For the international law of the sea, see Admiralty law.

The Admiralty (officially the Admiralty Board) is a division of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence overseeing the affairs of the Royal Navy. The Admiralty Board replaced the Board of Admiralty (officially the Lords Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc.) when the functions of that office were incorporated into the Ministry of Defence in 1964.

Table of contents
1 History
2 Lord High Admirals, 1413-1628
3 Lords High Admiral and First Lords of the Admiralty, 1628-1709
4 First Lords of the Admiralty, 1709-1964
5 Admirals of the Fleet, 1795-1827
6 First Sea Lords, 1828-Present
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History

The office of Admiral of England, or Lord Admiral and later Lord High Admiral was created in approximately 1400. In 1546 King Henry VIII established the Council of the Marine later to became the Navy Board to oversee administrative affairs of the naval service. Operational control of the Navy remained the responsibility of the Lord High Admiral, who was one of the nine Great Officers of State.

In 1628, Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission and control of the Royal Navy passed to a committee in the form of the Board of the Admiralty. Control of the Navy was passed to and from the board and the Lord High Admiral a number of times until 1709 when the powers of the Lord High Admiral were finally vested in the Board of Admiralty.

The Board of Admiralty consisted of admirals (known as Sea Lords) and civilian lords, normally politicians. The professional head of the Royal Navy was (and still is) known as the First Sea Lord. The civilian minister and president of the Board was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty.

In 1831 the Navy Board was abolished as a separate entity and its duties and responsibilities were given over to the Board of Admiralty.

In 1964 the Admiralty was subsumed into the Ministry of Defence along with the War Office and the Air Ministry. Within the expanded Ministry of Defence are a new Admiralty Board, Army Board and Air Force Board, each headed by the Secretary of State for Defence. (The new Admiralty Board was to have been called the Navy Board but for an amendment in the House of Lords).

The title of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom is now vested in the Sovereign. However, there continues to be appointed a Vice-Admiral and a Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom.

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Lord High Admirals, 1413-1628

  • Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter 1413 - 1426 (Lord High Admiral)
  • John, Duke of Bedford 1426 - 1435 (Lord High Admiral)
  • John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter 1435 - 1447 (Lord High Admiral)
  • William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk 1447 - 1450
  • Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter 1450 - 1461
  • William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent 1462
  • Richard, Duke of Gloucester 1462 - 1470
  • Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick 1470 - 1471
  • Richard, Duke of Gloucester 1471 - 1483
  • John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk 1483 - 1485
  • John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford 1485 - 1513
  • Sir Edward Howard 1513 son of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk
  • Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey 1513 - 1525
  • Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond 1525 - 1536
  • William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton 1536 - 1540
  • John Russell, 1st Lord Russell 1540 - 1542
  • Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford 1542 - 1543
  • John Dudley, Viscount Lisle 1543 - 1547
  • Thomas Seymour, 1st Lord Seymour of Sudeley 1547 - 1549
  • John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick 1549 - 1550
  • Edward Clinton, 9th Lord Clinton 1550 - 1554
  • William Howard, 1st Lord Howard of Effingham 1554 - 1558
  • Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln 1558 - 1585
  • Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham (1597) 1585 - 1619
  • George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham 1619 - 1628
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Lords High Admiral and First Lords of the Admiralty, 1628-1709

  • Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1628 - 1635
  • Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey(First Lord of the Admiralty) 1635 - 1636
  • William Juxon, Bishop of Lincoln (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1636 - 1638
  • Algernon Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (Lord High Admiral to 1642, then First Lord of the Admiralty) 1638 - 1643
  • Francis Cottington, 1st Lord Cottington 1643 - 1646
  • none 1646-1660
  • James Stuart, Duke of York and Albany (Lord High Admiral) 1660 - 1673
  • King Charles II (Lord High Admiral) 1673
  • Prince Rupert of the Palatinate, 1st Duke of Cumberland (Lord High Admiral) 1673 - 1679
  • Sir Henry Capell (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1679 - 1681
  • Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1681 - 1684
  • King Charles II (Lord High Admiral) 1684 - 1685
  • King James II (Lord High Admiral) 1685 - 1688
  • King William III (Lord High Admiral) 1689
  • Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington (Lord High Admiral to 1689, then First Lord of the Admiralty) 1689 - 1690
  • Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1690 - 1692
  • Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Lord Cornwallis of Eye (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1692 - 1693
  • Anthony Carey, 5th Viscount of Falkland (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1693 - 1694
  • Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1694 - 1699
  • John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgwater (First Lord of the Admiralty) 1699 - 1701
  • Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke(Lord High Admiral) 1701 - 1702
  • Prince George of Denmark (Lord High Admiral) 1702 - 1708
  • Queen Anne (Lord High Admiral) 1708
  • Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke (Lord High Admiral) 1708 - 1709
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First Lords of the Admiralty, 1709-1964

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Admirals of the Fleet, 1795-1827

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First Sea Lords, 1828-Present

  • Sir George Cockburn 1828-1830
  • Sir Thomas Hardy 1830-1834
  • The Hon. George Heneage Dundas 1834
  • Sir Charles Adam 1834
  • Sir George Cockburn 1834-1835
  • Sir Charles Adam 1835-1841
  • Sir George Cockburn 1841-1846
  • Sir William Parker 1846
  • Sir Charles Adam 1846-1847
  • Sir James Dundas 1847-1852
  • The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley 1852
  • Hyde Parker 1852-1854
  • The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley 1854-1857
  • Sir Richard Dundas 1857-1858
  • William Martin 1858-1859
  • Sir Richard Dundas 1859-1861
  • Sir Frederick Grey 1861-1866
  • Sir Alexander Milne 1866-1868
  • Sir Sydney Dacres 1868-1872
  • Sir Alexander Milne 1872-1876
  • Sir Hastings Yelverston 1876-1877
  • Sir George Wellesley 1877-1879
  • Sir Astley Cooper Key 1879-1885
  • Sir Arthur Hood 1885-1886
  • Lord John Hay 1886
  • Sir Arthur Hood 1886-1889
  • Sir Vesey Hamilton 1889-1891
  • Sir Anthony Hoskins 1891-1893
  • Sir Frederick Richards 1893-1899
  • Lord Walter Kerr 1899-1904
  • Sir John Fisher 1904-1910
  • Sir Arthur Wilson 1910-1911
  • Sir Francis Bridgeman 1911-1912
  • Prince Louis of Battenberg 1912-1914
  • John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher 1914-1915
  • Sir Henry Jackson 1915-1916
  • Sir John Jellicoe 1916-1917
  • Sir Rosslyn Wemyss 1917-1919
  • David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty 1919-1927
  • Sir Charles Madden 1927-1930
  • Sir Frederick Field 1930-1933
  • Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield 1933-1938
  • Sir Roger Backhouse 1938-1939
  • Sir Dudley Pound 1939-1943
  • Andrew Cunningham, 1st Baron Cunningham of Hyndhope 1943-1946
  • Sir John Cunningham 1946-1948
  • Sir Bruce Fraser 1948-1951
  • Sir Rhoderick McGrigor 1951-1955
  • Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma 1955-1959
  • Sir Charles Lambe 1959-1960
  • Sir Caspar John 1960-1963
  • Sir David Luce 1963-1966
  • Sir Varyl Begg 1966-1968
  • Sir Michael Lefanu 1968-1970
  • Sir Peter Hill-Norton 1970-1971
  • Sir Michael Pollock 1971-1974
  • Sir Edward Ashmore 1974-1977
  • Sir Terence Lewin 1977-1979
  • Sir Henry Leach 1979-1982
  • Sir John Fieldhouse 1982-1985
  • Sir William Staveley 1985-1989
  • Sir Julian Oswald 1989-1993
  • Sir Benjamin Bathurst 1993-1995
  • Sir Jock Slater 1995-1998
  • Sir Michael Boyce 1998-2001
  • Sir Nigel Essenhigh 2001-2002
  • Sir Alan West 2002-present
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