Plans Division (Royal Navy)
From The Dreadnought Project
History
The Plans Division was originally formed as the Plans Section (Section 16) of the Operations Division of the Naval Staff. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, in response to a proposal from the First Lord, Sir Edward Carson, had initially proposed that the section be headed by Captain Herbert W. Richmond.[1] This directly contradicts Nicholas Rodger's nonsensical assertion that the division was "established against Jellicoe's bitter opposition".[2] It was initially formed under Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound, assisted by Commander Kenneth G. B. Dewar, Lieutenant-Commander The Hon. Joseph Kenworthy, and Major G. P. Orde.[3]
Dewar later claimed that Section 16 was "banished to a room at the top of the old Admiralty building and invisible barriers seemed to arise in the winding corridors of that ancient edifice. We were cut off from the rest of the staff and had not even a table whereon to lay our charts."[4] The Staff Monograph on the history of the Naval Staff, authored by Dewar's brother, Captain Alfred C. Dewar, states, however, that Section 16 "worked in a room on the top floor of Admiralty House."[5] Admiralty House, the residence of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the hub of the Operations Division. The Old Building, Admiralty, which Dewar claims the section was banished to, adjoined it, and contained much of the workings of the Intelligence Division. At any rate, the section was but a couple of minutes walk from anywhere of import in the Admiralty.
According to Dr. Nicholas Black, thirteen Royal Navy officers served in the division during the war.[6]
Directors of Plans
Dates of appointment given:
- Rear-Admiral Roger J. B. Keyes, 28 September, 1917[7] – 1 January, 1918[8]
- Captain Cyril T. M. Fuller, 1 January, 1918[9] – 1 May, 1920[10]
- Captain Barry E. Domvile, 1 May, 1920[11][12] – 3 March, 1922[13]
- Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound, 3 May, 1922[14][15] – 9 March, 1925[16]
- Captain Wilfrid A. Egerton, 9 March, 1925[17][18] – 23 January, 1928[19]
- Captain Roger M. Bellairs, 23 January, 1928[20][21] – 15 December, 1930[22]
- Captain John H. D. Cunningham, 15 December, 1930[23] – 15 December, 1932[24]
- Captain Henry R. Moore, 15 December, 1932 – 24 November, 1933
- Captain Edward L. S. King, 24 November, 1933 – 8 August, 1935
- Captain Tom S. V. Phillips, 8 August, 1935[25] – 20 April, 1938[26]
- Captain Victor H. Danckwerts, April, 1938 – March, 1940
- Captain Charles S. Daniel, March, 1940 – 26 July, 1941[27]
- Captain Edward G. H. Bellars, 26 July, 1941[28] – 12 March, 1942[29]
- Captain Charles E. Lambe, 12 March, 1942 – April, 1944
- Captain Guy Grantham, April, 1944 – January, 1946
- Captain John F. Stevens, January, 1946 – January, 1948
- Captain Thomas M. Brownrigg, January, 1948 – January, 1950
Assistant Directors of Plans
- Captain Cyril T. M. Fuller, October, 1917[30] – 1 January, 1918[31]
- Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound, October, 1917[32] – 10 January, 1918[33]
- Captain Ragnar M. Colvin, January, 1918 – 7 August, 1919
- Captain Alfred F. B. Carpenter, 26 April, 1918[34] – 17 January, 1919[35]
- Captain (I) Gerald C. Dickens, 15 March, 1920[36] – 1 May, 1920[37]
- Captain George H. D'O. Lyon, 29 August, 1923[38] – 27 April, 1925[39]
- Captain Francis H. Sandford, 27 April, 1925[40] – 15 February, 1926[41] (died while in this posting)
- Captain G. Frederick B. Edward-Collins, 29 August, 1927[42] – 1 May, 1928[43]
- Captain Edward L. S. King, 1 May, 1928[44] – 1 May, 1930[45]
- Captain Tom S. V. Phillips, 1 May, 1930[46] – 21 September, 1932[47]
- Captain Frederick R. Garside, November, 1936[48] – January, 1939[49]
Deputy Directors of Plans
- Captain (I) Gerald C. Dickens, 1 May, 1920[50] – 15 June, 1922[51]
- Captain Wilfrid A. Egerton, 15 May, 1924[52] – 9 March, 1925[53]
- Captain Thomas H. Binney, 1 April, 1925[54] – 22 August, 1927[55]
- Rear-Admiral Harold O. Reinold, 24 June, 1927 – 1 May, 1928
- Captain G. Frederick B. Edward-Collins, 1 May, 1928[56] – 12 December, 1929[57]
- Captain John H. D. Cunningham, 12 December, 1929[58] – 15 December, 1930[59]
- Captain Henry R. Moore, 15 December, 1930 – 15 December, 1932
- Captain Edward L. S. King, 15 December, 1932 – 24 November, 1933
- Captain John H. Godfrey, 24 November, 1933 – 2 January, 1936
- Captain Edward N. Syfret, 2 January, 1936 – 10 January, 1938
- Captain John H. Edelsten, 4 January, 1938[60] – 12 March, 1940[61]
- Captain Charles E. Lambe, 25 August, 1941 – 13 January, 1942
Footnotes
- ↑ Carson to Jellicoe. Memorandum of 7 June, 1917. Jellicoe to Carson. Memorandum of 9 June, 1917. The National Archives. ADM 1/8489/118.
- ↑ Rodger. The Admiralty. p. 135.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 89.
- ↑ Dewar. p. 239.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 89.
- ↑ Black. The British Naval Staff. p. 21.
- ↑ Keyes. Naval Memoirs. II. p. 113.
- ↑ Keyes Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 291.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 123.
- ↑ Fuller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 460.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 124.
- ↑ Domvile Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 465.
- ↑ Domvile Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 465.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 124.
- ↑ Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
- ↑ Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 124.
- ↑ Egerton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 106.
- ↑ Egerton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 106.
- ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 124.
- ↑ Bellairs Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. ?.
- ↑ Bellairs Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. ?.
- ↑ Cunningham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/269., f. 136.
- ↑ Cunningham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/269., f. 136.
- ↑ Phillips Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/179. f. 180.
- ↑ Phillips Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/179. f. 180. Day of month may be other day within the 20s.
- ↑ Bellars Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/130. f. 132.
- ↑ Bellars Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/130. f. 132.
- ↑ Bellars Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/56/130. f. 132.
- ↑ Fuller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 460.
- ↑ Fuller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 464.
- ↑ Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
- ↑ Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
- ↑ Carpenter Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 162.
- ↑ Carpenter Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 162.
- ↑ Dickens Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45. f. 138.
- ↑ Dickens Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45. f. 138.
- ↑ Lyon Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48. f. 480.
- ↑ Lyon Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48. f. 480.
- ↑ Sandford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/66. f. 72.
- ↑ Sandford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/66. f. 72.
- ↑ Edward-Collins Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/91. f. 154.
- ↑ Edward-Collins Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/91. f. 154.
- ↑ King Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/308. f. 324.
- ↑ King Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/308. f. 324.
- ↑ Phillips Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/179. f. 180.
- ↑ Phillips Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/179. f. 180.
- ↑ "Obituaries." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jul 19, 1940; pg. 7; Issue 48672.
- ↑ "Obituaries." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jul 19, 1940; pg. 7; Issue 48672.
- ↑ Dickens Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45. f. 138.
- ↑ Dickens Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/45. f. 138.
- ↑ Egerton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 106.
- ↑ Egerton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 106.
- ↑ Binney Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/9. f. 412.
- ↑ Binney Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/9. f. 412.
- ↑ Edward-Collins Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/91. f. 154.
- ↑ Edward-Collins Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/91. f. 154.
- ↑ Cunningham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/269., f. 136.
- ↑ Cunningham Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/269., f. 136.
- ↑ Edelsten Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/53/104. f. 105.
- ↑ Edelsten Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/53/104. f. 105.
Bibliography
- Black, Nicholas (2009). The British Naval Staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843834427.
- 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.
- Rodger, N. A. M. (1979). The Admiralty. Lavenham: Terence Dalton Limited. ISBN 0900963948. (on Bookfinder.com).
