Navy Board


The Navy Board was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the Navy Office.

History

The origins of the Navy Board can be traced back to the 13th century via the office of Keeper of the King's Ports and Galleys, later known as the Clerk of the King's Ships. The management of the navy expanded with the Keeper of the Storehouses, appointed in 1514, and the Clerk Comptroller in 1522. The Lieutenant of the Admiralty, Treasurer of Marine Causes, and Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy were all added in 1544, and a seventh officer, the Master of Naval Ordnance, was added a year later. By January 1545, this group was already working as a body known as the Council of the Marine or King's Majesty's Council of His Marine.
In the first quarter of 1545, an official memorandum proposed the establishment of a new organisation that would formalize a structure for administering the navy with a clear chain of command. The Navy Board was officially appointed to this role by letters patent of Henry VIII on the 24th of April 1546. It was directed by the Lieutenant of the Admiralty until 1557. The board was charged with overseeing the administrative affairs of the navy; directive, executive and operational duties of the Lord High Admiral remained with the Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office.
In 1557 the Lieutenant of the Admiralty ceased to direct the Navy Board, and that role was given to the Treasurer of the Navy, also known as the Senior Commissioner. The Navy Board remained independent until 1628, when it became a subsidiary body of the Board of Admiralty, now reporting to the First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1660, the Treasurer of the Navy ceased to direct the board and was replaced by the Comptroller, who now held the new joint title of "Chairman of the Board".
In 1832, Sir James Graham's proposals to restructure the Naval Service led to the abolition of the Navy Board, along with its subsidiary boards for Sick and Hurt, Transport, and Victualling. Operational functions were taken over by the Board of Admiralty, and administrative functions were dispersed between the Naval Lords.

Duties and responsibilities

The Navy Board as a whole held responsibilities including:
  • the construction and maintenance of ships through the Royal Dockyards of Deptford, Woolwich, Portsmouth, and Chatham, as well as the operations of these dockyards and other naval establishments.
  • the procurement of victuals, stores, supplies, and services for the fleet and provision of ordnance items.
  • civilian and naval pay.
  • the appointment of junior officers and warrant officers.
Individual officials held the following responsibilities:
  • The Lieutenant of the Admiralty initially presided over the Council of the Marine but was later superseded by the treasurer.
  • The Treasurer of the Navy was senior commissioner of the board from 1564 to 1660 and controlled and directed all naval finance – though in practice his responsibilities were later increasingly devolved to the Comptroller.
  • The Comptroller of the Navy was in charge of naval spending and also acted as chairman of the board from 1660 until its abolition in 1832.
  • The Surveyor of the Navy was in charge of naval shipbuilding, ship design and running the Royal Dockyards.
  • The Clerk of the Navy was in charge of the day-to-day running of the board and the administration of its work and acted as chief secretary to the Navy Office.
  • The Surveyor of Marine Victuals was responsible for the administration of victualling yards and supply of food and beverages for the Royal Navy from 1550 to 1679. This office was abolished and replaced by the Victualling Board in 1683.
  • The Master of Naval Ordnance was a specifically assigned officer from the Ordnance Office responsible for the supply of Naval Ordnance and was briefly a member from 1561 to 1569.
  • The Comptroller of Storekeepers' Accounts, the Comptroller of Treasurer's Accounts and the Comptroller of Victualling Accounts were posts created to relieve the Comptroller of the Navy of these duties.
Note: The Navy Pay Office was independent of the Board; though the Board's Commissioners were required to authorize payments, all funds were held and issued by the Pay Office .

Subsidiary boards

As the size of the fleet grew, the Admiralty sought to focus the activity of the Navy Board on two areas: ships and their maintenance, and naval expenditure. Therefore, from the mid-to-late 17th century, a number of subsidiary boards were established to oversee other aspects of the board's work. These included:
  • The Victualling Board. Responsible for providing naval personnel with food, drink and supplies.
  • The Sick and Hurt Board. Responsible for providing medical support services to the navy and managing prisoners of war.
  • The Transport Board. Responsible for the provision of transport services and for the transportation of supplies and military equipment.
Each of these subsidiary boards went on to gain a degree of independence, though they remained, nominally at least, overseen by the Navy Board.

Principal officers and commissioners

Tudor and Stuart period

List of Principal Officers and Commissioners 1546-1660 included.
  • the Lieutenant of the Admiralty,
  • the Clerk of the Navy, originally called Clerk of the Kings Ships
  • the Surveyor of Marine Victuals .
  • the Comptroller of the Navy, originally called the Clerk Comptroller of the Navy was in charge of Naval spending he also acted as Chairman of the Board from 1660.
  • the Keeper of the Storehouses, also called Clerk of the Storehouses he was briefly a member in his duties were later merged with the treasurers.
  • the Master of Naval Ordnance, specifically assigned officer from the Ordnance Board was briefly a member from.
Four to seven "Principal Officers" had an important role in the early administration of the Navy Office; however some were styled differently prior to 1660. Between 1625 and 1640, Charles I added a fifth. The Navy Board was given autonomy by Edward VI's Ordinances, but remained subordinate to the Lord High Admiral until 1628. This – at times ambiguous – relationship with the Admiralty was an enduring characteristic of the board and was one of the reasons behind its eventual demise in 1832.

Commonwealth and Restoration period

During the Commonwealth, the business of both the Navy Board and the Admiralty was carried out by a committee of Parliament. Following the Restoration, James, Duke of York, oversaw the reconstitution of the Navy Board. Alongside the aforementioned "Principal Officers" further officials were appointed to serve as "Commissioners" of the Navy, and together these constituted the board. By tradition, commissioners were always Navy officers of the rank of post-captain or captain who had retired from active service at sea.
List of Principal Officers and Commissioners 1660-1796 included.
''Additional Commissioners added after 1666, who were soon given specific duties
In 1796 the board was reconstituted: the post of Clerk of the Acts was abolished, as were the three controllers of accounts. Henceforward, the board would consist of the controller and a deputy controller, the surveyor, and around seven other commissioners to whom no specific duties were attached.
The treasurer, though still technically a member of the board, was seldom in attendance. In fact, the post of treasurer was by this stage little more than a sinecure; the main work of his department was carried out by its senior clerk, the Paymaster of the Navy.
Following the abolition of the office of Clerk of the Acts, the post of secretary to the board was created; as well as overseeing the administrative department, the secretary attended meetings of the board and took minutes, but he was not himself a commissioner and did not therefore have a vote.
List of Principal Officers and Commissioners 1796-1832 included:
To all of these lists must be added the Commissioners of the Navy with oversight of the Royal Navy Dockyards. Normally resident at their respective dockyards and thus known as resident commissioners, these commissioners did not normally attend the board's meetings in London; nevertheless, they were considered full members of the Navy Board and carried the full authority of the board when implementing or making decisions within their respective yards both at home and overseas. Not every Dockyard had a resident commissioner in charge, but the larger Yards, both at home and overseas, generally did. Chatham Dockyard, Devonport Dockyard, Portsmouth Dockyard, Sheerness Dockyard, Trincomalee Dockyard, and Bermuda Dockyard all had Resident Commissioners.
After the abolition of the board in 1832, the duties of these commissioners were taken over by commissioned officers: usually an admiral-superintendent at the largest yards or a captain-superintendent at smaller yards.