Admiral Superintendent, Portsmouth
Ensign of the Royal Navy
Admiralty, Ministry of Defence
Reports toSecond Sea Lord
NominatorFirst Lord of the Admiralty, Second Sea Lord
AppointerFirst Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for Defence
Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term lengthNot fixed (typically 2–4 years)
Inaugural holderRear-Admiral Frederick Lewis Maitland
Formation1649-1971

The Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth[1] was the Royal Navy officer in command of the Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth from 1832 to 1971; prior to this date a resident Commissioner of the Navy Board had had oversight of the yard, since 1649. In May 1971 command responsibility for naval staff in the dockyard was merged into the wider local command structure, initially under the dual designation of Flag Officer, Portsmouth and Admiral Superintendent, Portsmouth [2][3] but in July 1971 was again renamed Flag Officer Spithead and Port Admiral Portsmouth after a couple of months. These joint titles was used until 1975, and despite the name change the command still covered the same geographic area and operational responsibilities until 1996 when its ceased to exist as a separate command appointment and its responsibilities were assumed by the staff of Flag Officer First Flotilla.

History

From 1546 until 1832 prime responsibility for administering H.M. Royal Navy Dockyards lay with the Navy Board, and resident commissioners who were naval officers though civilian employees of the Navy Board, not sea officers [4] in charge of the day-to-day operational running of the dockyard and superintendence of its sea officer and ratings staff, following the abolition of that board its functions were merged within the Admiralty and a new post styled Admiral-superintendent was established the admiral-superintendent usually held the rank of rear-admiral though sometimes commodore and vice-admiral. His immediate subordinate was an officer known as the captain of the dockyard (or captain of the port from 1969). This followed the appointment of a (civilian) Chief Executive of the Royal Dockyards in September 1969[5] and the creation of a centralised Royal Dockyards Management Board that were responsible for the civilian functions and staff at dockyards.[6] Admiral-superintendents ceased to be appointed in the royal navy after 15 September 1971, and existing post-holders were renamed port admirals.[7] In May 1971 the post holder was given wider responsibilities and the additional title of Flag Officer, Portsmouth and along with Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth until July 1971 when Flag Officer, Portsmouth's title was renamed Flag Officer, Spithead and Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth became Port Admiral Portsmouth until August 1975 when the name was changed again to Flag Officer, Portsmouth and Port Admiral Portsmouth until October 1996, when it ceased to exist as a separate formation that was then absorbed into the Flag Officer First Flotilla's responsibilities, later renamed Portsmouth Flotilla.

Office Holders

H.M Dockyard Portsmouth was originally administered by an Admiral superintendent from 1832 to 1971.[8][9]

Captain of Portsmouth dockyard, and deputy superintendent

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017)

Included:[12]

Captain of the Port, Portsmouth

Post existed until 1994 though this is an incomplete list

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Royal Naval dockyard staff". nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives, UK, 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  2. ^ Mackie, Colin, (2017), Royal Navy Senior Appointments, Gulabin, pp. 101-102.
  3. ^ Archives, National. "Records of the Ministry of Defence Records of Administrative Departments DEFE 69, Ministry of Defence, Navy, Registered Files and Branch Folders, Flag Officer, Portsmouth". National Archives. National Archives, 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  4. ^ Archives, The National. "Royal Naval dockyard staff - The National Archives". The National Archives. the National Archives. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  5. ^ "House of Commons 15 October 1969". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 15 October 1969.
  6. ^ "House of Commons 27 July 1971". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 27 July 1971.
  7. ^ "Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust".
  8. ^ Mackie, Colin, (2017), Royal Navy Senior Appointments, Gulabin, pp. 101-102.
  9. ^ "History In Portsmouth:Admiral Superinrendents (1832-1971), transcribed from "The Illustrated History of Portsmouth" by William Gates. The Admiral Superintendent replaced the Commissioner by Order in Council dated 27 June 1832. Sir Michael Seymour becoming the first under that title by virtue of his existing tenure". historyinportsmouth.co.uk. The Navy Lists, 1832-1864. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  10. ^ O’Byrne, William R. (Feb 6, 2012). A Naval Biographical Dictionary - Volume 2. Andrews UK Limited. p. 712. ISBN 9781781502792.
  11. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36862. London. 2 September 1902. p. 4.
  12. ^ Mackie, Colin, (2017), Royal Navy Senior Appointments, Gulabin, pp. 103-104.

Sources

External links

Department of Admiralty
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