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The Executive Branch of the Royal Navy 1918-1939

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The Executive Branch of the Royal Navy 1918-1939 TO THE NADIR AND BACK: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE ROYAL NAVY 1918-1939. Volume 1 of 2. Submitted by Michael Atholl FARQUHARSON-ROBERTS MA(Lond) MB BS FRCS (Eng) to the University of Exeter for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Maritime History October 2012. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University Signed: 1 This thesis is dedicated to Miss Macaulay, an inspirational teacher and head of history at Dorking County Grammar School. When I gave up the study of history to pursue a medical career, she told me that she ‘could have made a historian’ of me. I could not have completed this thesis without the help, direction and guidance of my supervisor, Dr Michael Duffy and my tutor Dr Maria Fusaro. Dr Duffy in particular has always had a very gentle, but firm hand on the tiller; he has been a truly outstanding pilot and helmsman. I am also extremely grateful for the assistance of Dr Trevor Preist, Dr Alan Wall and Dr Shaun Kilminster for specialist advice on physics, navigation and statistics respectively. I also thank for their unstinting support and assistance the various and many librarians I have consulted. In particular, Miss Jenny Wraight and the other staff of the Admiralty Historical Branch and Library, but also all the staff at the National Archive; between them they epitomise what public service should be. Other libraries I have consulted less, but they have been equally helpful, including the Exeter University library, the Bodleian library, the library of the House of Lords, those of the Royal College of Defence Studies, of the Royal United Services Institute, of Britannia Royal Naval College, of the Institute of Naval Medicine, of the National Army Museum and of the Naval and Military Club. Lastly, without the then Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns granting access to personnel records and the support of his staff and that of the records holders at the TNT depot at Swadlincote, this thesis could not have even started. Finally, and by no means least, this thesis could not have been undertaken without the long suffering support of my wife, Jeannie. She married me for better or for worse, and during the writing of this thesis has had to put up with me for lunch rather more often than she had bargained for when she married a naval orthopaedic surgeon. 2 ABSTRACT The Royal Navy, and especially its leadership, is perceived to have performed poorly in the First World War and its officers have been described as being automatons who only came alive when directed by superiors. By contrast in the Second World War the Royal Navy and its officers are seen as having ‘done well,’ displaying both flair and initiative. There does not appear to have been any attempts made to look in any detail at what, if anything, changed in the twenty years between the wars to explain the perceived improvement. This thesis critically examines the executive branch of the Royal Navy, and contends that the navy continually adapted and modified the training of its officers to meet whatever was required of them; when they were required to passively obey orders as in the Grand Fleet of the First World War, they had been trained for that eventuality, when to show initiative likewise. During the 1920s the officer corps was mismanaged and morale and motivation suffered badly. The influence of the Admiralty civil service, the repository of institutional memory, which managed junior officers’ careers, was conservative and resistant to change. Changes in training both before and after the mutiny at Invergordon (September 1931) brought the officer corps up to date and set it on track for its outstanding performance in the next war, in particular recognising that leadership was not an innate class based ability, but had to be taught and developed. However, the navy had since the latter part of the nineteenth century changed the emphasis of officer’s career paths; specialist training was seen as the ‘route to the top’ and command was downgraded as a necessary part of an officer’s career development. It was only during the latter part of Second World War that having exercised command at sea was recognised as being an important part of an officer’s experience. The thesis also addresses the ‘RNVR myth’. that the Royal Navy was only able to prosecute the Second World War successfully because of an influx of well educated temporary officers and that they were the major driving force. This thesis has been largely based on primary sources, including personnel records which have not been studied before and have been examined in such a way as to allow statistical analysis. 3 LIST OF CONTENTS Volume 1 Submission 1 Index 2 Abstract 3 Dedication 4 List of illustrations 5 Introduction 7 PART ONE: The Royal Naval Executive Officer 12 November 1918 37 Chapter 1: The Executive Branch Officer 39 Chapter 2: Entry, Education and Training 57 Chapter 3: Personnel management 91 PART TWO: To the Nadir and Back 103 Chapter 1: Declining to the Nadir: Admirals Wemyss, Beatty and Madden and their 105 policies regarding the officer corps. Chapter 2: Declining to the Nadir: Admirals Wemyss, Beatty and Madden and the 137 morale of the officer corps. Chapter 3: The Nadir and the Inflection: Admiral Field 169 Chapter 4: The Ascension: Admiral Chatfield and the improvement of the officers’ lot. 217 Chapter 5: The Ascension: Admiral Chatfield and the coming war. 235 PART THREE: The Apogee 257 Chapter 1: Admirals Backhouse and Pound. 259 Chapter 2: Conclusion: The Naval Officer on 2nd September 1939 297 Volume 2 Submission 315 Appendix A: Royal Naval officer’s rank insignia etc 319 Appendix B: Cohort Study, Ethical Approvals etc and methodology 325 Appendix C: The Branches of the Executive Branch 335 Appendix D: Illustrative Officer’s training Record and Certificates 343 Appendix E: Admiralty Fleet Order 2315/32 365 Confidential Admiralty Fleet Order 2023/32 Glossary 373 Bibliography 381 Annexes (on CD in rear pocket) List of abbreviations used in the Annexes Annex A: Spreadsheet of Midshipmen of 1920 seniority Annex B: Spreadsheet of Midshipmen of 1925 seniority Annex C: Spreadsheet of Midshipmen of 1930 seniority Annex D: Spreadsheet of Midshipmen of 1935 seniority 4 LIST OF FIGURES Fig.1 An index page and an Admiralty Fleet Order from December 1930. Fig.2 Herzberg’s factors affecting employee motivation. Fig.3 The three sons of the Cambell family. Fig.4 Numbers of Royal Naval personnel up to the First World War. Fig. 5 Instruction on a Whitehead torpedo. Fig. 6 Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Fig. 7 Frontispiece of the ‘Blue Book’ for January 1920. Fig. 8 A portion an officers Admiralty personal record. Fig. 9 Officers record card. Fig. 10 An Officer’s ledger. Fig. 11 Two pages of an officer’s ledger. Fig. 12 Extract from a 1925 Navy list Fig. 13 BRNC ‘Blue Book’ showing cadets ‘Admiralty numbers’. Fig. 14 Letter from ADM 116/1734. Fig. 15 Instructions for completing form S206. Fig. 16 First page of a completed S206. Fig. 17 Second page of S206 showing the end of the first section. Fig. 18 Last page of S206. Fig. 19 Total numbers of executive branch lieutenant commanders each September. Fig. 20 Cartoon from the ‘Evening Standard’ 20 March 1928. Fig. 21 Herzberg matrix at the end of the 1920s. Fig. 22 Admiral Field, according to Roskill, ‘the most colourless First Sea Lord’ of the inter war period. Fig. 23 Extract from an S206 transcribed onto an officers record card. Fig. 24 Example of a ‘flimsy’. Fig. 25 Form S206 prior to introduction of numerical marking. Fig. 26 Post 1931 S206. Fig. 27 Post 1931 S206. Fig. 28 HMS Frobisher as a training cruiser. Fig. 29 Herzberg Matrix at the end of Field’s term of office. Fig. 30 Portion of the record card of an officer discharged to the retired list in 1935. Fig. 31 To illustrate the degree to which RNVR officers came to predominate. Fig. 32 Herzberg matrix on the outbreak of war. Fig. 33 Table of cadets showing ultimate rank reached by year of passing out as cadets/entry as midshipmen. Fig. 34 The probability of a Dartmouth or Special Entry cadet reaching the rank of commander, captain or flag rank. Fig. 35 The first course at the Imperial Defence College. Fig. 39 Army officers in combat arms relied on specialists from other corps. 5 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS THESIS 1SL First Sea Lord 2SL Second Sea Lord 2SLPersRec Second Sea Lord’s Personnel Records ACNS Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff ADM Admiralty files at the national archive AFO Admiralty Fleet Order AMO Admiralty Monthly Order AWO Admiralty Weekly Order BR Book of Reference BRNC Britannia Royal Naval College (at Dartmouth) CAFO Confidential Admiralty Fleet Order CB Confidential Book (of reference) CID Committee on Imperial Defence CNS Chief of the Naval Staff DCNS Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff GS General Service (unofficial abbreviation) HMSO His Majesty’s Stationery Office KR & AI Kings Regulations and Admiralty Instructions NA Naval Assistant NDA Naval Discipline Act RNR Royal Naval Reserve RNVR Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve S206 Confidential report on an Officer TBD Torpedo Boat Destroyer (archaic) TNA The National Archive (formerly PRO) VCNS Vice Chief of the Naval Staff 6 TO THE NADIR AND BACK: THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE ROYAL NAVY 1918-1939 INTRODUCTION 7 8 The Royal Navy was a major participant in the two major wars of the twentieth century.
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