Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom)

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Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
Ensign of the Royal Navy
Department of the Admiralty, Ministry of Defence
AbbreviationV.C.N.S.
Member of Board of Admiralty, Admiralty Board
Reports to Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff
Nominator First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer Prime Minister
Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council
Term length Not fixed (typically 2–3 years)
Formation1941
First holder Sir Henry Moore
Final holder Sir Peter Stanford
Abolished1985

The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (V.C.N.S.) [1] was a senior appointment in the Royal Navy usually a three-star rank and had a NATO ranking code of OF-8 that existed from 1941 to 1985 and was a member of the Admiralty Naval Staff.

Contents

History

In October 1941 the post of Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff was created when the Admiralty abolished the title of Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff in line with changes that were also taking place within the army and air force. It was essentially the same role as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff: the post holder initially was the operational head of the Royal Navy [2] and reported directly to the First Sea Lord.

In 1946 the office of the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff was revived and the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff from that point reported to the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.

Following internal re-structuring within the Ministry of Defence the position of Vice Chief of the Naval Staff was abolished in 1985.

Vice Chiefs of the Naval Staff

Vice Chiefs of the Naval Staff included: [3]
Note: reports to the First Sea Lord from 1941 to 1946 [4] then reports to the DCNS from 1947 until 1985

No.PortraitChief-of-StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in officeRef.
1
Admiral Sir Henry Ruthven Moore TR2390.jpg
Moore, Moore Vice Admiral
Sir Henry Ruthven Moore
21 October 19417 June 19431 year, 7 months [5]
2
Vice Admiral Syfret WWII IWM A 21413.jpg
Syfret, EdwardVice Admiral
Sir Edward Neville Syfret
8 June 1943October 19452 years, 3 months [6]
3
Admiral Jerauld Wright and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick McGrigor (cropped).jpg
McGrigor, RhoderickVice Admiral
Sir Rhoderick McGrigor
October 1945October 19472 years [7]
4
John Edelsten (1953).jpg
Edelsten, JohnVice Admiral
Sir John Edelsten
October 1947November 19492 years, 1 month [8]
5
Rear Admiral George Creasy TR2627.jpg
Creasy, GeorgeVice Admiral
Sir George Creasy
November 1949October 19511 year, 11 months [9]
6
Blank.png
Grantham, GuyVice Admiral
Sir Guy Grantham
October 1951April 19542 years, 6 months [10]
7
Blank.png
Davis, WilliamVice Admiral
Sir William Davis
April 1954May 19573 years, 1 month [11]
8
Blank.png
John, CasparVice Admiral
Sir Caspar John
May 1957February 19602 years, 9 months [12]
9
Blank.png
Couchman, CouchmanVice Admiral
Sir Walter Couchman
February 1960November 19609 months [3]
10
Blank.png
Begg, VarylVice Admiral
Sir Varyl Begg
January 1961February 19632 years, 1 month [13]
11
Blank.png
Frewen, JohnVice Admiral
Sir John Frewen
February 1963April 19652 years, 2 months [3]
12
Blank.png
Bush, JohnVice Admiral
Sir John Bush
April 1965August 19672 years, 4 months [14]
13
Peter Hill-Norton (cropped).jpg
Hill, PeterVice Admiral
Sir Peter Hill-Norton
August 1967December 19681 year, 4 months [3]
14
Blank.png
Ashmore, EdwardVice Admiral
Sir Edward Ashmore
December 1968January 19712 years, 1 month [15]
15
Blank.png
Ashmore, EdwardVice Admiral
Sir Terence Lewin
January 1971October 19732 years, 9 months [3]
16
John Treacher (1977).jpg
Treacher, JohnVice Admiral
Sir John Treacher
October 1973April 19751 year, 6 months [3]
17
Lygo as captain of HMS Juno 1968.jpg
Lygo, RaymondVice Admiral
Sir Raymond Lygo
April 1975January 19782 years, 9 months [16]
18
Blank.png
Morton, AnthonyVice Admiral
Sir Anthony Morton
January 1978July 19802 years, 6 months [3]
19
Blank.png
Staveley, WilliamVice Admiral
Sir William Staveley
July 1980October 19822 years, 3 months [3]
20
Blank.png
Stanford, PeterVice Admiral
Sir Peter Stanford
October 1982October 19853 years [17]

See also

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General references