The admiral-superintendent was the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer in command of a larger

Naval Dockyard A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Devonport and

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

all had admiral-superintendents, as did some other dockyards in the United Kingdom and abroad at certain times. The admiral-superintendent usually held the rank of

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

. His deputy was the captain of the dockyard (or captain of the port from 1969). Some smaller dockyards, such as

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

and Pembroke, had a captain-superintendent instead, whose deputy was styled

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the dockyard. The appointment of a commodore-superintendent was also made from time to time in certain yards. The appointment of admiral-superintendents (or their junior equivalents) dates from 1832 when the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

took charge of the Royal Dockyards. Prior to this larger dockyards were overseen by a

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

who represented the

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

. In the Royal Naval Dockyards, admiral-superintendents ceased to be appointed after 15 September 1971, and existing post-holders were renamed port admirals. This followed the appointment of a (civilian) Chief Executive of the Royal Dockyards in September 1969 and the creation of a centralised Royal Dockyards Management Board.

Admiral-superintendents

List of admiral-superintendents by first appointment date. Appointed by the

until 1832 and the Board of Admiralty thereafter. * Admiral-Superintendent, Plymouth, 1707–1712, 1832–1966 * Admiral-Superintendent, Chatham, 1879–1951 * Admiral-superintendent, Malta, 1832–1897 *

Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth The Admiral-superintendent, Portsmouth was the Royal Navy officer in command of the Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth from 1832 to 1971; prior to this date a resident Commissioner of the Navy Board had had oversight of the yard, since 1649. In May 1971 c ...

, 1832–1996 * Admiral-Superintendent, Naval Reserves, 1875–1903 * Admiral-Superintendent, Devonport, 1846–1970 * Admiral-Superintendent, Gibraltar, 1898–1945 * Admiral-Superintendent,

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was fo ...

, 1915–1944 * Admiral-Superintendent of Esquimalt Dockyard (Victoria, British Columbia) * Admiral-Superintendent of Halifax Dockyard * Admirals-Superintendent on the Clyde

Commodore-superintendents

List of commodore-superintendents by first appointment date. All appointed by the Board of Admiralty. * Commodore-Superintendent, Halifax, 1759-1905? * Commodore-Superintendent, Bermuda, 1795-1834?

Captain-Superintendents

List of captain-superintendents by first appointment date. Appointed by the Navy Board until 1832 and the Board of Admiralty thereafter. * Captain-Superintendent, Sheerness, 1799-1934 * Captain-Superintendent, Pembroke, 1882-1926 * Captain-Superintendent, Haulbowline, 1869-1923 * Captain-Superintendent, Woolwich, 1512-1869

References

{{Reflist Royal Navy appointments