The Plans Division was the former war preparation and wartime strategic planning arm of the Admiralty Department from 1917 to 1964, The division originally became the main policy advisory and formulating body to the Chief of the Naval Staff . It later came under the supervision of the Assistant-Chief of the Naval staff (Policy) .
When it transferred to the Navy Department (Ministry of Defence) it was renamed the Plans and Resources Division until 1971 it then became the Directorate of Naval Plans .
History
The Plans Division was established on 28 September 1917 it evolved out of the earlier Plans Section (Section 16) of the Operations Division of the Naval Staff. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff whose view was that plans and operations as functions should be separate and distinct. The division existed until 1964 when the Admiralty department was abolished and its functions merged within a new Ministry of Defence and re-emerged as the Plans and Resources Division that was headed by the Director of Plans and Resources.
Responsibilities
The Plans Division would cover a far wider remit than devising the making of operational plans. Long-term policy in regards to the composition of all commands, fleets and squadrons were within its responsibility, continual projecting of naval construction programs were also another duty, however the procedures for planning was always in a constant state of modification due to the significance of changes from one aspect of the war at sea to another.
The business of the plans division was also closely coordinated with that of the Intelligence Division as vital information about the enemy's perceived intentions or actions adversely affected both the preparation of and execution of all plans. This usually consisted of the day-to-day, even hour-to-hour communiques, reports and assessments regarding the actions and movements of every one of the enemy's assets. The scale and complexity was enormous in that it had to cover all the oceans and seas of the world, and that it might affect every British and Allied warships and merchantmen at sea this information in turn passed to the division who had to anticipate and plan contingencies for these types of changes.
Although the division prepared all naval plans the director was also a member of the (Joint Planning Committee) that included the directors of plans from the Army and Air force, they collectively advised the Chiefs of Staff on all inter-Service planning problems. Only a low percentage of plans created received, for one reason or another, the Board of Admiralty's and First Sea Lord's approval; however strategic planning to anticipate every conceivable outcome had to be conducted, because a sudden requirement for an emergency plan might arise, this was particularly the case during both world wars.
Directors duties
As of 1917:
Preparation of naval plans at home and abroad .Consideration of and proposals for the use of new weapons and material .Building programmes to cut out approved policy Liaise with Director Operations Division before submission of proposals to (C.N.S.) and (D.C.N.S.). Directors of Plans
Included:
Rear-Admiral Roger J. B. Keyes , September 1917-January 1918
Captain Cyril Fuller , January 1918-May 1920
Captain Barry E. Domvile , May 1920-May 1922
Captain Arthur Dudley P. R. Pound , May 1922-March 1925
Captain Wilfrid A. Egerton, March 1925-January 1928
Captain Roger M. Bellairs, January 1928-December 1930
Captain John H. D. Cunningham , December 1930-December 1932
Captain Henry R. Moore , December 1932-November 1933
Captain Edward L. S. King , November 1933-August 1935
Captain Tom S. V. Phillips , August 1935-April 1938
Captain Victor Danckwerts , April 1938–March 1940
Captain Charles S. Daniel , March 1940-July 1941
Captain E. Gerald H. Bellars, July 1941-March 1942
Captain Charles E. Lambe , March 1942-April 1944
Captain Guy Grantham , April 1944-January 1946
Captain John F. Stevens, January 1946-January 1948
Captain Thomas M. Brownrigg , January 1948-January 1950
Captain R. Dymock Watson , January 1950-April 1952
Captain Deric Holland-Martin , April 1952-November 1953
Captain Hector C.D. MacLean, November 1953-January 1956
Captain E. Duncan G. Lewin , January 1956-December 1957
Captain Richard M. Smeeton , December 1957-April 1959
Captain John F. D. Bush , April 1959-November 1960
Captain Edward B. Ashmore , November 1960-December 1961
Captain Andrew M. Lewis , December 1961-September 1963
Captain Peter W. B. Ashmore , September 1963-January 1966 Deputy Directors of Plans
Included:
Captain Barry E. Domvile, August 1919-May 1920
Captain Gerald L.C. Dickens, May 1920-June 1922
Captain John C. Hamilton, June 1922-May 1924
Captain Wilfrid A. Egerton, May 1924-March 1925
Captain T. Hugh Binney, April 1925-August 1927
Captain Stephen D. Tillard, August 1927-May 1928
Captain G. Frederick B. Edward-Collins, May 1928-December 1929
Captain John H.D. Cunningham , December 1929-December 1930
Captain Henry R. Moore, December 1930-December 1932
Captain Edward L. S. King , December 1932-December 1933
Captain John H. Godfrey , November 1933-December 1935
Captain Edward Neville Syfret , December 1935-December 1937
Captain John H. Edelsten , December 1937-March 1940
Captain E. Gerald H. Bellars, March 1940-July 1941
Captain Charles E. Lambe , July 1941-January 1942
Captain Douglas H. Everett, January 1942-January 1943
Captain Robert K. Dickson, January 1943-November 1944
Captain Godfrey A. French, December 1944-July 1946
Captain Manley L. Power , February–July 1946
Captain Harold G. Dickinson, June 1946-December 1948
Captain Peter G. L. Cazalet , July 1946 – 1947
Captain J. David Luce , December 1948-February 1951
Captain Arthur R. Pedder, January 1949-February 1950
Captain Harold S. Hopkins, September 1951-February 1953
Captain Thomas D. Ross, February 1953-January 1954
Captain Robert P.S. Grant, January–December 1954
Captain Charles P. Coke, December 1954-December 1956
Captain Edward T. Graham, December 1956-December 1958
Captain Raymond Hart , December 1958-June 1960
Captain Edward B. Ashmore , June–November 1960
Captain Anthony T. F. G. Griffin , November 1960-December 1962
Captain Peter W. B. Ashmore , December 1962-July 1963 Assistant Directors of Plans
Notes:Incomplete list, the division always had two assistant directors this is indicated where appointment dates overlap below they included :
Captain Kenneth G. B. Dewar , 1917
Captain Cyril T. M. Fuller, October, 1917 – 1 January 1918
Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound , October, 1917 – 10 January 1918
Captain Alfred F. B. Carpenter , 26 April 1918 – 17 January 1919
Captain Gerald C. Dickens, 15 March 1920 – 1 May 1920
Captain George H. D'Oyly Lyon , 29 August 1923 – 27 April 1925
Captain Francis H. Sandford, 27 April 1925 – 15 February 1926 (died during appointment)
Captain G. Frederick B. Edward-Collins, 29 August 1927 – 1 May 1928
Captain Victor Hilary Danckwerts, 14 September 1932 - January 1934
Captain Charles S. Daniel , 16 March 1936 - January 1938
Captain George E. Creasy , 30 June 1936 - February 1938
Captain John W. Cuthbert , 15 June 1942 - June 1944
Captain Arthur Philip Culmer, 9 May 1955 - January 1957 (Section A)
Captain John Cecil Cartwright, 9 September 1956 – 1 January 1957 (Section B) Subordinate staff sections
A more detailed breakdown of the distribution of work allocated within the division to the various staff sections can be seen below.
As of 1917:
Section
Admiralty Room
Responsibility
(A)
(A.D.P.D)
Devise and prepare (all plans of operation both defensive and offensive)
(B)
(A.D.P.D)
Determine (quantity and arrange for the provision of material to carry out plans.)
References
Bond, Brian; Roy, Ian (5 October 2015). War and Society Volume 2: A Yearbook of Military History ISBN 9781317414476
The Royal Navy Today . Odhams Press Limited, London. 1942. p. 64.Grimes, Shawn T. (2012). Strategy and War Planning in the British Navy, 1887-1918 ISBN 9781843836988
Hamilton, C. I. (3 February 2011). The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making, 1805–1927 ISBN 9781139496544
Pope, Dudley (1956). Graf Spee: The Life and Death of a Raider . Lippincott. p. 71.
Franklin, George (2 August 2004). Britain's Anti-submarine Capability 1919-1939 ISBN 9781135774295
Jellicoe, Earl John Rushworth Jellicoe (1 January 1921). The Crisis of the Naval War ISBN 9781465507914
^ Mackie, Colin. "Senior Royal Navy Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin.com . Gulabin, pp.27 to 29, January 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen. "World War II unit histories & officers, Royal Navy" . www.unithistories.com . Houterman and Koppes, 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
^ Houterman, J.N. "Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945 -- C" . www.unithistories.com . J N Houterman. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
Houterman, J.N. "Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945 -- C" . unithistories.com . J.N. Houterman. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
Marder, Arthur J. (31 March 2014). From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: Volume IV 1917, Year of Crisis ISBN 9781848322011
Sources
Archives, The National. "Records of Naval Staff Departments", discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives, 1912-1964.
Black, Nicholas (2009). The British Naval Staff in the First World War. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843834427 .
Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen. "World War II unit histories & officers, Royal Navy". www.unithistories.com. Houterman and Koppes, 2016.
Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division (1929). The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. Its Work and Development. B.R. 1845 (late C.B. 3013). Copy at The National Archives. ADM 234/434
Mackie, Colin, (2010-2014), British Armed Services between 1860 and the present day — Royal Navy - Senior Appointments , http://www.gulabin.com/ . Department of Admiralty Direction and control
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Department Air Equipment and Naval Photography Department Air Department Air Materiel Department Air Personnel Department Amphibious Warfare Headquarters Armament Supply Department Board of Invention and Research Board of Longitude Boom Defence Department Boom Defence and Marine Salvage Department Britannia Royal Naval College Chemical Board Chemical Department Civil Catering Department Civil Engineer in Chiefs Department Coastguard and Reserves Branch Combined Operations Headquarters Commissioner for Property and Income-tax for the Naval Department Compass Department Contract and Purchase Department Council of Naval Education Dental Examining Board Department of Radio Equipment Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy Department of Aeronautical and Engineering Research Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development Department of Naval Assistant (Foreign) to Second Sea Lord Department of Naval Education Operational Research Department of Personal Services and Officer 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and Methods Department Packet Service Regional Organisation for Merchant Shipbuilding and Repairs Royal Corps of Naval Constructors Royal Flying Corps Royal Marine Police Royal Marines Office Office of the Chaplain of the Fleet Royal Naval Academy Royal Naval Aircraft Workshops Royal Naval Air Service Royal Naval Air Stations Royal Naval Armaments Depot Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Royal Naval Cordite Factories Royal Naval Propellant Factory Royal Naval College Royal Naval College and the School for Naval Architecture Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal Naval College, Greenwich Royal Naval College, Keyham Royal Naval College, Osborne Royal Naval Engineering College Royal Naval Film Corporation Royal Naval Hospital Royal Naval Medical Depot Royal Naval Minewatching Service Royal Naval Mine Depot Royal Naval Patrol Service Royal Naval Scientific Service Royal Naval Sick Quarters Royal Naval Torpedo Depot Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Naval War College Royal Naval War College, 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Naval formations after 1707
1st Fleet 2nd Fleet 3rd Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Africa Atlantic Fleet Commodore, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf Australia Station Cape of Good Hope Station Cape and West Africa Station Battle Cruiser Fleet Battle Cruiser Force Caspian Flotilla Channel Fleet Channel Squadron Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland Cork Station Coast of Scotland Commander-in-Chief, China Commander-in-Chief, Dover Flag Officer, East Africa East Indies Station East Indies and China Station Eastern Fleet Far East Fleet English Channel Grand Fleet Flag Officer Gibraltar Harwich Force Home Fleet Jamaica Station Leith Station Commander-in-Chief, Levant Levant and East Mediterranean Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Mediterranean Fleet Medway Newfoundland Station New Zealand Division New Zealand Naval Forces Nore North America and West Indies Station Commander-in-Chief, North Sea Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands Pacific Fleet Pacific Station Admiral of Patrols Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth Queenstown Station Royal East African Navy Royal Indian Navy Flag Officer Submarines Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth Reserve Fleet Scotland and Northern Ireland Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic South East Coast of America Station Commander-in-Chief, Thames and Medway West Africa Squadron Flag Officer, West Africa Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches Naval formations before 1707
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