Director of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) was a senior British official in the Admiralty , the part of the civil service ( Her Majesty's Civil Service ) that oversaw the Royal Navy . The post existed between 1860 and 1966.
The director was a senior member of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors . The corps is a facility of the Royal Navy and the British Admiralty for training in shipbuilding. It was founded in August 1883 on the recommendation of naval architect Sir William Henry White . Its forerunner was the Royal School of Naval Architecture , London. The members of the corps were responsible for the design and construction of warships, regardless of whether they were built in the Royal Shipyards (e.g. Chatham ) or in private industry (e.g. Armstrong Whitworth ). The director was both a designer and a manager.
The work in the shipyards was to some extent carried out by the two posts of Director of Naval Construction and the separate Director of Dockyards . Its officials were responsible for checking that the contractors were working properly.
When constructing warships, the Director of Naval Construction worked with the Engineer-in-Chief , another Admiralty officer. This post was created after the introduction of the steam engine into British shipbuilding. It existed from 1847 to 1889.
The French Navy had a similar position, the Directeur des Construction Navales .
List of directors
- Isaac Watts (1860–1863)
- Sir Edward James Reed (1863-1870)
- Sir Nathaniel Barnaby (1870-1885)
- Sir William Henry White (1885-1902)
- Sir Philip Watts (1902-1912)
- Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt (1912-1924)
- Sir William Berry (1924-1930)
- Sir Arthur Johns (1930-1936)
- Sir Stanley V. Goodall , KCB, OBE, RCNC (1936-1944)
- Sir Charles S. Lillicrap (1944-1951)
- Sir Victor Shepheard (1951-1966)