Editing Admiralty (United Kingdom) (section)

==Organizational structure==
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 003 - Board Room of Admiralty Microcosm edited.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|right|[[Board of Admiralty]], [[Whitehall]], London, about 1810]]

In the 20th century the structure of the Admiralty Headquarters was predominantly organized into four parts:<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last1=Great Britain |first1=Parliament, House of Commons |title=House of Commons Papers, Volume 5 |date=1959 |publisher=HM Stationery Office |location=London, England |pages=5–24 |chapter=Admiralty Office}}</ref>

# The [[Board of Admiralty]], which directs and controls the whole machine chaired by a civilian government minister the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]]. His chief military adviser was the [[First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff]] as the Senior Naval Lord to the board.<ref name="auto"/>
# The [[Admiralty Naval Staff]], advised and assisted the Board in chief strategic and operational planning, in the distributing of [[List of fleets and major commands of the Royal Navy|fleets and the allocating of assets to major naval commands and stations]] and in formulating official policy on tactical doctrine and requirements in regard to men and material. In order to deliver this the Naval Staff was organised into specialist Divisions and Sections. When the Admiralty unified with the Ministry of Defence in 1964 they were re designated as Directorates of the Naval Staff.<ref  name="auto"/>
# The Admiralty Departments, which provides the men, ships, aircraft and supplies to carry out the approved policy. The departments are superintended by the various offices of the Sea Lords.<ref name="auto"/>
# The [[Department of the Permanent Secretary (Royal Navy)|Department of the Permanent Secretary]] which was the general co-ordinating agency, regulating naval finance, providing advice on policy, conducing all correspondence on behalf of the Board and maintaining [[Admiralty Record Office|admiralty records]]. Its primary component to deliver this is the [[Admiralty Secretariat]], sections of the Secretariat (other than those which provide Common Services) were known as Branches.<ref name="auto"/>

'''Board of Admiralty'''
{{main|Board of Admiralty}}
When the office of Lord High Admiral was in commission, as it was for most of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, until it reverted to [[the Crown]], it was exercised by a Board of Admiralty, officially known as the ''Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, &c.'' (alternatively of [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] or the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] depending on the period). The Board of Admiralty consisted of a number of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The Lords Commissioners were always a mixture of [[admiral]]s, known as [[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|Naval Lords or Sea Lords]] and Civil Lords, normally politicians. The [[quorum]] of the Board was two commissioners and a secretary. The president of the Board was known as the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], who was a member of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]]. After 1806, the First Lord of the Admiralty was always a civilian, while the professional head of the navy came to be (and is still today) known as the [[First Sea Lord]].<ref name="auto"/>

'''Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (1628–1964)'''
{{main|Board of Admiralty}}
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was not vested in a single person. The commissioners were a mixture of politicians without naval experience and professional naval officers, the proportion of naval officers generally increasing over time.<ref name="auto"/>

'''Key Officials'''

'''First Lord of the Admiralty'''
{{main|First Lord of the Admiralty}}
The First Lord of the Admiralty or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty was the British government's senior civilian adviser on all naval affairs and the minister responsible for the direction and control of the [[Admiralty and Marine Affairs Office]] later the Department of Admiralty.(+) His office was supported by the [[Naval Secretary|Naval Secretariat]].<ref name="auto"/>

'''First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff'''
{{main|First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff}}
The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff was the Chief Naval Adviser on the Board of Admiralty to the First Lord and superintended the offices of the sea lords and the admiralty naval staff.<ref name="auto"/>

'''Navy Board'''
{{main|Navy Board}}
The Navy Board was an independent board from 1546 until 1628 when it became subordinate to, yet autonomous of the Board of Admiralty until 1832. Its principal commissioners of the Navy advised the board in relation to civil administration of the naval affairs. The Navy Board was based at the [[Navy Office (Royal Navy)|Navy Office]].

'''Board of Admiralty civilian members responsible other important civil functions'''
# [[Civil Lord of the Admiralty (Royal Navy)|Office of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty]].<ref name="auto"/>
# [[Additional Civil Lord of the Admiralty|Office of the Additional Civil Lord of the Admiralty]].<ref name="auto"/>
# [[Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty|Office of the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty]].<ref name="auto"/>

'''Admiralty Naval Staff'''
{{main|Admiralty Naval Staff}}
It evolved from *[[Admiralty Navy War Council]], (1909–1912) which in turn became the [[Admiralty War Staff]], (1912–1917) before finally becoming the Admiralty Naval Staff in 1917. It was the former senior command, operational planning, policy and strategy department within the British Admiralty. It was established in 1917 and existed until 1964 when the department of the Admiralty was abolished, and the staff departments function continued within the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence until 1971 when its functions became part of the new Naval Staff, Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stationery Office|first1=H.M.|title=The Navy List|date=31 October 1967|publisher=Spink and Sons Ltd, London, England|pages=524–532}}</ref>

'''Offices of the Naval Staff'''
# [[Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom)|Office of Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff]].<ref name="auto"/>
# [[Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom)|Office of the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff]].<ref name="auto"/> 
# [[Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom)|Offices of the Assistant Chiefs of the Naval Staff]].<ref name="auto"/>

'''Admiralty Departments'''<br />
The Admiralty Departments were distinct and component parts of the Department of Admiralty that were superintended by the various offices of the Sea Lords responsible for them; they were primarily administrative, research, scientific and logistical support organisations. The departments role was to provide the men, ships, aircraft and supplies to carry out the approved policy of the Board of Admiralty and conveyed to them during 20th century by the Admiralty Naval Staff.<ref name="auto"/>

'''Offices of the Sea Lords'''
# [[Deputy First Sea Lord|Office of the Deputy First Sea Lord]] 
# [[Second Sea Lord|Office of the Second Sea Lord]].<ref name="auto"/> 
# [[Third Sea Lord|Office of the Third Sea Lord]].<ref name="auto"/>
# [[Fourth Sea Lord|Office of the Fourth Sea Lord]].<ref name="auto"/>
# [[Fifth Sea Lord|Office of Fifth Sea Lord]]

'''Department of the Permanent Secretary'''
{{main|Department of the Permanent Secretary (Royal Navy)}}
The [[Department of the Permanent Secretary (Royal Navy)|Secretary's Department]] consisted of members of the [[Civil Service (United Kingdom)|civil service]] it was directed and controlled by a senior civil servant [[Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty|Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty]] he was not a [[Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty]], he functioned as a member of the board, and attended all of its meetings.<ref name="auto"/>

===Organizational structure by time period===
{{Further|Admiralty in the 16th century|Admiralty in the 17th century|Admiralty in the 18th century|Admiralty in the 19th century|Admiralty in the 20th century}}