Admiralty (redirected from Board of the Admiralty)

Admiralty, in British government, department in charge of the operations of the Royal Navy until 1964. Originally established under Henry VIII, it was reorganized under Charles II. Five lords commissioners composed the board of Admiralty, each gradually developing his own field of specific responsibility, with the first lord responsible to Parliament. In 1832 it absorbed the navy board, previously responsible for the administrative organization. In 1964 the Admiralty became the navy department, coequal with the other service departments, of the ministry of defense. The navy is now directed by the Admiralty Board of the Defense Council, which consists of 4 naval and 7 civilian members, including the secretary of state for defense, who serves as chair.

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maritime law

 or admiralty law or admiralty

Body of legal rules that governs ships and shipping. One early compilation of maritime regulations is the 6th-century Digest of Justinian. Roman maritime law and the 13th-century Consolat de Mar (“Consulate of the Sea”) both brought temporary uniformity of maritime law to the Mediterranean, but nationalism led many countries to develop their own maritime codes. Maritime law deals mainly with the eventualities of loss of a ship (e.g., through collision) or cargo, with insurance and liability relating to those eventualities, and with collision compensation and salvage rights. There has been an increasing tendency to make maritime laws uniform; the chief organization overseeing maritime law is the International Maritime Committee, composed of the maritime law associations of several countries.

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Admiralty 

(1) The basic center for construction of military ships for an isolated naval theater. In Russia from the end of the 17th century until the 19th century there were admiralties in Voronezh (1695–1711), St. Petersburg, Sevastopol’, Nikolaev, and Kronshtadt. Admiralties were usually located in harbors or ports and on riverbanks convenient for launching ships—for example, the major admiralty in St. Petersburg was located on the left bank of the Neva. During 1704–1844 ships were built at the admiralty, and later it housed offices of the fleet department.

(2) A building in Leningrad, a remarkable work in both Russian and world architecture. Begun as a shipyard in 1704 by Peter I, who had conceived the plan, the Admiralty was reconstructed by I. K. Korobov from 1727 until 1738 and by A. D. Zakharov from 1806 until its completion in 1823; Zakharov created a monumental building in the strict lines of the Russian Empire style. Three of Leningrad’s main roads meet at the Admiralty tower, the center of the city’s architectural composition. The Admiralty’s façades, sculpted by F. F. Shchedrin, I. I. Terebenev, and others, and its interiors have an organic connection with the architecture of the building, which is a brilliant example of the synthesis of these arts.

(3) In Great Britain the highest department and command organ of the naval forces; corresponds to a naval ministry. In 1690, as a board of temporary members of the Admiralty, it replaced the one-man leadership of the lord high admiral. Since 1869 the Admiralty has been headed by the first lord admiral, a naval minister to whom the admiralty council, made up of the highest naval officers, is subordinate.

REFERENCES

Sashonko, V. N. Admiralteistvo. Leningrad, 1965.
Siniaver, M. M. Admiralteistvo. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948 (Pamiatniki russkoi arkhitektury).