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Naval Staff C.N.S. and 1st S.L. (Adml. Jellicoe)

D.C.N.S.

1

(Acting V.A. Oliver)

A.C.N.S. (R.A. Duff)

1

F

Operations (R.A. Hope)

Signals Aug. 18 1917 (Comm. R. L.

Nicholson)

Plans Oct. 8 1917 (R.A. Roger Keyes)

i Anti-Submarine Dec. 16 1916 (Capt. W. W. Fisher)

Trade (Capt. Alan G. Hothan)

Mine-Sweeping May 23 1917 (Capt. Lionel Preston)

. Mercantile Movements Oct. I 1917 (Capt. Fred Whitehead)

Intelligence (R.A. Wm. Hall)

One of the most important divisions of the naval staff was the mercantile movements division, which had been started as a convoy section, under the management of Paymaster Capt. H. W. Manisty. It was here in May 1917 that an operations chart came into use for the direction of convoys, on which the movements of submarines derived from wireless directionals and other reports were plotted, day and night. Operations divisions, troubled like Martha over many things, had never been able to deal in big plans, and this work was undertaken by the plans division which drew up plans for the mining of the Bight, the Great Northern Barrage (in conjunction with the U.S. navy), the Dover Barrage, the Otranto Barrage and numerous smaller operations.

The ease with which the distinction between operations and administration can be applied is illustrated in the submarine and auxiliary patrol services. In both these services the ad- ministrative work (such as regulations, conditions of entry, stores, personnel) was dealt with by a centre which had very little or nothing whatever to do with operations (Commodore (S) in the one case and the Auxiliary Patrol Office in the other), and the system worked very successfully from first to last. The reorganization of staff work was not limited to the Ad- miralty. It extended to every command, and in April 1918 the First Lord and Rear-Adml. Sir W. R. Hall proceeded to Malta and made arrangements for the entire reorganization of the C.-in-C.'s staff, leading to a great reduction in shipping losses in the Mediterranean.

With the advent of peace the naval staff was greatly reduced, and some divisions naturally disappeared. A change of some importance has taken place in the function of the A.C.N.S., who has become responsible for all staff questions relating to technical branches and crafts such as gunnery, torpedoes and mining. Gunnery and torpedo divisions have been introduced into the staff to deal with questions of the tactical use of these weapons and the training of personnel. The plea for this lies in the close connexion between the use of the weapon and operations. There can be no doubt that training and the tactical aspects of weapons constitute a sphere common to the naval staff, the great technical departments and the fleet, but though they certainly require to be in close touch with the naval staff it still remains a moot point whether all technical crafts with the training that belongs to them should not be segregated from the naval staff.

The distribution of the naval staff in 1921 was as follows:

nal organization and general direction of the work of the naval staff and cooperation of the naval staff with the material side of the Admiralty.

D.C.N.S. Operations and movements, naval intelligence, strategy, policy and plans. Sea-borne trade and international law.

A.C.N.S. Methods of fighting at sea. Design in relation to policy and tactics. Staff questions of research. Air development in relation to naval warfare.

Little has been said here of the civil side of the Admiralty because it runs through and interpenetrates every branch. The more essentially civilian branches, such as naval stores and victualling, were among the most efficient of the war. There is sometimes a tendency to talk of the Admiralty as a place where, through civilian agency, the best naval plans " gang aft agley." This is a complete fallacy. Admirals have played a great part in the Admiralty and in its history, past and present, and cannot dissociate themselves from its work. If the Ad- miralty in the war made mistakes, the navy and its admirals must share the blame, and in the final victory a portion of the laurels belong to the Admiralty and the civil servants of the King.

The strength pf the naval staff divisions and departments in the British Admiralty is shown, as for the crucial dates under the war reorganization, in the table on p. 10. (A. C. D).

UNITED STATES. After 1909 various measures providing for a reorganization of the U.S. Navy Department were brought forward, but for several years Congress failed to take any action, though certain proposals, notably the recommendations of the board appointed by President Taft in 1909, were strongly urged. The organization .of the Department as then con- stituted had been the subject of criticism by a number of secretaries of the navy as well as by others; the chief defect was the lack of some agency to perform the functions of a general staff in the conduct of naval operations. It is true that since 1900 the secretary had had the deliberations and reports of the general board to guide him, but this board had no executive powers, and in the last analysis the responsibility for coordinat- ing the activities of some eight different bureaus rested solely on the secretary of the navy. In default of legislation, Secretary Meyer made an effort in 1913 to remedy this condition by the issuance of regulations providing for the appointment of an aid for operations, an aid for personnel, an aid for material, and an aid for inspections, who were to be officers of the navy on the active list not below the grade of captain and who were to constitute an advisory council charged with the duty of

1st S.L. and C.N.S.

D.C.N.S.

1

Intelligence

Operations

Plans

1 Local Defence

Trade

Traini Staff!

The duties of the C.N.S. and principal officers are as follow:

C.N.S. All large questions of naval policy and maritime war- fare organizations, distribution, and fighting sea-going efficiency of the fleet. Advice as to general direction of operations of war. Inter-

Tactical Section

Secretariat and Staff Registries.

A.C.N.S.

Air Sec- tion

Gunnery Division

Torpedo Division

promoting effective cooperation in the work of the Depart- ment. Under Secretary Daniels, who succeeded Secretary Meyer in 1913, the offices of aid for personnel and aid for inspections were discontinued, but there was created the office of aid for