Instructions for the Director of Torpedoes and Mining
Instructions for the Director of Torpedoes and Mining at the Admiralty.
Instructions, 1917
1.—The Director of Torpedoes and Mining will be responsible to the Board for the efficient performance of the duties of his Department, which include the following:—
2.—He will advise the First Sea Lord on all matters affecting the general system of torpedo exercises of the Fleet and all military questions connected therewith.
3.—He will, when required by the Second Sea Lord, advise on questions connected with torpedo training.
4.—He will be responsible to the Third Sea Lord for matters connected with the design, &c., of torpedo material of the Navy, and (subject to paragraph 6) also for the efficiency of all electrical apparatus of every nature in connection with the armament of a ship, including searchlights, fire control communications, gun circuits, and stores connected therewith.
5.—He will be responsible to the Fourth Sea Lord in all matters affecting the supply, outfit, and reserves of torpedoes, and is to consult him as to any changes which may be proposed or made necessary in consequence of new conditions.
6.—In regard to searchlights and the mechanical arrangements connected with the supply and fitting of torpedo apparatus for ships, his responsibility will be shared by the Director of Naval Construction, and it will be his duty to advise the latter in regard to all points in which torpedoes, electrical apparatus, and patterns affect the construction of ships, and in all questions involving the structural alterations in weights, &c. of the ships. Similarly, he will be consulted by the Director of Naval Construction (or by the Superintending Electrical Engineer, as head of the Electrical Sub-Department) on all electrical matters affecting the fighting and general efficiency of ships, and any proposals involving changes in design or departure from previous practice in regard to such arrangements, will be referred to for his concurrence.
7.—he will visit, or cause to be visited, as requisite the various torpedo depots and manufactories, so as to make himself personally acquainted with the progress and state of the work, and to attend such trials and experiments as may be necessary.
8.—He will see that the authorised proportions of outfits and reserves of torpedoes and their stores are maintained and kept in repair and ready for immediate use, and that the quantities are adequate, and he is to be furnished by the Superintendent of Ordnance Stores with the necessary information and facilities for doing so.
9.—He will be at liberty to communicate directly with the Commanding Officers of the Torpedo Schools on all torpedo and electrical subjects, and will advise the Board as to all experimental and instructional work carried out by the Torpedo Schools.
10—He will be responsible in all matters connected with the design, practice, and development of wireless telegraphy and sound signalling, but will advise jointly with the Chief of the War Staff on all questions affecting the policy in regard to wireless telegraphy.
11.—he will be responsible for the preparation of designs and plans of all boom defences and obstructions for the protection of the Naval Ports, &c., against torpedo attack, and will advise on all questions that may arise concerning the maintenance of these defences in an efficient state. (NOTE: During the present war the Captain Supervising Submarine Defences will undertake the duties referred to in this paragraph on his behalf.)
12.—He will be generally responsible for all matters connected with submarine mines and mining, and minesweeping material in the same manner as above provided in regard to torpedo matters in paragraph 2 to 7. That is to say, he will advise the First Sea Lord on all matters affecting the employment of mines for defensive or offensive work and changes in mines and in minesweeping gear; he will when required by the Second Sea Lord advise on questions connected with mining and minesweeping training; consultingas regards minesweeping training with the Director of the Anti-Submarine Division; he will be responsible to the Third Sea Lord for matters connected with the design of mining and minesweeping material, and he will be responsible to the Fourth Sea Lord in all matters affecting inspection of mines and minesweeping material, and the supply, outfit and reserves of mines.
13.—He will communicate directly with the Commanding Officer of the "Vernon," or, in matters of detail, with the Superintendent of Mining, and will advise the Board as to all experimental and instructional work carried out in regard to them.
14.—He will be responsible for dealing with all mining questions relating to the special fitting out of vessels which are to be employed as Minelayers or Fleet Sweepers, or which may be taken up for that purpose; the inspection of all devices for the fitting of such vessels or for the protection of H.M. Ships and other vessels against mines; and the investigation of all proposals for such proposals. He will, however, refer all questions of such fittings to the Third Sea Lord as Superintending Lord in the final stages of their development.
15.—He will keep in close touch with the War Staff, and supply them with full information required in connection with mining.
16.—The special organisation established to deal with the production and supply of paravanes during the war will be under his general superintendence.
17.—He will refer to the Professional Departments concerned any questions entailing work in H.M. Dockyards, provision of Naval Stores, or expenditure under Vote 8.
18.—The Superintendent of Ordnance Stores will be responsible for the storekeeping and financial duties connected with the provision, receipt, custody, maintenance, issue, conveyance, and proper distribution of torpedoes, mines, and other material dealt with by the Director of Torpedoes and Mining, which is chargeable to Vote IX of the Navy Estimates. (The supply of paravanes, however, will continue to be arranged for as at present.) As regards all such matters, the Director of Torpedoes and Mining will be placed in direct relations with the Superintendent of Ordnance Stores, who will render the same assistance to him as he is required under his instructions to render to the Director of Naval Ordnance.
19.—Similarly, the Director of Torpedoes and Mining will be placed in direct relations with the Chief Inspector of Naval Ordnance and the Engineer Inspection Staff of the Naval Ordnance Department, who will act for the Torpedoes and Mining Department, as necessary.
20.—He will be provided with the necessary naval and civil staff for the performance of the work connected with his duties, but the Registry and Copying Room Staff attached to the Department of the Director of Naval Ordnance (Gunnery Branch) will act jointly between the two Departments, and the Gunnery Branch will continue to be responsible for the financial duties in connection with the supply of torpedo tubes (Vote 8 III G).
21.—He will obtain the sanction of the Third Sea Lord whenever he desires to be absent either on leave or on duty.
22.—The Director of Torpedoes and Mining may sign correspondence with the Dockyards or other Admiralty Establishments at home or abroad or with individual officers of H.M. Navy or Civil Service on matters relating exclusively to the duties of his Department, but all correspondence communicating Board decisions or relating to important questions of principle, or affecting other Departments, is to be in the name of the Board, and is to be signed by the Secretary.
ADMIRALTY,
S.W. 1.
March, 1917.[1]
Footnotes
- ↑ The National Archives. ADM 116/1803.
