Reports to Third Sea Lord Inaugural holder Isaac Watts | Nominator First Sea Lord | |
 | ||
Member of Board of Admiralty, Admiralty Board, Navy Board Appointer First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for Defence
Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council Term length Not fixed (typically 5–8 years) | ||
The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) was a senior principal civil officer responsible to the Board of Admiralty for the design and construction of the warships of the Royal Navy. From 1883 onwards he was also head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, the naval architects who staffed his department from 1860 to 1966. The (D.N.C.'s) modern equivalent is Director Ships in the Defence Equipment and Support organisation of the Ministry of Defence.
Contents
History
The post holder was originally head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors. Members of the Corps were responsible for the designing and building warships, whether they were built in the Royal Dockyards (such as Chatham) or contracted out to private industry (such as Armstrong Whitworth). The Director was a naval architect as well as a manager.
Work in the dockyards was covered to some extent by the two posts of Director of Naval Construction and the separately held Director of Dockyards. The latter's officers were responsible for checking that work contracted out by the former was being undertaken correctly.
In designing warships the Director of Naval Construction had to work with the Department of the Engineer-in-Chief, another Admiralty post, which existed from 1847 to 1889. The Engineer-in-Chief post arose after the adoption of steam engines for propulsion.
The French Navy had a similar post, Directeur des Construction Navales.
Directors
Included: