Assistant Chief of Naval Staff

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The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff was a Royal Navy officer directly responsible to the First Sea Lord for non-operational divisions of the Naval Staff, and held a position on the Board of Admiralty. The position was created in 1917 as one of two deputies with Board Status to whom the First Sea Lord delegated responsibility for the running of the Naval Staff. The position still exists today on the Admiralty Board which directs the Royal Navy.

History

Rear-Admiral Alexander L. Duff was appointed Assistant Chief of Naval Staff on 31 May, 1917.[1] The duties of the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, shared with the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff and the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, were defined in the Board's distribution of business of 27 June as:

Operations of War: All large Questions of Naval Policy and Maritime Warfare.

Fighting and Sea-going Efficiency of the Fleet and its Organisation; Distribution and Movements of all Ships in Commission and in Reserve.

Superintendence of the Naval Staff and the Hydrographic Department.

Naval Communications.[2]

The above might be misleading, however, for on 24 June specific duties, hitherto unpublished, had been assigned to the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff by Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff. These are given in the Duties section.

The Assistant Chief of Naval Staff ceased to be a member of the Board on 22 April, 1929.[3]

Duties

Assistant Chiefs of Naval Staff

Geoffrey Blake was also reported to have held this position.[Fact Check]

Naval Assistants to the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff

Alfred H. Taylor may have held this post at some point.[Fact Check]

Footnotes

  1. Duff Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 80.
  2. The National Archives. ADM 116/3392.
  3. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 117.
  4. "War Staff Duties." Jellicoe Papers. British Library. Add. MS. 48992. ff. 94-95.
  5. "War Staff Duties." Jellicoe Papers. British Library. Add. MS. 48992. f. 95.
  6. Duff Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 80.
  7. Duff Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. p. 80.
  8. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
  9. Fergusson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43 f. 199.
  10. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
  11. Chatfield Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 346.
  12. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123. Exact date inferred from Chatfield Service Record.
  13. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
  14. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
  15. Dreyer Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 156.
  16. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
  17. Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
  18. Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
  19. The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
  20. Tomkinson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 375.
  21. "Naval, Military, and Air Force" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 24 April, 1931. Issue 45805, col G, p. 6.
  22. Im Thurn Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/90. f. 188.
  23. Im Thurn Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/90. f. 188.
  24. "The Services" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 30 January, 1933. Issue 46355, col E, p. 16.
  25. Bailey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/47/15. f. 218.
  26. "The Services" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 14 August, 1934. Issue 46832, col F, p. 7.
  27. Kennedy-Purvis Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 31.
  28. Kennedy-Purvis Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 31.
  29. Buckley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51. f. 10/1098.
  30. Buckley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51. f. 10/1098.

Bibliography

  • Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division (1929). The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. Its Work and Development. B.R. 1845 (late C.B. 3013). Copy No. 8 at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.

Admiralty Seal.jpg
Board of Admiralty
Political Lords Commissioners
 • First Lord of the Admiralty
 • Civil Lord of the Admiralty
 • Fourth Civil Lord (1918 – 1919)
Naval Lords Commissioners
 • First Naval Lord (– 1904) • First Sea Lord (1904 – 1917) • First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff (1917 –)
 • Second Naval Lord (– 1869, 1872 – 1904) • Second Sea Lord (1904 – 1917) • Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel (1917 –)
 • Third Naval Lord (– 1869) • Third Lord and Controller (1869 – 1872) • Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy (1882 – 1904) • Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy (1904 – 1912) • Third Sea Lord (1912 – 1917) • Third Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Matériel (1917 – 1918) • Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy (1918 –)
 • Junior Naval Lord (– 1904) • Fourth Sea Lord (1907 – 1917) • Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport (1917 –)
 • Fifth Sea Lord (1917) • Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Service (1917 – 1918)
 • Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (1917 – 1940)
 • Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (1917 – 1929)
 • Deputy First Sea Lord (1917 – 1919)
Civil Lords Commissioners
 • Additional Civil Lord of the Admiralty (1882 – 1885, 1912 – 1919)
 • Third Civil Lord (1918 – 1919)
 • Controller (1917 – 1918)
Secretaries to the Board
 • First Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (– 1869) • Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1869 – 1904) • Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1904 –)
 • Additional Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1917 – 1918)
 • Second Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (– 1869) • Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1869 – 1877, 1880 –)
 • Naval Secretary to the Board of Admiralty (1872 – 1882)