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ADMIRALTY ADMINISTRATION
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See also:ADMIRALTY See also:ADMINISTRATION
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The Administrative See also:System.—That the See also:navy (q.v.) is the only real See also:defence of the See also:British islands has been recognized by See also:English See also:people ever since the days of See also:
The salient characteristic of the admiralty is a certain flexibility and See also:elasticity with which it See also:works
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Its members are not, in a rigid sense, heads of departments
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Subject to the necessary and constitutional supremacy of the See also:cabinet See also:minister at their See also:head, they are jointly and co-equally " commissioners for executing the See also:office of high admiral of the See also:United See also:Kingdom, and of the territories thereunto belonging, and of high admiral of the colonies and other dominions." The members of the Board are in See also:direct and See also:constant communication with the first lord and with one another, as also with the civil departments which work under their See also:control
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It was en-joined by See also:
In 1632 it appears to have been See also:independent, but " still retained that evil pre-See also:eminence in See also:sloth and incapacity it had already earned and has never since lost
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administration being conducted under the navy and victualling boards apart from, but yet subject to, the admiralty itself
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This was a system which continued during the time of all the great See also:wars, and was not abolished until 1832, when See also:Sir James See also:Graham, by his reforms, put an end to what appeared a divided control
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Whatever may have been the demerits of that system, it sufficed to maintain the navy in the time of its greatest achievements, and through all the wars which were waged with the Spaniards, the Dutch and the See also:French
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The See also:original authority for the present constitution of the Admiralty Board is found in a declaratory See also:act (Admiralty Act 1690), in which it is enacted that " all and singular authorities, jurisdictions and powers which, by act of parliament or otherwise, had been lawfully vested " in the lord high admiral of See also:England had always appertained, and did and should appertain, to the commissioners for executing the office for the time being " to all intents and purposes as if the said commissioners were lord high admiral of England." The admiralty See also:commission was dissolved in 1701, and reconstituted on the See also:death of See also:Prince See also:George of See also:Denmark, lord high admiral in 1709
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From that time forward, See also:save for a See also:short See also:period in 1827-1828, when the See also:duke of See also:Clarence was lord high admiral, the office has. remained in commission
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A number of changes have been made since the amalgamation of the admiralty and the Navy Board by Sir James Graham in 1832 (see NAVY, History), but the See also:general principle remains the same, and the constitution of the Admiralty Board and civil departments is described below
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The Board consists of the first lord and four naval lords with a civil lord, who in theory are jointly responsible, and are accustomed to meet sometimes daily, but at all times frequently; and the system developed provides for the subdivision of labour, and yet for the co-ordinated exertion of effort
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The system has worked well in practice, and has certainly won the approval and the admiration of many statesmen
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Lord George See also:
Under the patent the full See also:power and authority are conferred upon " any two or more " of the commissioners, though, in the patent of See also:Queen See also:Anne, the See also:
Competent critics believed that she would be unsafe, and said so before she was built; but the admiralty of Lord See also:Derby's cabinet of 1866 gave their consent to her construction
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She was commissioned See also:early in 187o, and capsized in the See also:Bay of See also:Biscay on the 7th of See also:September of that See also:year
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Mr Childers, who was nominally responsible for allowing her to be commissioned, distributed blame right and See also:left, largely upon men who had not approved of the ship at all, and had been exonerated from all See also:share of responsibility for allowing her to be built
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The disaster was justly held to show that a civilian first lord cannot dispense with the advantage of constant communication with his professional advisers
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When Mr Childers retired from the admiralty in March 1871, his successor, Mr See also:Goschen (See also:Viscount Goschen), reverted to the original system
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It cannot be said, however, that the question of ultimate responsibility is well defined
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The duke of Somerset, Sir James Graham and Sir See also: (R . V . 11.) other lords and secretaries See also:rest duties very carefully defined, and they direct the civil departments which are the machinery of naval administration . The first naval lord, the second naval lord and the junior naval lord are responsible to the first lord in relation to so much of the business concerning the personnel of the navy and the movements and See also:condition of the fleet as is confided to them, and the additional naval lord or controller is responsible in the same way for the material of the navy; while the parliamentary secretary has See also:charge of See also:finance and some other business, and the civil lord of all See also:shore works—i.e. docks, buildings, &c.—and the permanent secretary of special duties . The first lord of the admiralty is the cabinet minister through whom the navy receives its See also:political direction in accordance with imperial policy . He is the representative of the navy in parliament, which looks to him for everything concerned with naval affairs . The members of the Board are his advisers; but if their See also:advice is not accepted, they have no remedy except protest or resignation . It cannot be denied that the responsibility of the members of the Board, if their advice should be disregarded, must cease, and it is sufficiently obvious that the remedy of resignation will not always commend itself to those whose position and See also:advancement depend upon the favour of the government . Something will be said a little later concerning the working of the system and the relation of the first lord to the Board in regard to the navy estimates . In addition to general direction and supervision, the first lord Ms special charge of promotions and removals from the service, and of matters See also:relating to honours and rewards, as well as the appointments of See also:flag officers, captains and other officers of the higher ranks . With him rests also the nomination for the See also:major See also:part to naval cadetships and assistant clerkships . Apart from the first lord, the first naval lord is the most important officer of the Board of Admiralty . It seems to be unquestionable that Sir James Graham was right in describing the See also:senior naval lord as his " first naval adviser." Theoretically, the first naval lord is responsible for the personnel of the fleet; but in practice he is necessarily concerned with the material also as soon as it is put into commission, and with the actual commissioning of it . It is correct to say that he is chiefly concerned with the employment of the fleet, though his advice has See also:weight in regard to its character and sufficiency, and is always sought in relation to the See also:shipbuilding See also:programme . Broadly speaking, the first naval lord's duties and authority See also:cover the fighting efficiency and employment of the fleet, and upon him and upon the controller the naval business of the country largely falls . He directs the operations of the admiral See also:superintendent of naval reserves in regard to See also:ships, the hydrographer, the director of naval ordnance, so far as the gunnery and See also:torpedo training establishments are concerned, and the naval intelligence department, and he has charge of all matters relating to dis.-cipline . The mobilization of the fleet, both in regard to personnel and material, also falls to him, and among a See also:mass of other business in his department are necessary preparations for the See also:protection of See also:trade and the See also:fisheries . It will thus be seen that the first naval lord is the See also:chief officer of the Board of Admiralty, and that the operations of the other members of the Board all have relation to his work, which is no other than preparation for war . It may here be remarked that it appears most necessary to See also:change the naval lords frequently, so that there may always be in the Board some one who possesses See also:recent See also:touch with the service afloat . The second naval lord may be regarded as the coadjutor of the first naval lord, with whose operations his duties are very closely related, though, like every other member of the Board, he is subordinate only to the first lord . The duties of the second naval lord are wholly concerned with the personnel of the fleet, the See also:manning of the navy and mobilization . In his hands rests the direction of naval See also:education, training and the affairs of the royal marine forces . The training establishments and colleges are in his hands . He appoints navigating officers and lieutenants to ships (unless they be to command), sub-lieutenants, midshipmen and cadets, engineer officers, gunners and boatswains, and supervises the management of the reserve . . In his provinceis the mobilization of the personnel, including the See also:coastguard and the royal naval reserve . Necessarily, the first and second naval lords work together, and upon occasion can replace each other., Most important are the duties that fall to the additional naval lord and controller . He has charge of everything that concerns the material of the fleet, and his operations are the See also:complement of the work of the first naval lord . A great number of civil departments are directed by the controller, and his survey and supervision extend to the See also:dockyards and See also:building establishments of the fleet . He submits plans to the Board for new ships, and is responsible for carrying into effect its decisions in regard to all matters of construction and equipment . The building operations both in the dockyards and in private yards are therefore under his supervision . In regard to all these matters the director of naval construction and the engineer-in-chief are the heads of the civil departments that carry on the work . Again, the See also:con-troller is responsible in regard to armament—both gunnery and torpedo—and it is the work of his department to see to all gunnery and torpedo fittings, and to magazines, See also:shell-rooms and electric apparatus . The officer in immediate charge of this branch of the controller's work, under his direction, is the director of naval ordnance . In regard to work at the dockyards (q.v.) the controller is aided by the director of dockyards . He supervises this officer in preparing the programme of work done in the dockyards, the See also:provision of the material required and its See also:appropriation to particular work in accordance with the See also:pro-gramme . Other officers who conduct great operations under the authority and responsibility of the controller are the director of stores, who maintains all necessary supplies of See also:coal and stores at home and abroad, and examines the See also:store accounts of ships, and the inspector of dockyard expense accounts, who has charge of the accounts of dockyard See also:expenditure and seeing that outlay is charged as directed . In regard to the navy estimates, the controller, through his subordinates, is responsible for the preparation and administration of the votes for shipbuilding and naval armaments, except in regard to some sub-headings of the former, and thus in recent years for the expenditure of some-thing like £i5,000,000 or over . The junior naval lord has in his hands the very important duties that are concerned with the transport, medical and victualling services, as well as the regulation of hospitals, the charge of coaling arrangements for the fleet and other duties that conduce to the See also:practical efficiency of the navy . He also appoints chaplains, naval instructors, medical officers (except in special cases) and officers of the accountant branch . A vast business in regard to the See also:internal See also:economy of ships greatly occupies the junior lord . He has charge, for example, of See also:uniforms, See also:prize-See also:money, bounties, naval savings See also:banks, and See also:pensions to See also:seamen and See also:marines and the widows of naval and marine officers . The work of the junior naval lord places under his direction the director of transports, the director-general of the medical department, the director of victualling, and, in regard to particular matters, the director of stores, the accountant-general, the See also:chaplain of the fleet, and the Intelligence Department, so far as the junior lord's department is concerned . The civil lord supervises, through the director of works, the Department of Works, dealing with admiralty buildings and works, construction and labour, contracts and purchases of building stores and land . He is also responsible for the civil See also:staff of the naval establishments, except in regard to certain officials, and for duties connected with See also:Greenwich See also:Hospital, compassionate allowances, charitable funds, and business of like character . The accountant-general, in regard to these matters, is directed by him, and the director of Greenwich Hospital is under his authority . The parliamentary and financial secretary is responsible for the finance of the department, the navy estimates and matters of expenditure generally, and is consulted in regard to all matters involving reference to the See also:treasury . His position in regard to The See also:drawback is, that a naval lord can only go on leave by throwing all his work on a colleague already overweighted with work . estimates and expenditure is very important, and the accountant-general is his officer, while he has financial control over the director of contracts . The financial secretary also examines proposals for new expenditure . A most important See also:official of the Board is the permanent secretary, whose office has been described as the "See also:nerve-centre" of the admiralty, since it is the channel through which papers for the lords of the admiralty pass for the intercommunication of departments and for the See also:correspondence of the Board . The tradition of admiralty See also:procedure largely rests with the permanent secretary, and it is most important that he should be chosen from one of the branches, and should have served in as many of them as possible, in order that he may possess a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of the admiralty system . In addition to the secretarial duties of the permanent secretary's department, the permanent secretary has charge of the military, naval and legal branches, each under a principal clerk, the civil branch and the See also:record office . The various branches deal with matters concerning the commissioning of ships and the distribution of the fleet, and the manning and discipline of the navy, with other associated matters, being the channels for the operations of the naval lords . It is a highly important function of the department of the permanent secretary to preserve the inter-related working of the various departments, and to keep unbroken the See also:thread of administration when a new Board is constituted . . 3 . Business and Responsibility.—The manner in which the Admiralty Board conducts the great operations under its charge has been indicated . It would be impossible here to describe it in detail, though something concerning the civil departments, which are the machinery of naval administration, will be found below . It will, however, indicate the character of admiralty administration if we explain to some extent the conditions which surround the preparation of the estimates and the ship-building programme, the more so because this matter has been the See also:battle-ground of critics and supporters of the admiralty . It has already been pointed out that the naval lords, if they dissent from the estimates that are presented, have no remedy but that of protest or resignation . Into the controversies that have arisen as to the responsibility of the several lords it is unnecessary to enter here . The Admiralty Board possesses, in fact, the character of a council, and its members can only be held responsible for their advice . It has even been contended that, in the circumstances, it should not be See also:incumbent upon them to sign the navy estimates, and there have been instances in which the estimates have been presented to parliament without the See also:signature of certain naval lords . It is in any case obvious, as has been explained above, that the ultimate responsibility must always rest with the first lord and the cabinet, by whom the policy of the country is shaped and directed . In the report of the Hartington Commission in 1890 (the chairman of which became 8th duke of See also:Devonshire) to inquire into the civil and professional administration of the Naval and Military Departments, and the relation of these departments to each other and to the treasury, the following recommendation occurs: "On the first lord alone should rest the responsibility of deciding on the provision to be made for the naval requirements of the empire, and the existence of a council should be held in no degree to diminish that responsibility." Two conditions primarily See also:rule the determination as to the strength of the navy . They are, the foreign policy of the cabinet, and, on the ground of practical expediency, the amount of money available . " The estimates and strength of the navy," said See also:Rear-Admiral See also:Hotham before the select committee on the navy estimates, 1888, " are matters for the cabinet to determine." " Expense," said Sir Anthony Hoskins, " governs everything." The needs of the empire and financial considerations, as it is scarcely necessary to remark, may prove to be antithetical conditions governing the same problem, and in practice it follows that the Admiralty Board directs its operations in accordance with the views of the government, but limited by the public funds which are known to be available . Such considerationssuggest a practical See also:limitation of responsibility, so far as the several lords of the admiralty are concerned, but it may be presumed to be their See also:duty individually or collectively to See also:place their views before the first lord; and Lord George Hamilton told the select committee of 1888 that, if his colleagues should represent to him that a certain expenditure was indispensable for the efficiency of the service, he would recognize that all financial considerations should be put on one See also:side . The commissioners reported that this was the only common-sense view of the matter, and that it was difficult to see on what other footing the control of navy expenditure, consistently with responsibility to parliament, could be placed . Two practical considerations are See also:bound up with the shipbuilding programme—the carrying forward of the work in See also:hand and the new construction to be begun, since it is absolutely necessary that proper provision should be made for the employment and distribution of labour in the dockyards, and for the See also:purchase of necessary materials . Through the director of naval construction and the director of dockyards, the controller is kept informed as to the progress of work and the amount of labour required, as also in regard to the building facilities of the yards . These matters, in a general way, must See also:form a subject of discussion between the first naval lord and the controller, who will report on the subject toe the first lord . The accountant-general, as the financial officer of the Board, will be called upon to place the proposed estimates upon a financial basis, and when the views of the cabinet are known as to the amount of money available, the several departments charged with the duty of preparing the various votes will proceed with that work .
The financial basis alluded to is, of course, found in the estimates of the previous year, modified by the new conditions that arise
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There has been in past times a haphazard character in our shipbuilding pro-grammes, but with the introduction of the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which looked ahead and was not content with hand-to-mouth provision, a better state of things has grown up, and, with a larger sense of responsibility, a policy characterized by something of continuity has been developed
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Certainly the largest See also:factor in the better state of things has been the growth of a strong See also:body of public See also:opinion as to the supreme value of the navy for See also:national and imperial welfare
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Another important and related matter that comes before the Board of Admiralty is the character and See also:design of ships
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The naval members of the Board indicate the classes and qualities desired, and it is the practice that the See also:sketch-design, presented in accordance with the instructions, is fully discussed by the first naval lord and the controller, and afterwards by the Board
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The design then takes further shape, and when it has received the final See also:sanction of the Board it cannot be altered without the sanction of the same authority
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A similar procedure is found in the other business of the Admiralty Board, such as shore-works, docks and the preparation of offensive and defensive plans of warfare—the last being a very important matter that falls into the operations of the Naval Intelligence Department, which has been described, though not with perfect accuracy, and certainly in no large sense, as " the See also:brain of the navy." That department is under the direction of the first naval lord
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The shipbuilding programme may be described as the corner-See also: The executive departments, except in regard to the hulls and machinery of ships and the special requirements of the director of works, do not make purchases of stores, that work resting with the director of navy contracts . Most of the important executive and spending branches are in the department of the controller, and it will be well, while we are dealing with the material side of the navy, to describe briefly their character and duties . The civil branches of the navy tributary to the controller are those of the director of naval construction, the engineer-in-chief, the See also:directors of naval ordnance, of dockyards and of stores, and the inspector of dockyard expense accounts . The first duty of the controller is, as has been explained, in relation to the design and construction of ships and their machinery, and the executive officials who have charge of that work are the director of naval construction and the engineer-in-chief, whose operations are closely inter-related . A vast administrative stride has been made in this particular branch of the admiralty . The work of design and construction now go forward together, and the admiralty designers are in See also:close touch with the work in hand at the dockyards . This has been largely brought about by the institution, in 1883, of the royal See also:corps of naval constructors, whose members interchange their duties between the designing of ships at the admiralty and practical work at the dockyards . It is through the director of naval construction that many of the spending departments are set in motion, since he is responsible both for the design of ships and for their construction . It deserves to be noticed, how-ever, that a certain obscurity exists in regard. to the relative duties of the director of naval construction and the director of dockyards touching constructive works in the yards . The former officer has also' charge of all the work given out to See also:contract, though it is the business of the dockyard officials to certify that the conditions of the contract have been fulfilled . In all this work the director of naval construction collaborates with the engineer-in-chief, who is an independent officer and not a sub-See also:ordinate, and whose procedure in regard to machinery closely resembles that adopted in the matter of contract-built ships . The director of naval ordnance is another officer of the Controller's Department whose operations are very closely related to the duties of the director of naval construction, and the relation is both intimate and sustained, for in the Ordnance Department everything that relates to guns, See also:gun-mountings, magazines, torpedo apparatus, See also:electrical fittings for guns, and other electrical fittings is centred . A singular feature of this branch of administration is that the navy long since lost direct control of ordnance matters, through the duties connected with naval gunnery, formerly in the hands of the See also:master-general of the ordnance, and those of the Board of Ordnance—a department common to the sea and land services—being vested in 1855 in the secretary of state for war . A more satisfactory state of things has grown up through the See also:appointment of the director of naval ordnance, taking the place of the naval officer who formerly advised the director of See also:artillery at the War Office . Expenditure on ordnance has also been transferred from the |