Office of the Naval Secretary
Ensign of the Royal Navy
Incumbent
Rear-Admiral Jude Terry
since 2022
Ministry of Defence
Member ofNavy Command
NominatorSecretary of State for Defence
AppointerMonarch of the United Kingdom
Term lengthNot fixed (typically 1–3 years)
Inaugural holderCaptain John Harrison
Formation1800-current
Websiteroyalnavy.mod.uk

The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers).[1]

Their counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equivalent is the Air Secretary. The Director People and Training has taken over the role, combining the responsibilities of Flag Officer Sea Training.[2]

History

The Office of the Naval Secretary was originally established in 1800 when the appointment was styled Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty[3] and remained so styled until 1911. In 1912 it was re-titled Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty.[4]

When the Admiralty department was abolished in 1964 the post was renamed Naval Secretary, colloquially known as "NAVSEC", and now advising the Royal Navy's military head and, consequently, the Navy Board on future appointments. In the case of tri-service appointments, the responsibility was to recommend candidates to the Defence Board.

From 2010 to 2015, Sir David Steel, as Naval Secretary, simultaneously held the additional title of Chief Naval Logistics Officer (as head the Naval Logistics Branch).[5] In 2015 further additional responsibilities were assumed for the Royal Naval Reserve and the title of Flag Officer, Maritime Reserves.[6]

In this capacity the incumbent is responsible for advising the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on all matters relating to Flag Officers’ appointing, with Officers with the rank of Commodore and/or Captain delegated to the Office of Assistant to the Naval Secretary who currently holds the rank of Commodore.[7] A March 2020 edition of Navy News noted that the Director People and Training took over the people-related policies and career management below this level from the Naval Secretary.[8]

In May 2021, it was announced that Jude Terry would be the next Naval Secretary, being promoted to rear admiral and taking up the post in 2022. She is the first woman to serve as an admiral in the Royal Navy.[9]

Secretaries

Post holders included:[10]

Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty

Post holders included

Post holders included

References

  1. Office, Cabinet (2016–2017). Civil Service Year Book (53 ed.). London, England: The Stationery Office:Dandy Book Sellers Ltd. pp. 194–195. ISBN 9781787320345.
  2. "Integrating the way we work". Navy News. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. Sainty, J. C. "Private Secretary to First Lord and Lord High Admiral 1800–70 | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. University of London, London, 1975. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  4. Lambert, Andrew (2008). Admirals : the naval commanders who made Britain great. p. 345. ISBN 9780571265688.
  5. Office, Cabinet (2012–2013). Civil service yearbook (49 ed.). London, England: The Stationery Office: Dandy Booksellers Ltd. p. 104. ISBN 9781905262878.
  6. "Forward by Flag Officer Reserves" (PDF). The Maritime Reservist. Spring 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  7. Office, Cabinet (2016–2017). Civil Service Year Book (53 ed.). London, England: The Stationery Office:Dandy Book Sellers Ltd. pp. 194–195. ISBN 9781787320345.
  8. "Integrating the way we work". Navy News. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  9. "Royal Navy appoints Jersey woman as first female admiral". BBC News. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  10. Senior Royal Navy Appointments Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
  11. MacDonald, Janet (2010). The British Navy's victualling board, 1793–1815 : management competence and incompetence (1. publ. ed.). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. p. 228. ISBN 9781843835530.
  12. Nelson, Horatio (10 November 2011). The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. Cambridge University Press, pp. 28. ISBN 9781108035477. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  13. "The Scots Magazine". Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran, pp.317, 1805. 1 January 1806. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  14. Craig, Hardin (1 January 1970). "The First Lord Opens His Mail: Thomas Grenville and Personnel Problems at the Admiralty, 1806–1807". Huntington Library Quarterly. 33 (2): 175–186. doi:10.2307/3816720. JSTOR 3816720.
  15. Nichols, John (1 January 1835). "The Gentleman's Magazine". E. Cave, pp. 322. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  16. "The Gentleman's Magazine". The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 109, pp. 183, 1811. 1 January 1811. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  17. MacDonald, Janet (1 January 2010). The British Navy's Victualling Board, 1793–1815: Management Competence and Incompetence. Boydell & Brewer, pp. 229, 2010. ISBN 9781843835530. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  18. Wade, John (1 January 1823). "The Black Book: Or, Corruption Unmasked!". J. Fairburn, pp. 394. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  19. MacDonald, Janet (2010). The British Navy's Victualling Board, 1793–1815: Management Competence and Incompetence. Boydell & Brewer. p. 230. ISBN 9781843835530.
  20. Marshall, John (1 January 1832). "Royal Naval Biography; Or, Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-officers, Superannuated Rear-admirals, Retired-captains, Post-captains, and commanders, Whose Names Appeared on the Admiralty List of Sea Officers at the Commencement of the Present Year, Or who Have Since Been Promoted; Illustrated by a Series of Historical and Explanatory Notes ... With Copious Addenda: Captains. Commanders". Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, pp.49. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  21. Campbell, Thomas; Hall, Samuel Carter; Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron; Hook, Theodore Edward; Hood, Thomas; Ainsworth, William Harrison (1 January 1831). "New Monthly Magazine". Henry Colburn, pp.90. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  22. Admiralty, Great Britain (1 January 1834). "The Navy List". H.M. Stationery Office, pp. 136. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  23. The Nautical Magazine for 1834. pp.442, Cambridge University Press. 28 February 2013. ISBN 9781108053860. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  24. Admiralty, Great Britain (1 January 1834). "The Navy List". H.M. Stationery Office, pp. 136. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  25. Force, William Quereau (1 January 1840). "Army and Navy Chronicle, and Scientific Repository". Wm. Q. Force, pp.378. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  26. "Medical Times". J. Angerstein Carfrae, Volume 11, pp.18. 1 January 1845. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  27. "Jude makes history as first woman admiral". royalnavy.mod.uk. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.

Further reading

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