winston churchill was the first lord of the admiralty at the time of the lusitania's sinking.
winston churchill was the first lord of the admiralty at the time of the lusitania's sinking.
who was the first lord of the admiralty at the time of the lusitania's sinking?
winston churchill
it was during the closed hearings that the admiralty tried to lay the blame on captain turner, their intended line being that turner had been negligent. the roots of this view began in the first reports about the sinking from vice-admiral coke commanding the navy at queenstown. he reported that "ship was especially warned that submarines were active on south coast and to keep mid-channel course avoiding headlands also position of submarine off cape clear at 10:00 was communicated by w/t to her". captain webb, director of the trade division, began to prepare a dossier of signals sent to "lusitania" which turner may have failed to observe. first sea lord fisher noted on one document submitted by webb for review: "as the cunard company would not have employed an incompetent man its a certainty that captain turner is not a fool but a knave. i hope that turner will be arrested immediately after the enquiry whatever the verdict". first lord winston churchill noted: "i consider the admiralty's case against turner should be pressed by a skilful counsel and that captain webb should attend as a witness, if not employed as an assessor. we will pursue the captain without check". in the event, both churchill and fisher were replaced in their positions before the enquiry because of the failures of the gallipoli campaign.
sinking of the rms lusitania
the first lord of the admiralty, or formally the office of the first lord of the admiralty, was the political head of the royal navy who was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs and responsible for the direction and control of admiralty as well as general administration of the naval service of the united kingdom, that encompassed the royal navy, the royal marines and other services. it was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. apart from being the political head of the royal navy the post holder simultaneously held the title of the president of the board of commissioners for exercising the office of lord high admiral (known as the board of admiralty). the office of first lord of the admiralty existed from 1628 until it was abolished when the admiralty, air ministry, ministry of defence and war office were all merged to form the new ministry of defence in 1964.
first lord of the admiralty