Surveyor of the Navy
Office of the Surveyor of the Navy | |
---|---|
Ensign of the Royal Navy | |
Department of the Admiralty | |
Member of | Navy Board (1546-1832), Board of Admiralty (1832-1848) |
Reports to | First Lord of the Admiralty |
Nominator | First Lord of the Admiralty |
Appointer | Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council |
Term length | Not fixed (typically 3–7 years) |
Inaugural holder | Benjamin Gonson |
Formation | 1546-1869 |
The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy[1] was a former principal commissioner and member of both the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1546 until its abolition in 1832 and then a member Board of Admiralty from 1848 to 1859. In 1860 the office was renamed Controller of The Navy until 1869 when the office was merged with that of the Third Naval Lord's the post holder held overall responsibility for the design of British warships.
History
The office was established in 1546 under Henry VIII of England when the post holder was styled as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy until 1611. Although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each Royal Dockyard was primarily the responsibility of the individual Master Shipwright at that Royal Dockyard. For vessels built by commercial contract (limited to wartime periods, when the Royal Dockyards could not cope with the volume of work), the Surveyor's office drew the designs to which the private shipbuilders were required to build the vessels. From 1745 design responsibility was centred in the Surveyor's office, with the Master Shipwrights in the Dockyard responsible for implementation. In 1832 the Navy Board was abolished and all of its functions were brought under the sole control of the Board of Admiralty.
Before 1832 the building, fitting out and repairing of HM ships were the responsibility of the Navy Board. Originally the principal officer most concerned was the Surveyor of the Navy, who estimated annual stores requirements, inspected ships' stores and kept the Fleet's store-books and repair-bills. In the eighteenth century his duties passed increasingly to the Comptroller of the Navy. The office of Surveyor did not disappear, however, and after 1832, when the office of Comptroller was abolished, the Surveyor was made the officer responsible under the First Sea Lord for the material departments, and became a permanent member of the Board of Admiralty in 1848.[2] In 1859 the name of the office was changed to Controller of the Navy[3] until 1869 when the office was amalgamated with the office of the Third Naval Lord.
Office holders
In date order (note that the post of Surveyor was frequently shared, which enabled the Admiralty to have competitive designs prepared for evaluation):
- Surveyors and Riggers of the Navy
- Vice-Admiral, Sir Thomas Spert, 1524–1541[1]
- Benjamin Gonson 24 April 1546 – June 1549.[1]
- Admiral Sir William Wynter 8 July 1549.[1]
- Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Palmer 11 July 1589.[1]
- Sir John Trevor 20 December 1598 –1611.[1]
- Sir Richard Bingley 1611–1619.
- Thomas Norreys 12 February 1619 – 1625.
- Joshua Downing 1625–1628.
- Sir Thomas Aylesbury 1628.
- Kenrick Edisbury 19 December 1632.
- Vice-Admiral William Batten 26 September 1638.
- John Holland 16 February 1649.
- George Payler 1654.
- Sir William Batten 20 June 1660.
- Thomas Middleton 25 November 1667.
- Sir John Tippetts 5 September 1672.
- Edmund Dummer 9 August 1692.
- Daniel Furzer 22 September 1699.
- Daniel Furzer and William Lee (jointly) 19 October 1706.
- Daniel Furzer (alone) 16 November 1714.
- Jacob Ackworth 6 April 1715.
- Sir Jacob Ackworth and Joseph Allin (jointly) 11 July 1745.
- Joseph Allin (alone) 16 March 1749.
- Thomas Slade and William Bately (jointly) 4 September 1755.[4]
- Thomas Slade and John Williams (jointly) 28 June 1765.[5]
- John Williams (alone) 22 February 1771.[5]
- Sir John Williams and Edward Hunt (jointly) 11 April 1778.[5]
- Edward Hunt and John Henslow (jointly) 13 December 1784.[6]
- John Henslow (alone) 7 December 1786.[6]
- John Henslow and William Rule (jointly) 11 February 1793.[6]
- Sir William Rule and Henry Peake (jointly) 20 June 1806.[7]
- Joseph Tucker and Robert Seppings (jointly) 14 June 1813. (Seppings became Sir Robert Seppings from 20 February 1822.[8]
- Sir Robert Seppings (alone) 1 March 1831.[9]
- Sir William Symonds, 9 June 1832-October 1847[10]
- Sir Baldwin Wake Walker 5 February 1848 – 1859.[11]
In 1859 the post of Surveyor of the Navy was changed to Controller of the Navy
- Rear-Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, 1859–1861
- Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Robinson, 1861–1869
In 1869 the post of Controller of the Navy's post was merged with the office of the Third Naval Lord
Timeline
- Navy Board, Surveyor of the Navy, 1546–1832
- Board of Admiralty, Surveyor of the Navy, 1832–1859
- Board of Admiralty, Controller of the Navy, 1859–1912
- Board of Admiralty, Directorate of Naval Construction, 1913–1958
- Board of Admiralty, Ship Department, Naval Construction Division, 1959–1964
References
- ^ a b c d e f Childs, David (2009). Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation of Greatness. Seaforth Publishing. p. 298. ISBN 9781473819924.
- ^ Hamilton, Sir Richard Vesey (1896). Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs. G. Bell and sons. pp. 34 to 36.
Naval Administration, by Sir Vesey Hamilton, G.C.B. (1896).
- ^ Archives, The National. "Records of the Surveyor of the Navy and successors". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives, 1620-1979. Retrieved 5 June 2017. This article contains text from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
- ^ Lavery, The Ship of the Line, p96
- ^ a b c Lavery, The Ship of the Line, p106 and p124
- ^ a b c Lambert, The Last Sailing Battlefleet, p59
- ^ Lambert, The Last Sailing Battlefleet, p65
- ^ Lambert, The Last Sailing Battlefleet, p59, 65 and p66
- ^ Lambert, The Last Sailing Battlefleet, p65 and p66
- ^ Lambert, The Last Sailing Battlefleet, p67 and 68
- ^ Lambert, The Last Sailing Battlefleet, p56
Sources
- Lambert, Andrew The Last Sailing Battlefleet, Maintaining Naval Mastery 1815-1850, published Conway Maritime Press, 1991. ISBN 0-85177-591-8.
- Childs, David (2009). Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation of Greatness. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781473819924.
- Hamilton, Sir Richard Vesey (1896). Naval Administration: The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, and of the Civil Departments it Directs. G. Bell and Sons. London.
- Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
- Principal officers and commissioners, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 7: Navy Board Officials 1660-1832 (1978), pp. 18–25. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16833.
Attribution
This article contains text from this source http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C712, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
- v
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of Admiralty and Naval affairs
the First Lord
- Board of Admiralty
- Navy Board
- Navy Office
- Navy Pay Office
- Office of the Naval Secretary
- Office of the First Naval Lord
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Admirals
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War and Naval Staff
the First Sea Lord
strategy, tactical doctrine
requirements
under the War and
Naval Staff
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and organisations
under the Sea Lords
- Admiralty Area Cash Offices
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- Admiralty Gunnery Establishment
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- Admiralty Labour Department
- Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment
- Admiralty Materials Laboratory
- Admiralty Mine Design Department
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- Admiralty Naval Aircraft Materials Laboratory
- Admiralty Record Office
- Admiralty Regional Offices
- Admiralty Research Laboratory
- Admiralty Signal Establishment
- Admiralty Signals and Radar Establishment
- Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment
- Admiralty Surveying Service
- Admiralty Torpedo Experimental Establishment
- Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment
- Admiralty Underwater Weapons Launching Establishment
- Architectural and Engineering Works Department
- Air Equipment and Naval Photography Department
- Air Department
- Air Materiel Department
- Air Personnel Department
- Amphibious Warfare Headquarters
- Armament Supply Department
- Board of Invention and Research
- Board of Longitude
- Boom Defence Department
- Boom Defence and Marine Salvage Department
- Britannia Royal Naval College
- Chemical Board
- Chemical Department
- Civil Catering Department
- Civil Engineer in Chiefs Department
- Coastguard and Reserves Branch
- Combined Operations Headquarters
- Commissioner for Property and Income-tax for the Naval Department
- Compass Department
- Contract and Purchase Department
- Council of Naval Education
- Dental Examining Board
- Department of Radio Equipment
- Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy
- Department of Aeronautical and Engineering Research
- Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development
- Department of Naval Assistant (Foreign) to Second Sea Lord
- Department of Naval Education
- Operational Research
- Department of Personal Services and Officer Appointments
- Department of Physical Research
- Department of Physical Training & Sports
- Department of Radio Equipment
- Department of Research Programmes and Planning
- Department of Superintendent of de-magnetisation
- Department of the Admiral of the Training Service
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- Department of the Chief of Naval Information
- Department of the Chief Scientist
- Department of the Civil Engineer-in-Chief
- Department of the Comptroller of Steam Machinery
- Department of the Comptroller of Victualling and Transport Services
- Department of the Controller of the Navy
- Department of the Controller-General of Merchant Shipbuilding
- Department of the Controller for Navy Pay
- Department of the Deputy Controller for Auxiliary Shipbuilding
- Department of the Deputy Controller for Dockyards and Shipbuilding
- Department of the Director Contract-Built Ships
- Department of the Director-General Aircraft
- Department of the Director-General of Manpower
- Department of the Director-General, Supply and Secretariat Branch
- Department of the Director of Aircraft Maintenance and Repair
- Department of the Director of Contract Labour
- Department of the Director of Dockyards
- Department of the Director of Electrical Engineering
- Department of the Director of Manning
- Department of the Director of Merchant Shipbuilding
- Department of the Director of Merchant Shipbuilding and Repairs
- Department of the Director of Merchant Ship Repairs
- Department of the Director of Naval Construction
- Department of the Director of Naval Equipment
- Department of the Director of Naval Recruiting
- Department of the Director of Naval Weather Service
- Department of the Director of Personal Services
- Department of the Director of Physical Training and Sports
- Department of the Director of Torpedoes and Mining
- Department of the Director of Transports
- Department of the Director of Underwater Weapons
- Department of the Director of Underwater Weapons Materials
- Department of the Director of Unexploded Bombs
- Department of the Director of Warship Production
- Department of the Director of Welfare and Service Conditions
- Department of the Director of Wreck Dispersal
- Department of the Flag Officer Sea Training
- Department of the Engineer in Chief
- Department of the Paymaster Director-General
- Department of the Inspector of Anti-Aircraft Weapons
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- Department of the Inspector-General of Naval Hospitals and Fleets
- Department of the Medical Director-General of the Navy
- Department of the Physician of the Navy
- Department of the Physician General of the Navy
- Department of the Storekeeper-General of the Navy
- Department of the Surveyor of Buildings
- Department of the Surveyor of Dockyards
- Directorate-General, (Naval Manpower and Training)
- Directorate General Training
- Dockyards and Fleet Maintenance Department
- Dockyards Branch
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- Dockyard Schools
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- Medical Consultative Board
- Medical Department
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- Movements Department
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- Naval Artillery and Torpedo Department
- Naval Engineering College
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- Naval Historical Branch
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- Naval Intelligence Department
- Naval Medical Service
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- Naval Training Department
- Naval Works Department
- Navy, Army and Air Force Institute
- Navy and Army Canteen Board
- Navy Works Department
- Navigation Department
- Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope
- Office of the Admiral Commanding Coast Guard and Reserves
- Office of the Admiral Commanding, Reserves
- Office of the Admiralty Chemist
- Office of the Adviser on the Naval Construction to the Board of Admiralty
- Office of the Assistant Controller
- Office of the Assistant Controller Research and Development
- Office of the Clerk of the Journals
- Office of the Chief Polaris Executive
- Office of the Deputy Controller of Navy
- Office of the Deputy Controller Production
- Office of Extra Naval Assistant to Second Sea Lord
- Office of the Inspector Gun Mountings
- Office of the Keeper of Records
- Office of the Senior Psychologist (Naval)
- Office of the Senior Psychologist of the Navy
- Office of the Translator of French and Spanish Languages
- Office of the Vice Controller Air
- Office of the Vice Controller of the Navy
- Organisation and Methods Department
- Packet Service
- Regional Organisation for Merchant Shipbuilding and Repairs
- Royal Corps of Naval Constructors
- Royal Flying Corps
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- Office of the Chaplain of the Fleet
- Royal Naval Academy
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- Royal Naval Cordite Factories
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- Royal Naval College, Osborne
- Royal Naval Engineering College
- Royal Naval Film Corporation
- Royal Naval Hospital
- Royal Naval Medical Depot
- Royal Naval Minewatching Service
- Royal Naval Mine Depot
- Royal Naval Patrol Service
- Royal Naval Scientific Service
- Royal Naval Sick Quarters
- Royal Naval Torpedo Depot
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
- Royal Naval War College
- Royal Naval War College, Portsmouth
- Royal Navy Dockyard
- Royal Navy Medical Service
- Royal Navy Shore Signal Service
- Royal Observatory, Greenwich
- Royal School of Naval Architecture
- Salvage Department
- School of Mathematics and Naval Construction
- Scientific Research and Experiment Department
- Sea Transport Branch
- Sea Transport Department
- Sea Transport Division
- Ship Department
- Ship Design Department
- Signal Department
- Signal School
- Sixpenny Office
- Statistics Department
- Steam Department
- Superintendent of De-magnetisation
- Torpedo Experimental Establishment
- Transport Department
- Undersurface Warfare Department
- Victualling Department
- Volunteer Boys and Cadet Corps
- Weapons Department
- Weapons Department (Naval)
- Women's Royal Naval Service
- Wireless Telegraphy Board
- 1st Fleet
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- 3rd Fleet
- Commander-in-Chief, Africa
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- Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf
- Australia Station
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- New Zealand Division
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- Commander-in-Chief, North Sea
- Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands
- Pacific Fleet
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- Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
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- Queenstown Station
- Royal East African Navy
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- Flag Officer Submarines
- Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth
- Reserve Fleet
- Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic
- South East Coast of America Station
- Commander-in-Chief, Thames and Medway
- West Africa Squadron
- Flag Officer, West Africa
- Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary
- Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty
- Accountant-General's Department
- Comptroller of the Navy
- Department of the Surveyor of the Navy
and the Admiralty Secretariat
- Department of the Permanent Secretary
Permanent Secretary
- Admiralty Central Copying Branch
- Admiralty Central Registry Branch
- Admiralty Record Office
- Admiralty Library
- Admiralty Secretariat
- Air Branch
- Civil Branch
- Legal Branch
- Military Branch
- Naval Branch
- Ship Branch
- Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Department of the Additional Civil Lord of the Admiralty
Civil Lords
- Accountant-General's Department
- Contract and Purchase Department
- Department of the Director of Contract Labour
- Department of the Surveyor of Buildings
- Department of the Director of Works
- Greenwich Hospital Department
- Works Loan Department
- Admiralty Judicial Department
- Admiralty court
- High Court of Admiralty
- Office of the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty
- High Court of Justice
- Office of the Judge Advocate of the Fleet
- Office of the Marshall High Court of the Admiralty
- Office of the Admiralty Advocate
- Office of the Admiralty Proctor
- Office of the Chief Naval Judge Advocate
- Office of the Counsel for the Affairs of the Admiralty and Navy
- Office of the Counsel to the Admiralty
- Office of the Deputy Judge Advocate of the Fleet
- Office of the Receiver of Droits High Court of Admiralty
- Office of the Registrar High Court of the Admiralty
- Office of the Solicitor for the Affairs of the Admiralty
- Office of the Solicitor to the Admiralty and Navy
- Office of the Solicitor to the Admiralty
- Office of the Counsel to the Admiralty
- Court of Admiralty for the Cinque Ports
- King's Bench Division (Admiralty)
- Queens's Bench Division (Admiralty)
- Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division
- Vice Admiralty courts
- Colonial Courts of Admiralty