Office of the Controller of the Navy (CofN)
Ensign of the Royal Navy
Incumbent Major General Robert Magowan since 2017
Department of the Admiralty, Ministry of Defence
Member of	Board of Admiralty, Admiralty Board, Navy Board
Reports to	First Sea Lord
Nominator	First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term length	Not fixed (typically 1–3 years)
Inaugural holder	Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Pechell
Formation	1832-current

The post of Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy originally known as Third Naval Lord was formerly the Naval Lord and member of the Board of Admiralty responsible for procurement and matériel in the British Royal Navy. The title of the office is now known as Controller of the Navy (abbreviated as CofN), and the Controller of the Navy is a member of the Admiralty Board.

History[edit]

The original office of Comptroller of the Navy was established in 1561 during the reign of Elizabeth I of England which was a very different function from what became known later as the Controller of the Navy. He presided over the Navy Board from 1660, and generally superintended the business of the Navy Office, he was responsible for all naval spending and for the offices dealing with bills, accounts and wages during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.^[1] By the eighteenth century the principal officer responsible for estimating annual stores requirements, inspecting ships' stores and maintaining the Fleet's store-books and repair-bills was the Surveyor of the Navy however his duties passed increasingly to the Comptroller of the Navy during the latter half of this period. The office of the Surveyor did not altogether disappear. 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 to the routine business of signing off all official documents.^[2] In 1832 the original office of the Comptroller was abolished following a merger with the Board of Admiralty and the Surveyor was made the officer responsible under the First Sea Lord for the material departments.^[3] In the same year the new post of Third Naval Lord was created that was a separate and distinct role to that of the Surveyors. In 1859 the office the Surveyor of the Navy who had overall responsibility for ship design was renamed and the post became known as the Controller of the Navy.^[4]

In the re-organisation of the Admiralty by Order in Council of 14 January 1869, the Controller of the Navy was given a seat on the Board of Admiralty as the Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy. He also inherited the new duties of the Storekeeper-General of the Navy, whose post was abolished.^[5] The Controller lost the title of Third Naval Lord and the seat on the Board by an Order in Council of 19 March 1872, but regained them by a further Order in Council of 10 March 1882.^[6] In 1872 he again became subordinate to the First Sea Lord, but he had the right to attend Board meetings when the business of his department was under discussion. In 1882 the Controller again became independent of the First Sea Lord and became a Board member again when his office was merged with that of the Third Naval Lord. The Third Naval Lord's post was renamed to become known as the Third Sea Lord in 1905. The appointment of Controller of the Navy was abolished in September 1912, although that of Third Sea Lord remained.^[7] Thereafter, except for a period in 1917 to 1918 when there was a civilian Controller of Shipping and Merchant Shipbuilding, the titles of Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy went together.

The Third Sea Lord and Controller was mainly responsible superintending the work of the Royal Naval Scientific Service and for a number of Admiralty departments, including those of the Department of the Director of Naval Construction, (from 1958 the Department of the Director General Ships), of the Department of the Engineer in Chief (formerly the Steam Department), of the Department of the Director of Naval Ordnance, of the Department of the Director of Dockyards and, following a Board decision in 1911, of the Admiralty Compass Observatory, formerly under the control of the Hydrographer's Department War he also had responsibility for the supply of equipment to Combined Operations Headquarters. From 1958 the Fourth Sea Lord was also known as Vice Controller of the Navy he assumed the superintendence of the naval dockyard organisation and the maintenance of the fleet. In 1965 the appointment of Third Sea Lord was abolished and the individual responsible for the materiel side of the navy became simply Controller of the Navy.^[8] From 2013 the Controller, also serves as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Capability) and Chief of Staff at Navy Command HQ.

List of office holders[edit]

Third Naval Lords 1832–1868[edit]

• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Pechell 1832–1834


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Charles Rowley 1834–1835


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir George Elliot 1835–1837


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Edward Troubridge 1837–1841


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Pechell 1841


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir George Seymour 1841–1844


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir William Bowles 1844–1846


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Maurice Berkeley 1846–1847


• 
  Rear Admiral Lord John Hay 1847–1850


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Houston Stewart 1850–1852


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir James Stirling 1852


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert 1852–1853


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Richard Dundas 1853–1854


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Peter Richards 1854–1857


• 
  Rear Admiral Henry Eden 1857


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Alexander Milne 1857–1859


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Henry Leeke 1859


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Charles Eden 1859–1861


• 
  Rear Admiral Charles Frederick 1861–1865


• 
  Rear Admiral Sir Edward Fanshawe 1865–1866


• 
  Rear Admiral Henry Seymour 1866–1868

Third Naval Lords and Controllers of the Navy 1869–1872[edit]

• 
  Admiral Sir Robert Robinson, 1869–1871


• 
  Captain Robert Hall, 1871–1872

Controllers of the Navy 1872–1882[edit]

• 
  Captain Robert Hall, 1872


• 
  Rear-Admiral Sir William Stewart, 1872–1881


• 
  Vice-Admiral Thomas Brandreth, 1881–1882

Third Naval Lords and Controllers of the Navy 1882–1904[edit]

Third Naval Lords and Controllers of the Navy include:^[9]

• 
  Vice-Admiral Thomas Brandreth, 1882–1886


• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir William Graham, 1886–1888


• 
  Vice-Admiral John Hopkins, 1888–1892


• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir John Fisher, 1892–1897


• 
  Rear-Admiral Arthur Wilson, 1897–1901


• 
  Rear-Admiral William May, 1901–1905

Third Sea Lord and Controllers of the Navy 1904–1912[edit]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Jackson, 1905–1908


• 
  Rear-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, 1908–1910


• 
  Rear-Admiral Charles Briggs, 1910–1912


• 
  Rear-Admiral Gordon Moore, 1912

Third Sea Lords 1912–1918[edit]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Gordon Moore, 1912–1914


• 
  Rear-Admiral Frederick Tudor, 1914–1917


• 
  Rear-Admiral Lionel Halsey, 1917–1918

Controllers of the Navy 1917–1918[edit]

• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir Eric Geddes,^[10] 1917


• 
  Sir Alan Garrett Anderson, 1917–1918

Third Sea Lords and Controllers of the Navy 1918–1965[edit]

Third Sea Lords and Controllers of the Navy include:^[9]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Sir Charles de Bartolomé, 1918–1919


• 
  Rear-Admiral Sir William Nicholson, 1919–1920


• 
  Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Field, 1920–1923


• 
  Rear-Admiral Cyril Fuller, 1923–1925


• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir Ernle Chatfield, 1925–1928


• 
  Vice-Admiral Roger Backhouse, 1928–1932


• 
  Vice-Admiral Charles Forbes, 1932–1934


• 
  Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, 1934–1939


• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, 1939–1942


• 
  Admiral Sir Frederic Wake-Walker, 1942–1945


• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Daniel, 1945–1949


• 
  Admiral Sir Michael Denny, 1949–1953


• 
  Admiral Sir Ralph Edwards, 1953–1956


• 
  Admiral Sir Peter Reid, 1956–1961


• 
  Admiral Sir Michael Le Fanu, 1961–1965

Controllers of the Navy 1965–2003[edit]

Post holders include:^[9]

• 
  Admiral Sir Horace Law, 1965–1970


• 
  Admiral Sir Michael Pollock, 1970–1971


• 
  Admiral Sir Anthony Griffin, 1971–1975


• 
  Admiral Sir Richard Clayton, 1975–1979


• 
  Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, 1979–1981


• 
  Admiral Sir Lindsay Bryson, 1981–1984


• 
  Admiral Sir Derek Reffell, 1984–1989


• 
  Admiral Sir Kenneth Eaton, 1989–1994


• 
  Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, 1994–1996


• 
  Rear-Admiral Frederick Scourse, 1996–1997


• 
  Rear-Admiral Peter Spencer, 1997–2000


• 
  Rear-Admiral Nigel Guild, 2000–2003

Controller and Director, Land Maritime 2003-2006[edit]

Post holders include:^[9]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Richard Cheadle, 2003–2006

Controller and Director-General, Nuclear 2006-2009[edit]

Post holders include:^[9]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Andrew Mathews, 2006–2007


• 
  Rear-Admiral Paul Lambert, 2007–2009

Controller and Capability Manager/Director (Precision Attack) 2009-2012[edit]

Post holders include:^[9]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Amjad Hussain, 2009–2012

Controller and Director, Maritime Capability and Transformation 2012-2013[edit]

Post holders include:^[9]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Henry Parker, 2012–2013

Controller, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Capability) and Chief of Staff, Navy Command HQ 2013-current[edit]

Post holders include:^[9]

• 
  Rear-Admiral Duncan Potts, 2013–2014


• 
  Rear-Admiral James Morse, 2014–2016


• 
  Rear-Admiral Paul Bennett, 2016–2017


• 
  Major-General Robert Magowan, 2017–

Departments under the office[edit]

At various times included:^{[11][12][13][14]}

Current[edit]

• Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff Warfare


• Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff Information Superiority


• Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff Maritime Capability


• Office Assistant Chief of Staff Integrated Change Programme

Former[edit]

At various times included:^[15]

• 
  Admiralty Compass Observatory, formerly under the control of the Hydrographer of the Navy's department
  


• 
  Combined Operations Headquarters (supply of equipment only).


• 
  Department of the Director of Dockyards, (1885-1954)


• 
  Department of the Director of Naval Construction
  
  • Royal Corps of Naval Constructors
  
  


• Department of the Director General Ships


• Department of the Director Contract-built ships


• Department of the Director of Electrical Engineering


• Department of the Director of Naval Equipment


• Department of the Director of Scientific Research


• 
  Department of the Engineer in Chief (formerly the Steam Department)


• Department of the Inspector of Dockyard Expense Accounts


• Department of the Director of Torpedoes and Mines


• 
  Department of the Surveyor of Dockyards, (1872-1885)


• 
  Directorate of Naval Construction, (1913-1958)


• 
  Naval Ordnance Department
  
  
  
  • Department of the Assistant Director of Torpedoes
  
  
  • 
    Naval Ordnance Stores Department (1918-1964)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Naval Stores Department, (1869-1966)


• 
  Dockyards and Maintenance Department, (1958-1964)


• Office of the Assistant Controller


• Office of the Assistant Controller Research and Development


• 
  Office of the Controller, (1917-1918)


• 
  Office of the Deputy Controller of Navy, (1939-1941)


• Office of the Deputy Controller Production


• Office of the Inspector Gun Mountings


• 
  Office of the Superintendent of Stores, (1869-1917)


• 
  Office of the Vice Controller of the Navy, (1939-1945)


• 
  Office of the Vice Controller Air
  
  
  
  • Department of the Director of Naval Equipment
  
  
  • 
    Armament Supply Department, (1891-1918)
    
    • Royal Naval Armaments Depot
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Department of the Chief Inspector of Naval Ordnance, (1908-1922)
  
  
  • 
    Naval Ordnance Inspection Department, (1922-1964)
  
  
  
  


• Royal Naval Scientific Service


• Steam Department

Attribution[edit]

This article contains copied content from this source: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C712. Which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

See also[edit]

• First Sea Lord


• Second Sea Lord


• Fourth Sea Lord


• Fifth Sea Lord


• 
  Comptroller of the Navy, (1561-1832)

References[edit]