Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth

Admiral Superintendent, Portsmouth
	Ensign of the Royal Navy
	Admiralty, Ministry of Defence
Reports to	Second Sea Lord
Nominator	First Lord of the Admiralty, Second Sea Lord
Appointer	First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for Defence; Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term length	Not fixed (typically 2–4 years)
Inaugural holder	Rear-Admiral Frederick Lewis Maitland
Formation	1649-1996

The Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth^[1] was the Royal Navy officer in command of the Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth from 1649 to 1971 when the post holder was re-styled Flag Officer, Portsmouth and Admiral Superintendent ^[2]^[3] In August 1971 the post was renamed to Flag Officer Spithead and Port Admiral until 1975 when it was re-styled Flag Officer, Portsmouth and Port Admiral the command existed with subsequent name changes but still covered the same geographic area and operational responsibilities until 1996 when its ceased to exist as a separate command appointment and its responsibilities were assumed by the staff of Flag Officer First Flotilla.

History

From 1546 until 1832 prime responsibility for administering H.M. Royal Navy Dockyards lay with the Navy Board, and resident commissioners who were naval officers though civilian employees of the Navy Board, not sea officers ^[4] in charge of the day-to-day operational running of the dockyard and superintendence of its sea officer and ratings staff, following the abolition of that board its functions were merged within the Admiralty and a new post styled Admiral-superintendent was established the admiral-superintendent usually held the rank of rear-admiral though sometimes commodore and vice-admiral. His immediate subordinate was an officer known as the captain of the dockyard (or captain of the port from 1969). This followed the appointment of a (civilian) Chief Executive of the Royal Dockyards in September 1969^[5] and the creation of a centralised Royal Dockyards Management Board that were responsible for the civilian functions and staff at dockyards.^[6] Admiral-superintendents ceased to be appointed in the royal navy after 15 September 1971, and existing post-holders were renamed port admirals.^[7] In May 1971 the post was renamed Flag Officer, Portsmouth and Admiral Superintendent until July 1971 when it was renamed Flag Officer, Spithead and Port Admiral until August 1975, the post name was changed again to Flag Officer, Portsmouth and Port Admiral until October 1996 when it ceased to exist as a separate formation that was then absorbed into the Flag Officer First Flotilla's responsibilities, later renamed Portsmouth Flotilla.

Resident Commissioner, Portsmouth

Incomplete list of post holders included:^[8]

Lieutenant William Willoughby, 13 March 1649 – 30 March 1651
Vice-Admiral Robert Moulton, 4 May 1651 – 22 September 1652
Francis Willoughby, 22 September 1652 – 10 November 1664
Thomas Middleton, 10 November 1664 – 30 September 1675
Rear-Admiral Sir John Kempthorne, 30 September 1675 – 22 October 1679
Rear-Admiral Richard Beach, 22 October 1679 – 26 March 1689
Captain Thomas Wilshaw, 26 March 1689 – December 1693
Captain Henry Greenhill, 26 March 1695 – 1702^[9]
Captain Sir William Gifford, 18 June 1702 – 14 January 1705
Captain Isaac Townsend, 14 January 1705 – 17 May 1713,
Captain Isaac Townsend, 17 May 1713 – May 1729, (jointly with Seymour)
Captain Sir Michael Seymour, 14 January 1729 – 28 June 1732, (jointly with Townsend, then Hughes)
Captain Richard Hughes, 5 May 1729 – 12 February 1754, (jointly with Seymour)
Captain Sir Richard Hughes, 12 February 1754 – 25 August 1773
Commodore James Gambier, 25 August 1773 – 26 January 1778
Captain Samuel Hood, 26 January 1778 – 30 September 1780
Captain Henry Martin, 30 September 1780 – 13 March 1790
Captain Sir Charles Saxton, 13 March 1790 – July 1806
Captain Sir George Grey, July 1806 – January 1829