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CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES TOTAL OF 10 PAGES ONLY MAY BE XEROXED (Without Author's Permission) MAY 1 1 2006 IN DEFENCE OF CORPORATE COMPETENCE: THE ROYAL NAVY EXECUTIVE OFFICER CORPS, 1880-1919 by ©Robert Lynn Davison A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of History Memorial University of Newfoundland December 2004 St. John's Newfoundland & Labrador Library and Bibliotheque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a Ia Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par !'Internet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, eUou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve Ia propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits meraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni Ia these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a Ia loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur Ia protection de Ia vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ant ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient indus dans Ia pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Abstract At the end of the nineteenth century the Executive Officer Corps of the Royal Navy faced significant challenges as it dealt with social, economic, political and technological change. Although rising international tension appeared to benefit the service as a whole, changes in force structure and organization presented threats to the professional competence of executive officers. Increased expenditure on defence and increasing public scrutiny was combined with the growth of other developing professions, especially engineering, that challenged older lines of authority. Also, the advance of education and skill of ratings and non-executives weakened the traditional claims by the executive officer corps to leadership over the lower deck and other branches of service. - The corps attempted to deal with these issues by asserting its dominance in changing career patterns, finding new intellectual justification for the continued "culture of command" through the advent of modem naval history, and the institution of new, more efficient staff command systems. The corps also attempted to annex engineering functions through the Selbome education scheme of 1902. The outbreak of World War I in 1914, presented the corps with the hazardous task of justifYing itself and making good on its claims to dominance within the establishment. Despite the setbacks and disasters of war, the corps largely managed to retain its dominance into the interwar period. 11 Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................. .ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................ iv Table of Figures ..................................................................................... vi Abbreviations ...................................................................................... vii Glossary ............................................................................................ viii Chapter I - Introduction ............................................................................ 1 Chapter II - Social Change and the Officer Corps .................................. .. ........ .42 Chapter III -The Nineteenth Century Officer Corps ......................................... 80 Chapter IV- Secundis Dubiisque Rectus: Upright in Prosperity and Peril. .............. 128 Chapter V- "Oh, These Magicians and Necromancers, They are Ruining Us": ......... 181 Engineers and Sailors in Conflict Chapter VI- The Reinvention of the Officer Corps ......................................... 219 Chapter VII- History as a Tool for Control. ................................................... 255 Chapter VIII - Journals and Staffs: Organizational Change 1911-1914 .................. 282 Chapter IX- "Auxillium ab Alto": The Experience of War ........................ ......... 334 Chapter X - Conclusion .......................................................................... 3 77 Appendices ......................................................................................... 392 Bibliography........................................................................................ 397 lll Acknowledgements Although historical research is generally a solitary and sometimes even a lonely pursuit, the assistance and support of others is still vital. First of all, I wish to dedicate this work in the memory of my maternal grandparents, Arlie Egerton Metcalfe and Mrujorie Elma Vernon. Second, the support of my parents, Lynn A. Davison and M. Ellen Metcalfe Davison, throughout has been indispensable. Special thanks go to my supervisor, Professor Lewis R. Fischer, for his encouragement and criticism. Other members of the History Department at M.U.N. were also of great assistance especially Professors David R. Facey-Crowther, Christopher Youe, James K. Hiller, and William Reeves. The Administrative support staff of the Department, Ms. Frances Warren and Ms. Beverly Evans-Hong, helped to navigate through the regulations and procedures. Thanks go as well to my colleagues, Dr. Mark Hunter, Dr. Kurt Komeski and (soon to be) Dr. Robert M. Dienesch for critical insights. I wish also to acknowledge the hospitality of Professor John and Mrs. Pam Armstrong in providing a comfortable place to stay in London. I also thank the following for their support: the Canadian Nautical Research Society for co-sponsoring my Ph.D. Fellowship and providing a forum for the presentation of papers; also, to the Society for Military History for both the financial assistance that made my attendance at the 2003 Knoxville conference possible and a supportive venue for presenting my work. Also, I am grateful for the assistance of Dr. Donald Bittner, United States Marine Corps Command College, for his help in regard to lV the 2004 Society for Military History conference in Washington D.C. Also, to King's College, London and Dr. Adrian Jarvis at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool for the opportunity to present and publish a paper based upon this research. The Bowring/Harlow travel fellowship provided assistance to enable me to stay at M.U.N.'s Harlow Campus in Essex, England for extended research time in London. The research staff at various repositories and libraries were extraordinarily helpful at all stages of the process of writing this dissertation. In particular, the staff at the Queen Elizabeth II Library at M.U.N. were of great assistance; especially the InterLibrary Loans Department and the staff of the Digital Media Centre. Thanks go as well to the Research Staffs at the National Maritime ·Museum, Greenwich; Public Record Office, Kew Gardens; British Library, both at Colindale and St. Pancras; Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge; and Mr. Matthew Sheldon at the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth. The assistance of Rear Admiral Richard Hill, R.N. (ret.), past editor of The Naval Review, in tracking the papers of the Naval Society is gratefully acknowledged. Robert L. Davison, M.A. St. John's, Newfoundland December 2004 v Table of Figures Table 4.1. Projected Shortages of Executive Officers ....................................... 167 Table 4.2. Average Time in Billet of a Sample of Officers Changing Appointments in 1913 ....................................................... 17 5 Table 4.3. Officers Employed, 31 December 1901. ......................................... 176 Table 5.1. Personnel in the Royal Navy, 1838-1898 ......................................... 188 Table 5.2. Promotion Ratios, Executive and Engineering Officers, 1918 .................. 197 Table 6.1. Results of the 1903 Selection Committee .......................................... 227 Table 6.2. Arrangement of Hours H.M.S. Britannia ......................................... .241 Table 6.3. Training of Gunnery and Torpedo Lieutenants .................................... 242 Table 9.1. Royal Navy Losses, 1914-1918 ..................................................... 350 Vl Abbreviations ACNS Assistant Chief of Naval Staff ADM Admiralty Papers BCF Battle Cruiser Fleet (or Force) BL British Library BPP British Parliamentary Papers BTY D. Beatty Papers CAB Cabinet Papers CCAC Churchill College Archives Centre, Cambridge CHAR Chartwell Papers