The Director People and Training has taken over the role, combining the responsibilities of Flag Officer Sea Training. [2]
The Office of the Naval Secretary was originally established in 1800 when the appointment was styled Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty [3] and remained so styled until 1911. In 1912 it was re-titled Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty. [4]
When the Admiralty department was abolished in 1964 the post was renamed Naval Secretary, colloquially known as "NAVSEC", and now advising the Royal Navy's military head and, consequently, the Navy Board on future appointments. In the case of tri-service appointments, the responsibility was to recommend candidates to the Defence Board.
From 2010 to 2015, Sir David Steel, as Naval Secretary, simultaneously held the additional title of Chief Naval Logistics Officer (as head the Naval Logistics Branch). [5] In 2015 further additional responsibilities were assumed for the Royal Naval Reserve and the title of Flag Officer, Maritime Reserves. [6]
In this capacity the incumbent is responsible for advising the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on all matters relating to Flag Officers’ appointing, with Officers with the rank of Commodore and/or Captain delegated to the Office of Assistant to the Naval Secretary who currently holds the rank of Commodore. [7] A March 2020 edition of Navy News noted that the Director People and Training took over the people-related policies and career management below this level from the Naval Secretary. [8]
In May 2021, it was announced that Jude Terry would be the next Naval Secretary, being promoted to rear admiral and taking up the post in 2022. She is the first woman to serve as an admiral in the Royal Navy. [9]
Post holders included: [10]
Post holders included
Post holders included
The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer to currently 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 post of Controller of the Navy was originally created in 1859 when the Surveyor of the Navy's title changed to Controller of the Navy. In 1869 the controller's office was abolished and its duties were assumed by that of the Third Naval Lord whose title then changed to Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy. In 1904 the title was changed again to Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy. In 1965 the office of the Third Sea Lord was abolished. The post-holder is responsible for procurement and matériel in the British Royal Navy.
The Navy Board was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the Navy Office.
The Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies originally known as the Fourth Naval Lord was formerly one of the Naval Lords and members of the Board of Admiralty which controlled the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom the post is currently known as Chief of Materiel (Fleet). As of 2017, it is also known as Chief of Fleet Support, Chief of Materiel (Ships) then as of 2020, Director General Ships.
The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary and River Medway.
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.
The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually filled by a Member of Parliament. Although he attended Board of Admiralty meetings informally he was not made a full member of that Board until 1929. He served as the deputy to the First Lord of the Admiralty in Parliament and was mainly responsible for all naval finance and spending proposals from 1625 until 1959.
Admiral Sir Sydney Colpoys Dacres was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Greek War of Independence, when he was involved in an attack on the Turkish forces at Morea, and later during the Crimean War. Born into a substantial naval dynasty during the Napoleonic Wars, he eventually rose to the rank of Admiral and became First Naval Lord. His only significant action as First Naval Lord was to press for the abolition of masts. He went on to be Visitor and Governor of Greenwich Hospital.
During the early 17th century, England's relative naval power deteriorated, In the course of the rest of the 17th century, The office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs steered the Navy's transition from a semi-amateur Navy Royal fighting in conjunction with private vessels into a fully professional institution, a Royal Navy. Its financial provisions were gradually regularised, it came to rely on dedicated warships only, and it developed a professional officer corps with a defined career structure, superseding an earlier mix of sailors and socially prominent former soldiers.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 rearranged the political map of Europe, and led to a series of wars with France that lasted well over a century. This was the classic age of sail; while the ships themselves evolved in only minor ways, technique and tactics were honed to a high degree, and the battles of the Napoleonic Wars entailed feats that would have been impossible for the fleets of the 17th century. Because of parliamentary opposition, James II fled the country. The landing of William III and the Glorious Revolution itself was a gigantic effort involving 100 warships and 400 transports carrying 11,000 infantry and 4,000 horses. It was not opposed by the English or Scottish fleets.
The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal Navy's supporting civilian staff, the works and buildings departments and naval lands from 1830 to 1964.
The Naval Ordnance Department, also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Ordnance, was a former department of the Admiralty responsible for the procurement of naval ordnance of the Royal Navy. The department was managed by a Director, supported by various assistants and deputies; it existed from 1891 to 1958.
The Comptroller of the Navy originally called the Clerk Comptroller of the Navy was originally a principal member of the English Navy Royal, and later the British Royal Navy, Navy Board. From 1512 until 1832, the Comptroller was mainly responsible for all British naval spending and directing the business of the Navy Board from 1660 as its chairman. The position was abolished in 1832 when the Navy Board was merged into the Board of Admiralty. The comptroller was based at the Navy Office.
The Deputy Comptroller of the Navy was a principal member of the Navy Board of the Royal Navy who was responsible for chairing the Committee of Correspondence and managing all internal and external communications of the Navy Board from 1793 to 1816 and then again from 1829 to 1832. He was based at the Navy Office.
The Department of the Director of Naval Equipment also known as the Directorate of Naval Equipment was the former British Admiralty department responsible for managing the progress of all naval construction at royal naval dockyards, and annually planning programmes of works for additions, alterations, repairs and modernisation established in 1912 until 1960 when it was replaced by the Naval Equipment Division of the Ship Department.
The Victualling Department originally known as the Department of the Comptroller of Victualling and Transport Services or the Victualling Office, also known as the Department of the Director of Victualling was the British Admiralty department responsible for civil administration of Victualling Yards and the storing and supply of Naval Victuals for the Royal Navy from 1832 to 1964.
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.
Jamaica Dockyard also known as Port Royal Dockyard was a British Royal Navy Dockyard located at Port Royal, Jamaica. It was established 1675 and closed in 1905. The dockyard was initially administered by the Navy Board then later the Board of Admiralty.
The Sea Transport Branch of the British Board of Trade, originally established as the Transport Department or Naval Transport Department, was a logistical branch of the Department of Admiralty responsible for the provision of naval transportation services. It underwent numerous name changes throughout its complicated history with responsibility for sea transportation, known as the Department of the Director of Transports from 1890.