The Teddies Review - Dec 2021

The New First Sea Lord …Wait…What’s a First Sea Lord?!

Is there a Second Sea Lord? What about a third or fourth and so on?

Yes, there is a Second Sea Lord – Vice Admiral Nicholas Hine. He has been the Second Sea Lord since April 2019. The Second Sea Lord oversees what is referred to as the Navy’s “people matters”, like recruitment, families, training, diversity, and welfare. Basically, he’s the Deputy Headmaster. However, there is no Third Sea Lord … technically. The title and office were abolished in 1965, and they are now called Controller of the Royal Navy. Vice Admiral Andrew Burns is the current Controller of the Royal Navy. Admiral Sir Ben Key’s previous role as chief of joint operations allowed him to be key in planning Operation Pitting, which saw over 15,000 British nationals and Afghans evacuated from Kabul. In an interview with Nick Childs, the senior fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank in London, Defence News has said that when Key was given the nod for the role, he said that he wanted to continue promoting the previous agenda of Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. “These include further developing the carrier strike capability and maritime aviation more generally,” he said, “taking the remodelling of the Royal Marines forward, especially given the recent controversies over this, and making sure that the Royal Navy continues to maintain its edge in underwater warfare .” Well, what is he going to do?

On the 8th of November, Admiral Sir Ben Key replaced Admiral Sir Tony Radakin as the First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy.

But what is a First Sea Lord? What does he do all day?

Well, they’re a member of the Defence Council, member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and Chairman of the Royal Navy board. They’re responsible to the Secretary of State for overseeing the Royal Navy’s running, fight efficiency, morale, and maritime strategy … . just to name a few. When it was first introduced in 1689, it was titled Senior Naval Lord to the Board of Admiralty (for a bit of context, the Royal Navy was 143 years old at the time, the Army a mere 29, and the RAF would not be established until the end of the First World War some 229 years later – making the Roya Navy the oldest armed force we have). The title has been changed a couple times, but they settled on “First Sea Lord” in 1904. In short, he is in charge of the entire Royal Navy and has a lot of gold stripes on his uniform.