“BOSS” OF BRITISH NAVY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 55, 7 March 1939, Page 5

“BOSS” OF BRITISH NAVY

Difficult Job of First Lord of Admiralty

*pHERE is an empty chair in Britain’s Cabinet room, said the Daily Mail recently A new man has to be appointed to fill the position of First Lord of the Admiralty now that Mr. Duff Copper has resigned I Earl Stanhope has been appointed. | He will get £SOOO a year 'with a luxurious house!. The magnificent Admiralty yacht the Enchantress will be at his disposal. The salary probably seems attractive tn you, but a good First Lord earns and spends every penny of it. He is the representative of the Navy in Parliament. responsible for the direction and supervision of all naval matters, with power to promote and discharge, recommend honours and awards. He is very much the Boss of the British Navy. His responsibility is so great that he has a little Cabinet of his own, the Board of Admiralty, to advise and direct him. Though he is not compelled to take the board's advice—he usually does. On the board sit Britain’s Sea Lords—first, second, third, fourth, and the recently-appointed fifth—the big executives of the Navy. Even in the Cabinet his position is enviable .... he is one of the most l powerful of Ministers. ■ The house that goes with the job is

a much finer place than either No. 10 or No. 11 Downing Street. It stands at the south-east corner of the Admiralty building in Whitehall. Its rooms are spacious and beautifully furnished. The I drawing-room has unique furniture — chairs, tables, couches with legs and arms carved in the shape of dolphins. Lord Nelson's body once rested there. A connecting door links the house with the Admiralty itself. The First Sea Lord has access to every room in this, London’s most exciting building. There is Room 40. for instance, the eyes and ears of the world. Here cypher wireless messages, intercepted from the enemy, were decoded during the war. To-day the Admiralty’s most trusted and talented men sit there, linked by radio with the ships and ports of the seven seas. Messages, secret and confidential, pass through their hands. They are just a few of the First Lord’s 4000 staff. There is the superb admiralty library, too. if the First Lord feels like reading. Not ordinary reading, though. A hundred thousand books and documents giving details of almost every engagement ever fought. Charts and maps and plans to bewilder you. And if you want to get away from the stuffy air of Whitehall there is the yacht already mentioned. It is a

long-standing tradition that the First Lord is free to use the yacht as he I wishes in the performance of his duties. Mr. Duff Cooper drew fire for his Baltic cruise, you remember. The Enchantress is finer than any rich man’s ship. It is the Admiralty I afloat, equipped, as the cinema posters • say. "regardless of expense." The First Lord has a busy job. There are dinners, banquets, luncheons to preside at. speeches to make and naval

manoeuvres to attend. There are admirals to interview and inventions to be considered. There is the all-import-ant question of the £ s d of running the Navy. And. finally, there is the task of telling Parliament and. through Parliament, the people, all about it. Members delight in asking difficult questions about the Navy. The First. Lord has to answer them.