Deputy Chief of Naval Staff

The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (D.C.N.S.) was a position on the Naval Staff instituted in 1917 on the Board of Admiralty. It essentially replaced the position of Chief of the Admiralty War Staff.

History

The office of Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, with a seat on the Board of Admiralty, was created by Order in Council of 19 May, 1917, and Acting Vice-Admiral Sir Henry F. Oliver, the Chief of the Admiralty War Staff, was formally appointed to the new office on 31 May, 1917. The duties of the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, shared with the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff and the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, were defined in the Board's distribution of business of 27 June as:

Operations of War: All large Questions of Naval Policy and Maritime Warfare.

Fighting and Sea-going Efficiency of the Fleet and its Organisation; Distribution and Movements of all Ships in Commission and in Reserve.

Superintendence of the Naval Staff and the Hydrographic Department.

Naval Communications.

The above might be misleading, however, for on 24 June specific duties, hitherto unpublished, had been assigned to the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff by Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff. These are given in the Duties section.

By Order in Council of 20 May, 1940, the office was renamed Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.

Duties

[show]24 June, 1917.
1. Relieve the C.N.S. of all routine matters dealt with by sections under his immediate direction.
2. Fleet Movements.
3. All operations in the North Sea, the White Sea, the Baltic, and the Dover Area, except British coastal measures for the protection of trade.
4. Offensive measures in the Mediterranean and abroad generally.
5. The protection of trade in the North Sea, except the coastal trade on the East Coast of Great Britain. North Sea trade includes the Dutch trade, trade between Scandinavian countries and Great Britain, and Baltic trade, but not convoy from Lerwick, Southward.
6. All questions relating to foreign stations, except protection of trade against submarine and mine attack.
7. Policy of blockade and all questions relating thereto and to contraband of war.
8. Organisation, movements and protection of troop transports and other vessels against attack by surface vessels; Atlantic convoys other than troop convoys being under A.C.N.S. [See Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.]
NOTE.- Programmes of arrivals and departures of such vessels must be made out in co-operation with A.C.N.S., who is responsible for providing the anti-submarine escort in dangerous areas.
9. Mining.

Deputy Chiefs of Naval Staff

• Acting Vice-Admiral Sir Henry F. Oliver, 14 May, 1917 – 10 January, 1918
• Acting Vice-Admiral Sir Sydney R. Fremantle, 10 January, 1918 – 30 April, 1919
• Rear-Admiral James A. Fergusson, 1 May, 1919 – 23 July, 1919
• Vice-Admiral Sir Osmond de B. Brock, 24 July, 1919 – 1 November, 1921
• Vice-Admiral Sir Roger J. B. Keyes, Bart., 1 November, 1921 – 15 May, 1925
• Admiral Sir Frederick L. Field, 15 May, 1925 – 1 May, 1928
• Vice-Admiral Sir William W. Fisher, 1 May, 1928 – 30 June, 1930
• Admiral Sir Frederic C. Dreyer, 30 June, 1930 – 9 January, 1933
• Vice-Admiral Sir Charles J. C. Little, 9 January, 1933 – 8 November, 1935
• Admiral Sir William M. James, 29 October, 1935
• Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, 14 November, 1938 – May, 1939
• Acting Vice-Admiral Sir Tom S. V. Phillips, 1 June, 1939
• Vice-Admiral Sir Henry R. Moore, 21 October, 1941 – 7 June, 1943  (position henceforth known as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff)
• Vice-Admiral Sir Edward N. Syfret, 8 June, 1943 – October, 1945
• Vice-Admiral Sir Rhoderick R. McGrigor, October, 1945 – October, 1947
• Vice-Admiral Sir John H. Edelsten, October, 1947 – November, 1949
• Vice-Admiral Sir George E. Creasy, November, 1949 – October, 1951
• Vice-Admiral Sir Guy Grantham, October, 1951 – April, 1954
• Vice-Admiral Sir William W. Davis, April, 1954 – May, 1957

Bibliography

• The Orders in Council for the Regulation of the Naval Service. 11th February 1913 to 21 December 1917. Vol. XI. London: For His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1921.
• The Orders in Council for the Regulation of the Naval Service. 1938 to 1942 inclusive. Vol. XVI. London: Printed Under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1943.
• 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.