Editing First Sea Lord (section)

==History==
[[Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom|Lords Admiral]] were appointed from the 15th century; they were later styled ''Lords High Admiral'' until the 18th century, and [[Board of Admiralty|Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty]] from the 17th century, as the governors of the English and later British [[Royal Navy]]. From 1683 to 1684, there were seven paid Commissioners, and one unpaid supernumerary Commissioner. The number varied between five and seven Commissioners through the 18th century. The standing of all the Commissioners was in theory the same, although the First Commissioner or [[First Lord of the Admiralty|First Lord]] exercised an ascendancy over his colleagues from an early date.{{sfn|Sainty|1975|pp=18–31}}

The generally recognized office of '''Senior Naval Lord''' to the Board of Admiralty was established on 8 March 1689,{{sfn|Rodger|1979| p= 34}} with the first incumbent being Admiral [[Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington|Arthur Herbert]]; he was also First Lord of the Admiralty. On 20 January 1690 Admiral Herbert was succeeded by Admiral Sir [[John Chicheley]]{{sfn|Rodger|1979| p= 34}} under First Lord of Admiralty [[Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke]].{{sfn|Sainty|1975|pp=18–31}}

On 22 May 1702 the Board of Admiralty ceased control of naval affairs and was replaced by the [[Lord High Admirals Council|Lord Admiral's Council]].{{sfn|Rodger|1979| p= 34}} The previous office of Senior Naval Lord was replaced by a '''Senior Member to the Lords Admiral Council'''; he was usually a serving naval officer of admiral rank and was the ''Chief Naval Adviser'' to the Lord Admiral. This lasted until 8 November 1709, when the Board of Admiralty resumed control of Naval Affairs and the post of Senior Naval Lord was resumed.{{sfn|Sainty|1975|pp=18–31}}

On 2 February 1771 the office of Senior Naval Lord was renamed to '''First Naval Lord'''.{{sfn|Rodger|1979| p= 69}} The first post holder was Vice-Admiral [[Augustus Hervey]]; he first served under First Lord of the Admiralty [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich]]. In 1805, for the first time, specific functions were assigned to each of the 'Naval' Lords, who were described as 'Professional' Lords, leaving to the 'Civil' Lords the routine business of signing documents.{{sfn|Sainty|1975|pp=18–31}} On 2 May 1827{{sfn|Rodger| 1979|p=91}} the Board of Admiralty once again ceased control of Naval Affairs and was replaced, until 1828, by a Lord High Admirals Council.{{sfn|Sainty|1975|pp=18–31}}

The title of the First Naval Lord was changed to '''First Sea Lord''' on the appointment of Sir Jackie Fisher in 1904.{{sfn|Heathcote|2002| p= 81}} In 1917 the First Sea Lord was re-styled '''First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff'''.{{sfn|Friedman|2015|p=21}} From 1923 onward, the First Sea Lord was a member of the [[Chiefs of Staff Committee]], and from 1923 to 1959, in rotation with the representatives of the other services (the [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]] and [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]]), he served as the chairman of that committee and head of all British armed forces.{{efn|In 1955, it was decided to create a new post, [[Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Defence Staff]], who would be chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/oct/25/defence-administrative-responsibilities Defence Administrative Responsibilities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017103155/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1955/oct/25/defence-administrative-responsibilities |date=17 October 2012 }} Hansard, 25 October 1955</ref>}} The title was retained when the [[Board of Admiralty]] was abolished in 1964 and the Board's functions were integrated into the Ministry of Defence.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ministry of Defence |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/49053/history_of_mod.pdf |title=History of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Defence website |publisher=Mod.uk |date=10 December 2012 |access-date=3 June 2013}}</ref>

Under the current organisation, the First Sea Lord sits on the [[Defence Council of the United Kingdom|Defence Council]],<ref name= NavyListModern>''The Navy List, 1992'', corrected to 31 March 1992, pub HMSO, {{ISSN|0141-6081}} pages 4–5.<br>''The Navy List, 2008'', compiled 3 September 2008, pub TSO, {{ISBN|978-0-11-773081-6}} pages 4–5.</ref> the [[Admiralty Board]]<ref name=NavyListModern/> and the [[Navy Board (1964-present)|Navy Board]].<ref>{{cite web|title=MOD Royal Navy|url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/senior-naval-staff/first-sea-lord/navy-board|access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref>

Since 2012, the [[flagship]] of the First Sea Lord has nominally been the [[ship of the line]] [[HMS Victory|HMS ''Victory'']], which used to be [[Horatio Nelson|Lord Nelson's]] flagship.<ref name=hmsvictory>[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-19896257 HMS Victory handed to First Sea Lord in Portsmouth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306084333/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-19896257 |date=6 March 2019 }}, BBC News, 10 October 2012, accessed 8 October 2016</ref>

{{Professional heads of the British Armed Forces}}