The
Admiralty was formerly the authority in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
responsible for the command of the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
. 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 BoardThe Admiralty Board is the body established under the Defence Council of the United Kingdom for the administration of the Naval Service of the United Kingdom...
, which is a committee of the tri-service
Defence Council of the United KingdomThe Defence Council of the United Kingdom is the body legally entrusted with the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories and with control over the British armed forces, and is part of the Ministry of Defence.-Functions:...
and part of the
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
. The new Admiralty Board meets only twice a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is controlled by a
Navy BoardThe Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
(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 KingdomThe Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. Despite the title, the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is usually a full admiral...
and a
Rear-Admiral of the United KingdomThe Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. Despite the title, the Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is usually a full admiral...
, both of which are honorary offices.
History
The office of
Admiral of England (or
Lord Admiral and later
Lord High Admiral) was created around 1400, though there were before this Admirals of the Northern and Western Seas. In 1546 King
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
established the Council of the Marine, later to become the Navy Board, to oversee administrative affairs of the naval service. Operational control of the Navy remained the responsibility of the Lord High Admiral, who was one of the nine Great Officers of State.
In 1628,
Charles ICharles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...
put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission and control of the Royal Navy passed to a committee in the form of the Board of Admiralty. The office of Lord High Admiral passed a number of times in and out of commission until 1709, after which the office was almost permanently in commission (the last Lord High Admiral being the future
King William IVWilliam IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death on 20 June 1837...
in the early 19th century).
In 1831 the Navy Board was abolished as a separate entity and its duties and responsibilities were given over to the Admiralty.
In 1964 the Admiralty was subsumed into the Ministry of Defence along with the
War OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
and the
Air MinistryThe Air Ministry was formerly a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, existing from 1918 to 1964...
. Within the expanded Ministry of Defence are the new
Admiralty Board,
Army Board and
Air Force Board, each headed by the
Secretary of State for DefenceThe Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position....
. As mentioned above, there is also a new Navy Board in charge of the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy.
The Board of Admiralty
When the office of Lord High Admiral was in commission, as it was for most of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries until it reverted to
the CrownThe Crown is a corporation sole that in certain countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as in any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof, represents the legal embodiment of executive government...
, it was exercised by a Board of Admiralty, officially known as the
Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, &c. (alternatively of
EnglandThe Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state and island country to the northwest of continental Europe. At its zenith, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands—what is today the legal unit of...
,
Great BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
or the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
depending on the period).
The Board of Admiralty consisted of a number of
Lords Commissioners of the AdmiraltyThe Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy.Officially known as the Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland &c. The Lords...
. The Lords Commissioners were always a mixture of
admiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral. It is usually abbreviated to "Adm." or "ADM"...
s, known as Naval Lords or Sea Lords, and Civil Lords, normally politicians. The
quorumIn law, a quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative body necessary to conduct the business of that group. Ordinarily, this is a majority of the people expected to be there, although bodies may have a lower or higher quorum....
of the Board was two commissioners and a secretary.
The president of the Board was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty, who was a member of the
CabinetIn the politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of government ministers.H.M...
. After 1806, the First Lord of the Admiralty was always a civilian, while the professional head of the navy came to be (and is still today) known as the
First Sea LordThe First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
.
Admiralty buildings
The Admiralty complex lies between
WhitehallWhitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London...
,
Horse Guards ParadeHorse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments were held in the time of Henry VIII...
and
The MallThe Mall in London is the road running from Buckingham Palace at its western end to Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square at its eastern end, where it crosses Spring Gardens, which was where the Metropolitan Board of Works and, for a number of years, the London County Council were based...
and includes five buildings. Since the Admiralty no longer exists as a department, these are now used as an "office bank" by the British government:
The Admiralty
The oldest building, this was long known simply as
The Admiralty, and is now referred to popularly as the
Old Admiralty and officially as the
Ripley BuildingThomas Ripley ] - February 10, 1758) was an English architect. He was born in Yorkshire, first kept a coffee house in Wood Street, off Cheapside and in 1705 was admitted to the Carpenter's Company...
.
It is a three storey u-shaped brick building, and completed in 1726.
Alexander PopeAlexander Pope is a famous eighteenth century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is famous for his use of the heroic couplet.-...
implied the architecture is rather dull, lacking either the vigour of the
baroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
style which was fading from fashion at the time, or the austere grandeur of the Palladian style which was just coming into vogue. It is mainly notable for being perhaps the first purpose built office building in Great Britain. It contained a board room, other state rooms and offices and apartments for the Lords of the Admiralty.
Robert AdamRobert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
designed the screen which was added to the entrance front in 1788. Nowadays the Ripley Building is allocated to the
Cabinet OfficeThe Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The department was formed in December 1916 from the secretariat of the Committee of Imperial Defence under Sir Maurice Hankey, the first...
.
Admiralty House
Admiralty HouseAdmiralty House in London was designed by Sir Robert Taylor and his protege Samuel Pepys Cockerell and opened in 1786. Built at the request of Admiral Lord Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty in 1782-83 for "a few small rooms of my own", it was the official residence of First Lords of the Admiralty...
is a moderately proportioned mansion to the south of the Ripley Building, built in the late 18th century as the residence of the First Lord of the Admiralty, serving that purpose until 1964.
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
was one of its occupants. It lacks its own entrance from Whitehall, and is entered through the Ripley Building. It is a three storey building in yellow brick with
neo-classicisticNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
interiors. Its rear facade faces directly onto Horse Guards Parade. The architect was
Samuel Pepys CockerellSamuel Pepys Cockerell was an English architect. He was the son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezincote House, Gloucestershire, where the uniquely Orientalizing features...
. There are now three ministerial flats in the building
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-03367.pdf.
Old Admiralty Building (or Admiralty Extension or OAB)
This is the largest of the Admiralty Buildings. It was begun in the late 19th century and redesigned while the construction was in progress to accommodate the extra offices needed due to the naval arms race with the
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
. It is red brick building with white stone detailing in the Queen Anne style with French influences. It is now used by the
Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff refer to the building as the OAB (Old Admiralty Building).
Admiralty Arch
Admiralty ArchAdmiralty Arch is a large office building in London which incorporates an archway providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. It was designed by Sir Aston Webb, constructed by John Mowlem & Co and completed in 1912...
is linked to the Old Admiralty Building by a bridge and is part of the ceremonial route from Trafalgar Square to
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. It contains further office space currently used by the Cabinet Office.
The Admiralty Citadel
This is a squat windowless
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
fortress north west of Horse Guards Parade, now covered in ivy. See
Military citadels under LondonA number of military citadels are known to have been constructed underground in central London, dating mostly from the Second World War and the Cold War...
for further details.
"Admiralty" as a metaphor for "sea power"
In some cases, the term
admiralty is used in a wider sense, as meaning
sea powerNaval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
or
rule over the seas, rather than in strict reference to the institution exercising such power. For example, the well-known lines from Kipling's
Song of the Dead:
If blood be the price of admiralty,
Lord God, we ha' paid in full!
See also
- List of Lord High Admirals and First Lords of the Admiralty
- List of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
- Lord High Admiral of Scotland
The Lord High Admiral of Scotland was one of the Great Offices of State of Scotland before the Union with England in 1707.The office was one of considerable power, also known as Royal Scottish Admiralty, including command of the King's ships and sailors and inspection of all sea ports, harbours,...
- Admiralty administration
The administration of the British Admiralty consists of the following branches and officers.-Department of the Controller :Spending branches are in the department of the controller, and it will be well, while we are dealing with the material side of the Royal Navy, to describe briefly their...
External links
- The Admiralty at the Survey of London
The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive historical and architectural survey of the former County of London. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Arts-and-Crafts architect and social thinker, and was motivated by a desire to record and preserve London's...
online