Supply officer (Royal Navy)
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Supply officer was a specialisation in the British
History
Purser and secretary
At first, the business-man and shop-keeper – later to become responsible for pay as well – this officer was first mentioned as a regular member of a ship's company in one of the King's Ships in the fourteenth century. Later known as the clerk and then bursar in the Royal Navy, the name of this warrant officer soon changed to Purser. In the early days, the purser was a privileged shop-keeper on board ship and, as such, the profession was guilty of many malpractices. Samuel Pepys said of the Purser "A purser without professed cheating is a professed loser."
By the end of the seventeenth century, a new post of
In 1808 the senior warrant officers – the Purser, the
Paymaster
The title of purser transformed into the "purser and
In 1855 the status of these officers was clarified by
By 1867, it was laid down that a Paymaster of 15 years' seniority should rank with a commander and in 1886 followed the distinction between fleet paymaster (ranking with commander) and staff paymaster (ranking with Lieutenants of 8 years' seniority). A paymaster-in-chief ranked with a four-stripe captain.
In March 1918 a paymaster-in-chief was appointed paymaster director-general and, on 8 November 1918, the then paymaster director-general, William Whyte, was given the rank and style of paymaster rear-admiral. At the same time, the branch's other ranks were standardized: a paymaster-in-chief became paymaster captain; fleet paymaster became paymaster commander; staff paymaster became paymaster lieutenant-commander; paymaster became paymaster lieutenant; assistant paymaster became paymaster sub-lieutenant; clerk became paymaster midshipman and assistant clerk became paymaster cadet. Paymaster rear-admiral was established as a rank in its own right by Order in Council of 20 December 1918 applied retroactively to 6 March 1918.
Supply officer
On 26 October 1944 the whole accountant branch name was changed from paymaster to supply and secretariat, and the word paymaster was dropped from its place in front of the rank, e.g. a paymaster commander became a commander (S).
Thus, in late 1944, the supply officer came into being (see [1] – page 302>). As with their paymaster predecessors, supply officers were employed, ashore and afloat, as a ship's supply officer, with responsibility for ratings from the writer branch (see [2]), the stores and
They were also employed, ashore and afloat, as admiral's secretary, commodore's secretary and captain's secretary. It was not uncommon for a secretary to follow the same senior officer from one post to the next and, sometimes, a secretary in the substantive rank of lieutenant commander would be promoted acting commander and then temporary captain – thus, such a lieutenant commander would be listed as temporary acting captain.
Lists, promotion and entry
With the formation of the Royal Navy's General List (GL) in 1956, supply officers no longer wore the white distinction cloth between the gold lace on their uniform and became indistinguishable from officers of the executive branch or the engineering branches. However, pursers in the British
The General List (GL) of 1956 standardized the promotion opportunities of its officers, regardless of branch, although there remained some minor differences. Thus, a lieutenant of eight-year's seniority was automatically promoted to lieutenant-commander, with retirement generally at age 50 unless promoted to a higher rank; and for supply officers, commanders were selected from lieutenant-commanders of at least three-and-a-half-year's seniority, and retired at age 53; captains were promoted from among commanders with at least six years in the rank. Captains retired on reaching nine-year's seniority in the rank, or at age 55, whichever was the earlier, unless selected for promotion to
The substantive rank of lieutenant-commander had been formally introduced in March 1914. However, in 1875, Senior Lieutenants of eight years' standing began to be distinguishable to the naked eye from his more junior brother; he was, in that year, allowed to add to his
Supply branch ratings had, in common with ratings from other branches of the Royal Navy, long been offered the opportunity of promotion from the lower deck. There were two avenues of receiving a commission. The Upper Yardman scheme (entering Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), Dartmouth, Devon, as a cadet or midshipman, under terms similar to those direct from civilian life) was open to those supply branch ratings under the age of about 25. Such ratings were called CW candidates, and they were specially reported on for selection to attend the Admiralty Interview Board before final selection for promotion and entry to BRNC.
The second avenue of promotion from rating to
Prior to the introduction of the Special Duties List in 1956, some senior ratings were selected for promotion to warrant officer on the Branch List, with subsequent possible promotion (from 1864) to
Between the 1950s and 1990s, recruitment targets for supply officers were generally met, no doubt owing in part to the slightly lower standards for eyesight –
As at 31 March 1996, there were 575 supply officers, male and female, of all lists and ranks, from midshipman to rear-admiral, serving in the Royal Navy (source: The Navy List 1996 (HMSO)). Three were rear-admirals, 26 captain (S) and 85 commander (S) and some 28 (lieutenants (S) and above) were qualified as barristers. In 1998, the General, Special Duties and Supplementary Lists were abolished, all officers being on one, common, List. The Navy List of 2006 lists 581 Logistics Officers, of whom 131 are women: there is one rear-admiral, 3 commodores, 20 captains, 97 commanders, 154 lieutenant-commanders, 249 lieutenants, 56 sub-lieutenants and one midshipman; 78 of the male officers had qualified as a submariner and 26 of the branch as barristers. There were 500 Logistics Officers serving (all ranks, both genders) on 1 April 2013, some 12.4% of the 6,180 officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
Supply officer renamed logistics officer
In early 2004 the supply officer became the logistics officer, though the function is largely unchanged. The careers page [3] on the Royal Navy's website in 2006 described the duties:
"As a Logistics Officer you will play an essential role in the overall logistics support for the Royal Navy, whether at war, reacting to an international crisis, protecting offshore resources or taking part in search and rescue missions. You will manage your department's delivery of equipment, accommodation, food and other vital services in providing the necessary logistic support, which is critical to the effective operation of the Navy's ships, submarines and shore establishments. A Logistics Officer's wider responsibilities will also include the provision of professional advice on policy, personnel, legal or accountancy matters, which are also key elements in the smooth running of a modern fleet ... A major aspect of your job involves managing people and those in your department would include Chefs, Caterers, Stores Accountants, Stewards and Writers. Because of your specialist knowledge you are also often the most appropriate officer to offer advice to those with domestic or other personal problems. As you are responsible for the Ratings in your division, they may ask you for representation in any disciplinary or appeals procedures".
The Royal Australian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy both have supply officers who are broadly similar in employment to those of the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Logistics Service is also a sister branch. For some history of the United States Navy equivalents, visit [4] and see Navy Supply Corps.
Naval slang has produced a variety of names for the supply officer. When in "supply charge" he/she is called the "Pusser" (a contraction of "Purser") and the term "Pusser" is used as an adjective, in a variety of contexts, to refer to something that is strictly disciplined, or Service, such as "Pusser's issue" and "Pusser's rum". Also, a supply officer may be referred to as the "SO" and he/she is sometimes described as belonging to the "white mafia" (referring to the historic white distinction cloth worn until 1956). Rather less common now is the nickname "Pay" (being short for Paymaster) and its lower-deck equivalent of "Paybob". Those supply officers appointed as a Secretary to an admiral or captain may be referred to as "Sec", "Inky Fingers" or "Scratch" (from the scratching of his/her pen). In the classic film In Which We Serve (1942), Captain D's secretary, a lieutenant-commander, appears in the opening frames; in the credits actor John Varley is listed as "Secco".
Life as a paymaster and supply officer
One paymaster cadet's account of life on board HMS Hood in 1938–1939, and some of his subsequent career, can be found at [5]. The career of Captain (S) Hugh Rump (1901–1992) gives an idea of a pusser's career in the Royal Navy from 1919–1955 and can be found at [6].
During the First
Training and employment since 1950
Owing to a shortage of
The three-month junior supply officers' course (JSOC) was undertaken, certainly from 1973, by all junior supply officers before their first appointment; this became the initial logistics officers' course (maritime) – ILOC (M) – in January 2004. From May 1963, the three-month supply charge course (SCC) prepared senior lieutenants for their first appointment as supply officer (head of department) in a destroyer, frigate or ocean-going survey ship (the supply officer was often the junior head of department); SCC became the advanced logistics officers course (maritime) – ALOC(M)) – in January 2004 and the professional logistics command course (maritime) – PLCC(M) – in September 2010. All training takes place at what was the Royal Naval Supply School (RNSS), since 2004 the Defence Maritime Logistics School (DMLS). The first WRNS officer was appointed to SCC in April 1980 and civilian officers of the RNSTS or Director General Supply and Transport (Navy) civil servants were occasional students, sometimes going to sea for a short familiarization afterwards.
Typically, in the 1970s and 1980s, a
In the 1980s, one former submariner supply officer served successfully as
Barristers
Unlike the other armed forces, the Royal Navy has no separate uniformed legal branch. The Director Naval Legal Services (DNLS) is the Navy's senior lawyer.
Although much of their time can be spent in criminal cases at
In 1979 the then CNJA (captain David Williamson) was invited to sit in the Crown Court as a deputy circuit judge (later the title became deputy recorder). Others followed in his trail and some continued judicial activity after their retirement from the Active List of the Royal Navy. By the mid-1990s, two captains (S) and a commander (S) who retired from the Royal Navy were appointed as civilian circuit judges: [Shaun] Lyons,[John L] Sessions and [A G Y (Tony)] Thorpe; Robert Fraser was appointed a circuit judge on his retirement as commodore in 2007.
Officers from other naval branches have also trained as barristers. Commander
Additional duties at sea
With the advent of flight decks in destroyers, frigates and ocean survey ships built in the 1960s and subsequently, it became common for supply officers in these ships to be trained as ship's flight deck officers, responsible for helicopter landing and take-off, though this is no longer the case; logistics officers' 'war-role' is now solely as damage control officer (DCO), with control of the ship's fire-main and manpower deployed to fight fires or control floods. Other additional duties performed by supply officers include those of watchkeeping officers in nuclear submarines and damage control officers.
Admirals and head of branch – and a purser pusser
Only two supply officers have ever been promoted to the rank of 'full'
Twelve supply officers and one logistics officer rose to the rank of substantive vice-admiral (see list of admirals below), of whom two were further promoted to admiral; two others were promoted to acting/vice-admiral in the late 1940s. In recent decades, among the officers of
Women
Women officers in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) would often serve ashore as a captain's secretary but rarely as a supply officer. After the disbanding of the WRNS in 1993, women were fully integrated into the Royal Navy's supply branch, with the wearing of gold stripes instead of blue stripes; for female naval supply officers, service at sea, as well as ashore, started to become the norm. Indeed, Commodore Carolyn Stait OBE FCIPD was the naval base commander, Clyde in from 2004 to 2007.[5]
Defence Maritime Logistics School, RN Logistics School and RN Supply School – history
The present Defence Maritime Logistics School (DMLS) (see [9]), (until September 2006 the Royal Naval Logistics School (RNLS)) – the alma mater of
Prizes and awards
There are some naval examination prizes available to supply officers. The Gedge Medal and Prize was instituted in about 1928 and is awarded annually to the student who has obtained the highest aggregate of marks in their academic examinations in the current year.
Paymasters, supply officers and logistics officers of flag rank
Supply officers with separate articles in Wikipedia
Not mentioned above, these supply officers have a separate entry, or are mentioned in another article, in Wikipedia:
- Richard Aylard
- Sir Ronald Brockman
- Sir Norman Denning
- Alan Hardaker – football administrator
- Duncan Lustig-Prean and Beckett v United Kingdom
- Charlotte Manley
- Edward Travis (later Sir Edward Travis) – operational head of Bletchley Park Feb 1942 to Apr 1952
- Nicholas Peter Wright
Sources
- England's Sea-Officers by Michael Lewis (George Allen & Unwin, 1948)
- Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow RN (Maritime Books, 2000)
- The Pusser and His Men by Ben Warlow (Ministry of Defence (DFSD), 1984)
- The Navy List (HMSO yearbook)
- Royal Navy website
- King's College London's Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- Who's Who 1998
Notes
- ^ "Home | Royal Navy". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ "Director Naval Legal Services (DNLS)". HM Government (UK). Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Training to be a barrister in the Royal Marines – Rhys Hopkins". The City Law School, City University London. 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
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- ^ "HM Naval Base Clyde Changes Commodores – And the Royal Navy Bids Farewell to a Remarkable Officer". Royal Navy official website. 2 October 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2009. [dead link]