 | This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry.(April 2016) |
The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, somewhat akin to a naval general staff and somewhat not. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916. [1] The General Board was disbanded in 1951.
"The war with Spain had underlined the need for adequate staff work and the success of the War Board had pointed the way for the future. Among the most persistent advocates of a general staff for the Navy was Captain Henry C. Taylor. He had first laid plans for such a staff before Roosevelt in May 1897; now in 1900 he brought the idea once more to the attention of Secretary Long. Long, however, was reluctant to risk a fight with his entrenched bureau chiefs, hesitant about allowing the professional officers wide powers outside civilian control, and rightly dubious whether Congress could be brought to approve the scheme. Consequently he compromised, and in March 1900 created a Board, known as the General Board, which possessed no executive functions, but was to serve as a purely advisory council which was constitutionally confined to considering such problems of strategy as the Secretary of the Navy might refer to it." [2]
The General Board was composed of senior admirals, most near the end of their careers, who could be relied upon to "deliberate selflessly and objectively on matters ranging from strategy to ship characteristics". [3] "These senior officers, some in the twilight of their careers, without line responsibilities, and other members on an ex officio basis, not only brought considerable expertise to bear, they also had the time to devote to problem solving without the press of day-to-day decision making." [4]
"The board had two categories of members – the full time executive committee and ex officio members, senior officers holding specifics posts, who attended monthly board meetings. ... the ex officio members of the board included the President of the Naval War College, the director of naval intelligence, and the chief of the Bureau of Navigation. The general board was a watered-down version of the naval general staff proposed by a line officer, Captain Henry C. Taylor, in February 1900." [5]
"Originally consisting of nine officers, the membership of the board was changed frequently – in 1902 to 10; in 1904 to 14; in 1905 to seven; and in 1909 back to nine." [6]
The board was headed by a chairman (also known as its president). George Dewey chaired the board from its inception until 1917, although a stroke in 1914 limited his abilities in the last three years of his tenure.
"The role that the General Board of the Navy played was the critical organizational dynamic in linking the treaty system and innovation in the fleet. Particularly astonishing, given the hierarchical nature of the U.S. Navy, was the General Board's tolerant and consensus-driven process which led to an environment highly favorable to creativity and innovation." [7]
In its beginning years, the General Board of the United States Navy was effectively a naval general staff, but started to lose its influence with the creation of the Chief of Naval Operations (OpNav). [8] "The creation of the office of Chief of Naval Operations in 1915 reduced some of the importance of the board, but even until the beginning of World War II some of the most senior admirals on the active list and some very experienced retired admirals were assigned to the General Board. ... During the latter years of its life – particularly since World War II, the establishment of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Unification Act – the General Board was put to less and less use." In 1945 the board's role as the coordinator between Navy materiel bureaus of 'ship characteristics' was transferred to the Ship Characteristics Board / SCB within OpNav, leaving the board with long range policy and strategy functions only; this change was made due to the board having been seen as ineffective in a series of earlier Navy bureau miscoordinations. [9] [10] The board was inactivated by order of Chief of Naval Operations Forrest Sherman in April 1951 and abolished the following month. [11]
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CNO is a military adviser to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the secretary of defense, and the president. The current chief of naval operations is Admiral Michael M. Gilday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters. The composition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is defined by statute and consists of a chairman (CJCS), a vice chairman (VJCS), the chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. Each of the individual service chiefs, outside their JCS obligations, works directly under the secretaries of their respective military departments, e.g. the secretary of the Army, the secretary of the Navy, and the secretary of the Air Force.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces and the principal military advisor to the president, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the secretary of defense. While the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff outranks all other commissioned officers, the chairman is prohibited by law from having operational command authority over the armed forces; however, the chairman assists the president and the secretary of defense in exercising their command functions.
The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Forces unless either the Chief or Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff are naval officers. Admiral Ben Key was appointed First Sea Lord in November 2021.
The several branches of the United States Armed Forces are represented by flags. Within the U.S. military, various flags fly on various occasions, and on various ships, bases, camps, and military academies.
Ernest Joseph King was an American naval officer who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH-CNO, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the United States Navy's second most senior officer in World War II after Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, who served as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief.
Osami Nagano was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of the leaders of Japan's military during most of the Second World War. In April 1941, he became Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. In this capacity, he served as the navy's commander-in-chief in the Asia-Pacific theater until his removal in February 1944. After the war, he was arrested by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East but died of natural causes in prison during the trial.
Frank Friday Fletcher was a United States Navy admiral who served in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions as commander of navy forces at the Battle of Veracruz, Mexico. The Fletcher-class destroyer, the most produced class of United States Navy destroyers, was named after him. He was also the uncle of Frank Jack Fletcher, another U.S. Navy Admiral who also received the Medal of Honor for actions at Veracruz, and who commanded U.S. naval forces at the battles of Coral Sea and Midway during the Second World War.
Fleet admiral is a five-star flag officer rank in the United States Navy whose rewards uniquely include active duty pay for life. Fleet admiral ranks immediately above admiral and is equivalent to General of the Army and General of the Air Force.
Joseph Mason "Bull" Reeves was an admiral in the United States Navy and an early and important supporter of U.S. Naval Aviation. Though a battleship officer during his early career, he became known as the "Father of Carrier Aviation" for his role in integrating aircraft carriers into the fleet as a major part of the Navy's attack capabilities.
Thomas Charles Hart was an admiral in the United States Navy, whose service extended from the Spanish–American War through World War II. Following his retirement from the navy, he served briefly as a United States Senator from Connecticut.
United States military seniority is the method by which the United States Armed Forces determines precedence among commissioned officers, in particular those who hold the same rank. Seniority is used to determine assignments, tactical commands, promotions and general courtesy. To a lesser extent, historical seniority is used to recognize status of honor given to early United States military leaders such as inaugural holders of certain ranks or those officers who served as leadership during major wars and armed conflicts.
The Mackerel-class submarines were a pair of experimental prototype submarines built just prior to World War II and launched in 1940 and 1941. The two submarines were similar in size and capability to the S-class submarines built at the end of World War I, and had been ordered to test the feasibility of using mass production techniques to build small submarines. Until at least 1940 it was thought that mass production of fleet submarines would be impractical, and in any case small submarines could provide area defense for submarine bases. Once it became apparent that there would be sufficient production of the more capable Gato-class submarines, interest in the design waned and no additional small submarines were ordered. Submarine production standardized during the war on the Gato class and its successors, the Balao and Tench-class submarines. In some references, the Mackerels are called the "M class".
The "bureau system" of the United States Navy was the Department of the Navy's material-support organization from 1842 through 1966. The bureau chiefs were largely autonomous, reporting directly to the Secretary of the Navy and managing their respective organizations without the influence of other bureaus. In 1966, the bureaus were gradually replaced by unified commands reporting to the Chief of Naval Operations.
Admiral Samuel Murray Robinson was a United States Navy four-star admiral who directed Navy procurement during World War II.
James Lemuel Holloway Jr. was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 1947–1950; as Chief of Naval Personnel from 1953–1957; and as commander in chief of all United States naval forces in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean from 1957–1959, in which capacity he commanded the 1958 American intervention in Lebanon. As founder of the Holloway Plan, he was responsible for creating the modern Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps.
Rear Admiral Reginald Rowan Belknap was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Spanish–American War, Boxer Rebellion, Philippine–American War, and World War I. He gained distinction in 1909 for his relief work in Italy after the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami and for his work in command of the first offensive mining campaign in U.S. Navy history, the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage in 1918. He was also a published author, an inventor, a member of many professional and social organizations, and an active member of the Episcopal Church, and he played a role in the selection of Amelia Earhart as the first female pilot to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.