Signal Division (Royal Navy)
The Signal Division was the constituent part of the Royal Navy's Naval Staff responsible for communications. The division was instituted on 18 August, 1917 and emerged from the earlier Signal Section of the Admiralty War Staff set-up in 1914 under Rear-Admiral Sydney Fremantle.
History
On 8 September, 1914, the Admiralty directed that:
the Signal Committee shall be temporarily transferred from Portsmouth to London and attached to the Admiralty War Staff of which it will for the present constitute a Section.[1]
In an Admiralty "Office Memorandum" of 18 August, 1917, the Section was "recognised as a separate division of the Naval Staff." Its remit was defined as follows:[2]
The Signal Division will be responsible for all Naval, Mercantile, Allied and Naval & Military:-
W/T Signalling (including the allocation of all W/T Call Signs other than "commercial"). including all correspondence, and preparing, printing and "establishment" of all the necessary books and Instructions in connection therewith S/T Signalling Visual Signalling (including allocation of all Pendants) Private and Recognition Signals Signal Books Codes Cyphers Methods of Drafting, Coding & Cyphering, and dealing with all messages (whether W/T, S/T, Visual, Land Line or Cable). "S" Orders "SR" Orders The Signal Division is not responsible for either Personnel or Materiel, but will act in an advisory capacity to the departments dealing therewith and should be consulted by them as necessary.
Directors
Dates of appointment given:
- Rear-Admiral Sydney R. Fremantle, 8 September, 1914[3] – 24 July, 1915[4]
- Captain Christopher R. Payne, 4 January, 1916[5] – 12 May, 1917[6]
- Captain Edward M. Phillpotts, before 17 August, 1917[7]
- Acting Captain Richard L. Nicholson, 5 January, 1918 – 15 November, 1919[8]
- Captain Henry K. Kitson, 29 July, 1921[9] – 3 February, 1923[10]
- Captain Charles E. Kennedy-Purvis, 1 March, 1927 – 17 March, 1930
- Captain James W. S. Dorling, 17 March, 1930 – 2 May, 1932
- Captain Arthur J. L. Murray, 2 May, 1932 – 1 October, 1934
- Captain Guy W. Hallifax, 1 October, 1934[11] – 31 October, 1935[12]
- Captain William T. Makeig-Jones, 31 October, 1935 – 13 September, 1937[13]
- Captain Philip F. Glover, 13 September, 1937[14] – 1 August, 1941 (vice Makeig-Jones)
- Vice-Admiral Arthur J. L. Murray, 1 August, 1941 – 14 April, 1942
Footnotes
- ↑ The National Archives. ADM 116/3403.
- ↑ Docket entitled "Division of Responsibility for Wireless Telegraphy Work." The National Archives. ADM 116/3404. Our reproduction is far more accurate than the bastardisation which appears in Blond. Technology and Tradition. p. 321.
- ↑ Fremantle Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42.
- ↑ Fremantle Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42.
- ↑ Payne Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/451.
- ↑ Payne Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/451.
- ↑ See Docket dated 17 August, 1917. The National Archives. ADM 116/3403.
- ↑ Nicholson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48. f. 475.
- ↑ Kitson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 186.
- ↑ Kitson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 186.
- ↑ Hallifax Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 35.
- ↑ Hallifax Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 35.
- ↑ Glover Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/66. f. 68.
- ↑ Glover Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/66. f. 68.
Bibliography
- Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division (1929). The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. Its Work and Development. B.R. 1845 (late C.B. 3013). Copy No. 8 at The National Archives. ADM 234/434.
Primary Sources
- The National Archives. ADM 116/3403. Admiralty Signal Division: History. Volume I.
