Lords - members of the Admiralty Committee (also - Lords-assessors , English Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ) - members of the committee for the duties of the Supreme Lord Admiral , who led until 1964 the British Admiralty - the governing body of the Royal Navy of Great Britain.
The Admiralty Committee ( English Board of Admiralty ) was headed by the First Lord of the Admiralty ( English First Lord of the Admiralty ), also referred to as First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty ( English First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty ).
History
The position of High Lord Admiral was created to manage the Royal Navy around 1400 . The High Lord Admiral was one of the highest dignitaries of the state and headed the Admiralty . The duties required by the position could be performed by one person (which happened before 1628 ), directly by the Crown (which was between 1684 - 1689 and 1964 - 2011 ), or by the Admiralty Committee .
Officially referred to as Members of the Committee on the Duties of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc. (according to the historical period, the end of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc. might change - "England", "Britain", "United kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland"), the Lords - members of the Admiralty Committee existed only when the position of the Supreme Lord Admiral was collegial, ie it took more than one person century, and a special commission. During those periods when this position was held by one person, the Council of the Lord High Admiral acted when he ( English Council of the Lord High Admiral ), who assisted the Lord High Admiral and in fact fulfilled many of the duties of the Admiralty Committee ( Board of Admiralty ) .
After the Acting Lord High Admiral, the Duke of York , who was a Catholic, was dismissed from his post in accordance with the “ Act on the oath ” of 1673, a Committee was drawn up that included from 12 to 16 members of the Privy Council who did not receive a salary from the fleet . In 1679 the order was changed, the number of members of the Committee was reduced to seven, they were assigned a salary, and they were not necessarily members of the Privy Council. This was the case (with the exception of the periods 1702–1709 and 1827–1828 , when one Lord Admiral was appointed) until the merger of the Admiralty with the Ministry of Defense in 1964 .
Composition
The Admiralty Committee usually consisted of Sea Lords (that is, active admirals; Eng. Naval Lords or Eng. Sea Lords ) and Civil Lords (ie, politicians; Eng. Civil Lords ).
Since 1831 , the Admiralty has also been subordinate to the administrative body - the Naval Committee ( Navy Board ), with its subcommittees: the Supply Committee ( Victualling Board ) and the Sick and Hurt Board . Until 1756 and after 1794, the Transport Board also existed. The Arms Committee ( Eng. Ordinance Board ) stood apart, working in the interests of both the fleet and the army. The structure of subordination changed, and at different times membership in the Admiralty Committee could automatically give - or not give - membership in the Naval Committee.
Only some of the assessors were professionals, the rest received posts as members of the ruling party, in exchange for political support. Therefore, they were not expected to participate more than sign papers passing through their offices (all official record keeping was conducted in 3 copies). Thus, under the ministry of Lord North , during the American War of Independence , only two of the seven members of the committee were sailors. [1] With such a bureaucracy, energetic chairmen and knowledgeable secretaries, who often did all the current work, were all the more important. For example, the Chairman of the Naval Committee from 1778 to 1780, Charles Middleton , by the time of Trafalgar himself became the First Lord.
The chairman of the committee, the First Lord of the Admiralty, was a member of the Cabinet . After 1806, the First Lord of the Admiralty was always a civilian - a politician, as was the Civil Lord , who is responsible for the construction of infrastructure and is a non-Cabinet minister. Four "sea lords" are professional naval sailors in the admiral rank; the admiral who led the fleet is called the First Sea Lord , usually with the rank of Admiral of the fleet . Starting from 1805, specific responsibilities were entrusted to various Sea Lords, and also the Deputy Lords and civil servants were periodically introduced to the Committee of Lords. In 1940–1946, the composition of the Admiralty Committee was the most numerous and included the following positions:
- First Lord of the Admiralty
- First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff
- Deputy First Sea Lord (1942—1946)
- Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff - reconnaissance, operational work, navigation service (since 1924)
- Deputy Heads of the Naval Staff for Procurement, Foreign Relations, Internal Affairs, Armament (1942—1946)
- Second sea lord and chief of staff of the fleet
- Third Sea Lord and Fleet Controller
- Deputy Controllers - research, scientific and technical development, construction and repair
- Controller for the construction and repair of merchant ships (1940—1946)
- Fourth Sea Lord and Head of Supply Service
- Civil Lord and Head of Construction Service
- Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of the Air Force of the Fleet (1917-1965)
- Parliamentary and financial secretary - contracts and procurement (since 1929)
- Permanent Secretary - all departments and divisions of the Secretariat, Military Archives (since 1924)
The quorum of the Committee consisted of two lords and a secretary.
Appeal
The common title for the Lords - members of the Admiralty Committee was the " Honorable Lords - members of the Admiralty Committee" (the Right Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ), but short forms such as "Their Lordships" (or "My Lords are members of the Admiralty Committee" ( eng. My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ). As an informal short name was used "Lords of the Admiralty" ( eng. The Lords of the Admiralty ).
The title “Lord” was not applied to individual members of the committee, unless they were peers (as, for example, Lord Sandwich ).
Liquidation
With the liquidation of the independence of the Admiralty and its merger with the Ministry of Defense in 1964, control over the navy was transferred to the United Kingdom Defense Council ( English Defense Council of the United Kingdom ), where the Admiralty Committee ( English Admiralty Board ) is included along with other committees types of armed forces - the Army and the Royal Air Force .
The Defense Council is chaired by the Minister of Defense of Great Britain , he is also concurrently the chairman of all three subordinate committees, and the post of First Lord of the Admiralty has ceased to exist, but the First , Second, and Third Sea Lords still exist. The modern Admiralty Committee meets in full only twice a year. It consists of two unequal parts : ministers-politicians on the one hand, and other members, naval and civilian professionals, including the Sea Lords, on the other. Inside the Admiralty Committee they form the new Naval Committee ( eng. Navy Board ), which is engaged in the daily activities of the fleet. [2]
The title of High Lord Admiral in 1964 returned to the Crown; in 2011, Queen Elizabeth II assigned him to the Duke of Edinburgh .
See also
- List of First Lords of the Admiralty
Notes
- ↑ Navies and the American Revolution, 1775−1783 . Robert Gardiner, ed. Chatham Publishing, 1997, p.140-141. ISBN 1-55750-623-X
- ↑ Royal Navy Organization