Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty.
In 1964 the functions of the Admiralty were transferred to a new Admiralty Board, which is a committee of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom and part of the Ministry of Defence. The new Admiralty Board meets only twice a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is controlled by a Navy Board (not to be confused with the historical Navy Board described later in this article). It is not uncommon for the various authorities now in charge of the Royal Navy to be referred to simply as The Admiralty.
The title of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom is now vested in the Sovereign. However, there continues to be a Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom and a Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, both of which are honorary offices.
- List of Lord High Admirals and First Lords of the Admiralty
- List of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
- Lord High Admiral of Scotland
- Admiralty administration
- St Boniface's Catholic College
[edit] References
- Bradley, Simon, and Nikolaus Pevsner. London 6: Westminster (from the Buildings of England series). New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-300-09595-3.
[edit] External links
- The Admiralty at the Survey of London online
Annotations
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In 1649 the Council of State of the Commonwealth took over the duties of the Lord Admiral. It set up a committee for the Affairs of the Admiralty and Navy, known also as the Admiralty Committee. Its function was to develop naval policy and strategy with the three generals at Sea, former army officers who now commanded the naval squadrons. The Admiralty directed the Navy Commissioners and the Navy Treasurer in their administrative and financial duties. The Navy Commissioners would have been responsible for logistics, for example shipping food and munitions in chartered merchant vessels to the fleet at sea, such as that off Portugal in 1650 commanded by Robert Blake.
In the 1660’s James, Duke of York and Lord High Admiral, along with commanders and administrators like William Batten, William Penn, Samuel Pepys and Peter Pett took a keen interest in the navy. The Navy Commissioners’ work expanded between the first and second Anglo-Dutch Wars.
The Lord High Admiral was the officer of state (member of the government) responsible for the navy to the King. He was also a member of the Admiralty Committee of the Privy Council. He advised the government about tactics and discipline, appointed all flag-officers and commissioned the captains and lieutenants of ships in service.
The Court of Admiralty, responsible for jurisdiction over maritime affairs, and the Navy Board which administered the navy were responsible to the Lord High Admiral. The Navy Board was responsible for dockyard management, building and repairing ships, recruitment and seamen’s pay, and the appointment of warrant officers.
In 1665 the Admiralty Board and its agents in the dockyards and ports rose to the challenge of the Second Dutch War.The fleet gave as good as it got and held its own against the Dutch in spite of the Medway humiliation.The results of the battles were inconclusive.In the Third Dutch War the Royal Navy’s poor tactical performance was due to poor decision making by senior commanders and lack of co-operation on the part of their French allies. Therefore, inferior performance and failure at sea was not due to shoddy administrative or logistical practice on the part of the Admiralty or Navy Board.sources: Wheeler,the Making of a World Power, Sutton 1999
Kitson,Frank,Prince Rupert Admiral and General at Sea, Constable 1998 -
A list of the Officers of the Admiralty, May 31st, 1660. From a MS. in the Pepysian Library in Pepys’s own handwriting.
His Royal Highness James, Duke of York, Lord High Admiral.
Sir George Carteret, Treasurer.
Sir Robert Slingsby, (soon after) Comptroller.
Sir William Batten, Surveyor.
Samuel Pepys, Esq., Clerk of the Acts.also see Commissioners: