— Ch. 1 · Origins And Early Evolution —
Admiralty (United Kingdom).
~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
Around 1400, the office of Admiral of England emerged to manage maritime affairs. King Henry VIII established the Council of the Marine in 1546 to handle administrative duties for the naval service. Operational command remained with the Lord High Admiral, one of nine Great Officers of State. This dual system persisted until 1832 when Sir James Graham abolished the Navy Board. The supply lines and support services were managed by four principal officers: the Treasurer, Comptroller, Surveyor, and Clerk of the Acts. These officers formed what became known as the Navy Board responsible for civil administration from 1546 to 1832. The structure lasted 285 years but suffered from inefficiency and corruption due to limitations of the era.
The Board System Era
King Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission in 1628. Control passed to a committee called the Board of Admiralty. The Lords Commissioners were always a mixture of admirals known as Naval Lords or Sea Lords and Civil Lords who were normally politicians. The quorum required two commissioners and a secretary. After 1806, the First Lord of the Admiralty was always a civilian while the professional head came to be known as the First Sea Lord. The board exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was not vested in a single person. This arrangement continued through most of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries until it reverted to the Crown.Technological And Strategic Reforms
In 1860, big growth occurred in technical crafts with the expansion of admiralty branches beginning with the age of steam. Between 1860 and 1908, no real study of strategy took place within the naval service. It was practically ignored by those involved. All Navy talent flowed to great technical universities creating an exclusively technically based school of thought for the next 50 years. The first serious attempt to introduce sole management appeared in 1909 with the creation of the Admiralty Navy War Council. A new advisory body called the Admiralty War Staff was instituted in 1912 headed by the Chief of the War Staff responsible for operations intelligence and mobilisation. Sir John Jellicoe reorganized the war staff upon arriving at the Admiralty in 1916.