The admiral-superintendent[1] was the
Royal Navy officer in command of a larger
Naval Dockyard.
Portsmouth,
Devonport and
Chatham 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. His deputy was the
captain of the dockyard (or captain of the port from 1969).
Some smaller dockyards, such as
Sheerness and
Pembroke,[2] had a captain-superintendent[3] instead, whose deputy was styled
commander of the dockyard. The appointment of a commodore-superintendent[4] 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 took charge of the Royal Dockyards. Prior to this larger dockyards were overseen by a
commissioner who represented the
Navy Board.
In the Royal Naval Dockyards, admiral-superintendents ceased to be appointed after 15 September 1971, and existing post-holders were renamed
port admirals.[5] This followed the appointment of a (civilian) Chief Executive of the Royal Dockyards in September 1969[6] and the creation of a centralised Royal Dockyards Management Board.[7]
Admiral-superintendents
List of admiral-superintendents by first appointment date. Appointed by the
Navy Board until 1832 and the Board of Admiralty thereafter.