First Sea Lord

The First Sea Lord or before 1904 the Senior Naval Lord was the predominant naval officer of the Royal Navy on the Board of Admiralty. He acted as chief naval advisor to the First Lord of the Admiralty and as such was subordinate to him. He was responsible for the ships of the fleet and their utilisation. In 1917 the position was combined with that of Chief of the Admiralty War Staff and the First Sea Lord became the operational as well as the materiel head of the Navy.

Senior Naval Lords, 1889–1904

• Sir Arthur Acland Hood 1886–1889
• Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton 1889–1891
• Sir Anthony Hoskins 1891–1893
• Sir Frederick Richards 1893–1899
• Lord Walter Kerr 1899–1904

First Sea Lords, 1904–1927

• Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable The Lord Fisher, 20 October, 1904.
• Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, 1910.
• Admiral Sir Francis C. B. Bridgeman, 1911.
• Admiral H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg, 1912.
• Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable The Lord Fisher, 1914.
• Admiral Sir Henry B. Jackson, 1915.
• Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, 4 December, 1916.
• Admiral Sir Rosslyn E. Wemyss, 1917.
• Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable The Earl Beatty, 1919.
• Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles E. Madden, Bart., 1927.
• Admiral Sir Frederick L. Field, 1930.

Bibliography

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