Instructions for the Director of Naval Ordnance

Instructions for the office of Director of Naval Ordnance.

January, 1871

1. He is to act under the immediate direction of the Third Lord and Controller, and to consult with him on all points connected with the matériel of Naval Gunnery, and by direct communications in writing whenever desirable. The chief subjects referred to are those relating directly or indirectly to the construction, fitting, or preparing ships for commissions, so far as Gunnery matters are concerned; their magazines, shell-rooms, gun-carriages, slides and other fittings, including all the arrangements necessary to be provided by the shipbuilder for their proper and efficient working, as well as for their being easily kept in order.

2. On all questions connected with the Gunnery Staff of the Navy, including the personnel of the gunnery ships, the drills, general instructions, instructions and fighting arrangements of ships in commission, he is to be under the immediate direction of the First Sea Lord. He is to visit these ships when directed to do so, and to forward written reports on the same, when necessary, address to the Secretary of the Admiralty.

3. The general correspondence between the War Department and the Admiralty on subjects connected with Ordnance Stores, ammunition, the armament of ships, small arms, reserves of Ordnance Stores, &c, will be referred to the Director of Naval Ordnance. He is to report on these papers, and forward them to the Third Lord and Controller, who has the general superintendence of the Gunnery Department.

4. He will also be in immediate communication with the Controller-in-Chief and the Director of Ordnance at the War Office; and he is to endeavour, by personal communication, when possible, to bring about a speedy decision on all matters of detail connected with Naval Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, and to lessen the large amount of correspondence which has been carried on between the two Departments. Those points which cannot be determined by this personal and direct communication, will be settled between their Lordships and the Secretary of State for War, and the results notified in the usual way to the War Department.

5. My Lords having, in conjunction with the War Department, agreed to the constitution of a Council of Ordnance, the Director of Naval Ordnance is to make himself acquainted with the subjects which may from time to time be brought before it, and to govern himself accordingly.

6. In the absence of the Controller he is to consult verbally, or communicate in writing with the Chief Constructor of the Navy, who will, under the direction of the First Sea Lord, give such orders as may be necessary.

December, 1883

1. The Director of Naval Ordnance will advise the First Naval Lord on all questions connected with the Gunnery and Torpedo Training Establishments of the Navy.

2. He will advise the Controller of the Navy on all questions connected with the Ordnance and Torpedo material of the Navy, whether relating directly or indirectly to the design, construction, repairing, or fitting of ships, their guns, gun and torpedo mountings, magazines, shell-rooms, torpedo and electric fittings, connected with the armaments necessary for their efficient working and maintenance.

3. It will be his duty to suggest to the Controller of the Navy any change of armament in ships which he considers desirable; and no proposals for the armament of new ships, or for alterations of armaments, will be referred to him for his opinions and suggestions.

4. He will refer questions relating to Ordnance and Torpedo mountings, their introduction, change of pattern, alteration, &c., to the Director of Naval Construction for his concurrence, before they are sent to the Controller.

5. All drawings and specifications connected with Ordnance and Torpedo mountings are to be signed by him and the Director of Naval Construction.

6. All approved drawings will be registered in the drawing-office.

7. He will be placed in immediate and personal communication with the Director of Artillery and Stores at the War Office, and he will thus endeavour to facilitate decisions on all matters of detail connected with warlike material supplied to the Navy by the War Department.

8. He will use his discretion in referring to the Controller any changes in the details of fitting of guns or of gunnery material which may arise departmentally with the Director of Artillery, before their final approval for the service is decided upon.

9. Decisions on general and important questions respecting Naval ordnance, torpedoes, ordnance stores, &c. affecting the War Department will, as heretofore, be notified officially in the usual way by the Secretary of the Admiralty to the Under Secretary of State for War, and vice versâ.

10. He will be at liberty to communicate directly with the Captains of the Gunnery Ships and Torpedo Schools on all ordnance and torpedo subjects.

11. He will prepare and submit for their Lordships' approval, in sufficient time, the estimates for Ordnance and Torpedo material for the ensuing financial year.

12. He will be ex officio a member of the Defence Commission, and also of the Council of Ordnance.

13. Such Naval Executive assistance as my Lords may from time to time determine will be allowed him, and a staff of clerks of the Controller's Department will be specially allotted for the performance of the clerical work connected with his duties; these clerks will be under the control and direction of the Director of Naval Ordnance, in the same manner as the clerks of the Store Branch are under Director of Stores.

14. In the absence of the Controller, the Director of Naval Ordnance will act for him in respect of all matters relating to Ordnance and Torpedo material.

15. He will obtain the sanction of the First Sea Lord and of the Controller whenever he desires to be absent either on leave or on duty.

16. The Assistant to the Director of Naval Ordnance will act for the Director of Naval Ordnance in his absence.

April, 1917

1. The Director of Naval Ordnance is generally responsible to the Board of Admiralty in regard to matters connected with the armament of the Fleet. He is to keep their Lordships fully informed of all details in connection with the Naval Ordnance Service which ought to be brought to their notice respectively.

2. He is the head of the combined Naval Ordnance Department. He is vested with general control over the several Ordnance Establishments at Home and Abroad, and is to consider it an important part of his duty to ascertain that the instructions issued for the guidance of the Officers under him are duly observed. The Superintendent of Ordnance Stores and the Chief Inspector of Naval Ordnance are subordinate to him and in charge of their Divisions of the Naval Ordnance Department.

3. The Director of Naval Ordnance will advise the First Sea Lord on all matters affecting the general system of Gunnery exercises of the Fleet and all military questions connected therewith.

4. He will, when required by the Second Sea Lord, advise on questions connected with Gunnery training.

5. He will be responsible to the Third Sea Lord for all matters connected with the Ordnance material of the Navy, and is to prepare and submit the Annual Estimates required for gun-mountings, air-compressing machinery, &c. (Vote 8, Section III, Subhead G.).

6. He will advise the Director of Naval Construction in regard to all points in which armaments, gun mountings, gunnery electrical apparatus, and patterns affect the construction of ships, and in all questions involving the structural alterations in weights, &c., of ships, and will be jointly responsible with the Director of Naval Construction to the Third Sea Lord for the design and manufacture of gun mountings and sights. He will be jointly responsible with the Director of Torpedoes and Mining and the Director of Naval Construction to the Third Sea Lord for the placing and control of searchlights.

7. He will be consulted by the Director of Naval Construction (or by the Superintending Electrical Engineer as head of the Electrical Sub-Department) on all gunnery electrical matters affecting the fighting and general efficiency of ships, and any proposals involving changes in design or departure from previous practice in regard to such arrangements will be referred for his concurrence.

8. He will keep the Director of Naval Equipment informed of the progress of all gun mounting contracts.

9. He will be associated with the Superintendent of Contract Work in regard to the firing trials of armour plates and will. conjointly with him. recommend their acceptance or rejection.

10. He will refer to the Professional Departments concerned any questions entailing work in H.M. Dockyards, provision of Naval Stores, or expenditure under Vote 8.

11. He will be responsible to the Fourth Sea Lord for all matters affecting the demand and supply of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores. and is to keep him informed of all proposed changes in connection therewith.

12. He is to render a report to the Fourth Sea Lord on 1st June and 1st December of each year on the state of the reserves of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores, showing how far the standard of reserves has been maintained, also the actual stocks of such stores at all Depôts, and approved method of supply in War.

13. All drawings and specifications in connection with gun mountings are to be signed by him and the Director of Naval Construction, and all approved drawings will be registered in the Director of Naval Construction's Drawing Office.

14. He will be placed in immediate and personal communication with the Director of Artillery and the Officers of his Department at the War Office and Woolwich, also with the President, Ordnance Committee, and he will thus endeavour to facilitate decisions on all matters of detail connected with warlike material supplied to the Navy.

15. Decisions on general and important questions respecting Naval Ordnance, Ordnance Stores, &c., affecting the War Department, will, as heretofore, be notified officially in the usual way by the Secretary of the Admiralty to the Secretary, War Office, and vice versa.

16. No new description of Gunnery Ordnance Stores is to be examined or adopted for use in the Navy, even experimentally, without the concurrence of the Director of Naval Ordnance, and the approval of the Board if of sufficient importance. All reports as to the results of any experiment that may be authorised are to be referred to the Director of Naval Ordnance in the first instance.

17. He will be at liberty to communicate with the Commanding Officers of the Gunnery schools on all ordnance subjects.

18. He will submit for their Lordships' approval, in sufficient tie, the estimates for Naval Ordnance Material (Vote 9) for the ensuing financial year. He may approve the carrying out of work at the Naval Ordnance Depôts as provided for in the Estimates. He may also approve estimates for Ordnance Committee experiments at Woolwich or Shoeburyness up to a limit of 2,000l. in each case, subject to the condition that funds are available from the appropriate provision under the Vote.

19. When the estimates have been finally approved by the Admiralty and the Treasury, he will, in consultation with the Director of Navy Contracts and the War Office Authorities (in accordance with such procedure as may from time to time be approved by the Board), arrange as to the allocation of the orders between the Ordnance Factories and the Contractors.

20. He may approve reports of survey on old stores, &c., when the depreciation does not exceed 1,000l., but when in excess of that amount reference is to be made to the Financial Secretary. He may also approve the disposal of such articles by sale, &c.

21. He will be ex officio a member of the Council of Ordnance.

22. He will be provided with the necessary naval and civil staff for the performance of the work connected with his duties, but the Registry and Copying Room Staff attached to the Department of the Director of Naval Ordnance (Gunnery Branch) will act also for the Department of the Director of Torpedoes and Mining, and the Gunnery Branch will continue to be responsible for the financial duties in connection with the supply of torpedo tubes (Vote 8 III G.).

23. He will obtain the sanction of the Third Sea Lord whenever he desires to be absent either on leave or duty.

24. In the absence of the Director of Naval Ordnance the Assistant Director of Naval Ordnance will be primarily responsible for the work of the Department.

25. The Director of Naval Ordnance may sign correspondence with the Dockyards or other Admiralty Establishments at home and abroad, or with individual officers of H.M. Navy or Civil Service, on matters relating exclusively to the duties of his Department, but all correspondence communicating Board decisions, or relating to important questions of principle, or affecting other Departments, is to be in the name of the Board, and is to be signed by the Secretary.

By Command of Their Lordships,

[Signed] W Graham Greene

Admiralty,

April 1917.

Bibliography

• Preliminary and Further Reports (With Appendices) of the Royal Commissioners Appointed to Enquire into the Civil and Professional Administration of the Naval and Military Departments and the Relations of those Departments to Each Other and to the Treasury. C.—5979. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office. 1890.