The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Navy currently held by the Second Sea Lord.[1] The incumbent is usually a three-star rank and had a NATO ranking code of OF-8, but the position has previously been held by an acting two-star ranked officer and a four-star ranked officer.
Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff | |
---|---|
Ministry of Defence | |
Abbreviation | DCNS |
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 King-in-Council |
Term length | Not fixed (typically 1–3 years) |
Formation | 1917–1968, 2013–current |
First holder | Vice Admiral Henry Oliver |
The position was originally established in 1917 on the Board of Admiralty. It essentially replaced the position of Chief of the Admiralty War Staff.[2]
The first incumbent was Vice Admiral Henry Oliver, the Chief of the Admiralty War Staff, who was appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Staff on 31 May 1917.[3] The duties of the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, were shared with the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff and with the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff.[2]
In September 1917 the new post of Deputy First Sea Lord was created to meet the demand of wartime operational requirements. The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff then reported to the Deputy First Sea Lord until 1919 when that post was abolished. The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff then resumed his previous role and reported to the First Sea Lord until 1941. Duties as of 1917 included:[4][2][5]
This remained in place until 1939. Duties after 1939 included:[5]
In 1941 the DCNS post was renamed Vice Chief of the Naval Staff; this continued until 1946. After the Second World War the title was changed back to DCNS, and continued until 1968.
In 2013 the office was brought back once more and the current Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff became both a member of the Admiralty Board and a member of the Navy Board of the Ministry of Defence.
Duties circa March 2014 included:[6]
Incumbents include:[7]
No. | Portrait | Deputy Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vice Admiral Sir Henry Oliver (1865–1965) | July 1917 | January 1918 | 6 months | . | |
– | Rear Admiral Sir Sydney Fremantle (1867–1958) Acting | January 1918 | May 1919 | 1 year, 4 months | . | |
2 | Sir James Fergusson (1871–1942) | Rear AdmiralMay 1919 | August 1919 | 3 months | . | |
3 | Sir Osmond Brock (1869–1947) | Vice AdmiralAugust 1919 | November 1921 | 2 years, 3 months | [8] | |
4 | Sir Roger Keyes (1872–1945) | Vice AdmiralNovember 1921 | May 1925 | 3 years, 6 months | [8] | |
4 | Sir Frederick Field (1871–1945) | Vice AdmiralMay 1925 | May 1928 | 3 years | [8] | |
5 | Sir William Wordsworth Fisher (1875–1937) | Vice AdmiralMay 1928 | June 1930 | 2 years, 1 month | [9] | |
6 | Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer (1878–1956) | AdmiralJune 1930 | January 1933 | 2 years, 7 months | [10] | |
7 | Sir Charles J. C. Little (1882–1973) | Vice AdmiralJanuary 1933 | October 1935 | 2 years, 9 months | [11] | |
8 | Sir William Milbourne James (1881–1973) | Vice AdmiralOctober 1935 | October 1938 | 3 years | [12] | |
9 | Sir Andrew B. Cunningham (1883–1963) | Vice AdmiralOctober 1938 | May 1939 | 7 months | [13] | |
10 | Sir Tom S. V. Phillips (1888–1941) | Vice AdmiralJune 1939 | October 1941 | 2 years, 5 months | [14] |
No. | Portrait | Deputy Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | Robert Don Oliver (1895–1980) Acting | Rear AdmiralApril 1946 | April 1947 | 1 year | . | |
1 | Sir Edward Evans-Lombe (1901–1974) | Vice AdmiralDecember 1950 | January 1953 | 2 years, 1 month | . | |
– | Sir Geoffrey Barnard (1901–1974) Acting | Rear AdmiralJanuary 1953 | April 1954 | 1 year, 3 months | [15] | |
2 | Sir Eric Clifford (1900–1964) | Vice AdmiralApril 1954 | September 1957 | 3 years, 5 months | [16] |
No. | Portrait | Deputy Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sir Manley Power (1904–1981) | Vice AdmiralOctober 1957 | February 1959 | 1 year, 4 months | . | |
2 | Admiral Sir Laurence Durlacher (1904–1986) | AdmiralFebruary 1959 | January 1962 | 2 years, 11 months | [17] | |
3 | Sir Peter Gretton (1912–1992) | Vice AdmiralJanuary 1962 | January 1963 | 1 year | [18] | |
4 | Sir Frank Hopkins (1910–1990) | Vice AdmiralJanuary 1963 | March 1966 | 3 years, 2 months | [19] | |
5 | Sir Richard B. Janvrin (1915–1993) | Vice AdmiralMarch 1966 | October 1968 | 2 years, 7 months | [citation needed] |
No. | Portrait | Deputy Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sir Philip Jones (born 1960) | Vice Admiral30 November 2012 | 8 April 2016 | 3 years, 130 days | [20][21] | |
2 | Jonathan Woodcock (born 1962) | Vice Admiral8 April 2016 | 27 March 2018 | 1 year, 353 days | [22] | |
3 | Tony Radakin (born 1965) | Vice Admiral27 March 2018 | 26 April 2019 | 1 year, 30 days | [23] | |
4 | Nick Hine (born 1966) | Vice Admiral26 April 2019 | 12 January 2022 | 2 years, 261 days | [24] | |
5 | Martin Connell (born 1968) | Vice Admiral12 January 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 88 days | [25] |
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Primary source for this article is by Harley, Simon and Lovell, Tony, (2016) Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, The Dreadnought Project, http://dreadnoughtproject.org.