Supply Officer
Encyclopedia
Supply Officer was a specialisation in the British Royal Navy
which has recently been superseded by the Logistics Officer
, recognising the need to align with the nomenclature and function of similar cadres in the British Army
and Royal Air Force
. Though, initially, employment of Logistics Officers in the Royal Navy
remained broadly the same, it has begun to reflect exposure to the 'tri-service' environment, including a significantly greater number of operational logistics posts, as well as the more traditional Cash, Pay and Records, and 'outer-office' or Aide de Camp duties. The Logistics Branch in the Royal Navy is one of the three main branches of the Senior Service
, though due to its unique nature has interaction with all branches of the Naval Service, including the Fleet Air Arm
and the Royal Marines
, as well as the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation, the Ministry of Defence
and many other agencies and organisations. In centuries past, the Supply Officer had been known as the Clerk, Bursar
, Purser
and, later, the Paymaster
. Logistics officers are still generally referred to by the historic sobriquet
'pusser', a derivation of 'purser'.
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 captain's clerk
was ordained and all Pursers had to pass through this office; this resulted in promotion to the post of Purser largely resting with ship's captains. Gradually, the status of the Purser rose and he received the uniform of a Warrant Officer in 1787. The Purser first received a distinctive uniform in 1805 and by 1808 was officially recognized as a "Warrant Officer of Wardroom
rank". The oldest man in the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar
, 21 October 1805, was the Purser of Nelson
's flagship
, HMS Victory
. Limerick
-born Purser Walter Burke was then 69 and survived a further ten years, dying in September 1815; his gravestone is in Wouldham
churchyard, Kent
. Admiral Nelson's Secretary
, John Scott, was killed at Trafalgar; his body was sliced in two by a cannonball
, while he was talking with Captain Hardy on the quarterdeck
; his body parts were thrown over the side.
It had long been the custom for Royal Navy Flag Officer
s to select as their secretaries "purser
s of talent and approved character" and the Purser's other role as a Secretary was generally formalised by 1816.
The Purser became formally responsible in 1825 for the payment of the ship's company. He transformed into the "Purser and Paymaster
" in 1842 and became a commissioned officer in 1843. The title of Purser finally disappeared in 1852 and he became the Paymaster.
In 1855 the status of these officers was clarified by Order in Council. They were to be "Accountant officers for cash to the Accountant General of the Navy ..." and the ranks of Assistant-Paymaster, Clerk and Assistant Clerk emerged. In 1864, these officers were authorised to wear a white strip of distinction cloth between the gold rings on their arms.
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 Lieutenant
s of 8 years' seniority). A Paymaster-in-Chief ranked with a four-stripe captain
.
In March, 1918 from among the Paymasters-in-Chief was selected a Paymaster-Director-General and, on 8 November 1918, the first of these ex-warrant officers was promoted to admiral
's rank, the Paymaster-Director-General, William Whyte, becoming Paymaster Rear-Admiral - the right-sounding name for the first two-star head of the branch! 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 Naval Cadet
.
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 http://www.naval-review.org/issues/1945-4.pdf - 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 http://www.rnwa.co.uk), the Stores and Victualling branches, Cook
s and Officers' Stewards and, if borne, the NAAFI Canteen Manager.
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.
continue to wear a white distinction cloth.
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 Rear-Admiral. Commodore was, until the late 1990s, reserved for a few senior appointments but is now a formal rank achieved by selection from Captain. GL supply officers were thus able to serve in a much wider range of appointments, such as shore command, naval attaché, intelligence; indeed none of the posts held by the six serving supply officer admirals in 1991 would have been open to a pusser before 1956.
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 full dress uniform the now well-known "half-stripe" of quarter-inch gold lace between the two distinctive rings of half-inch braid which the ordinary Lieutenant wore, and by 1877 he could wear it in undress uniform too. "Senior Lieutenant" had thus become a rank in all but name. From 1914, promotion to Lieutenant-Commander was automatic on reaching eight years' seniority as a Lieutenant though, in around the year 2000, this has changed and the "half-stripe" is now achieved only by selection.
Supply branch rating
s 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 commissioned officer was to the Special Duties (SD) List. Petty Officer
s and Chief Petty Officer
s could, with the approval of their Commanding Officer
, become a CW candidate (an 'SD candidate') and such supply branch senior ratings were similarly specially reported on with a view to promotion to officer, generally between the ages of 28 and 35, though most were in their early 30s when promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant on the Special Duties List. Unlike GL and SL (see below) officers, SD officers retained their former rating branch specialisation; for example the Supply Officer (Cash) of a large warship or shore establishment would typically be a Lieutenant (SD)(S)(W), the (W) indicating that he is a commissioned officer from the Writer branch of ratings. SD officers were, of course, promoted from all supply branches - Writer (W), Stores Assistant/Accountant (S) or (V), Cook (CK), Officer's Steward/Steward or Caterer (CA). Once confirmed as a Sub-Lieutenant, an SD officer was promoted Lieutenant after three years; promotion to Lieutenant-Commander (SD) was by selection and, from these, a very small number were promoted to Commander from 1966 onwards. Retirement was generally compulsory at age 50. A few SD officers were further selected for transfer to the General List, seniority being adjusted on transfer, so as to level the promotion opportunities (generally these officers were earmarked as likely to reach the rank of Commander). In the 1970s, to make up for certain branch shortages, some Chief Petty Officers, age over 35, from the supply branch were selected and promoted Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant (SD), a few of whom were later promoted to Temporary Lieutenant (SD). By the 1980s, Supply Officers were no longer necessarily being appointed according to the List they were on (GL, SD or SL); it was not uncommon to find, in different ships in the same squadron or flotilla, a pusser in supply charge from each List.
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 Commissioned Warrant Officer; from 1946, officer rank was achieved by commission rather than by warrant. Of the old "standing officers" (the Master
, Boatswain
, Gunner
and Carpenter
) from the days of sail, the Cook was the first to lose his status as a full-blown Warrant Officer and head of his own department; indeed, an order of 1704 helped him in his downward career as, in future, in the appointment of Cooks, the Navy Board
was "to give the preference to such cripples and maimed persons as are pensioners of the chest
at Chatham
". Warrant Officers lived in a separate mess - the gunroom
- from Wardroom
officers and, by the 1800s, wore one thin stripe of gold sleeve lace with, from 1864, for supply branch officer
s, the white distinction cloth below. The Warrant Officer
's dress uniform was instituted in 1787. In all other respects they were treated as for commissioned officers. A Commissioned Warrant Officer wore the same sleeve lace as a Sub-Lieutenant - one gold stripe proper; these officers lived in the Wardroom mess
.
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 - executive officer
s were not recruited if they needed any corrective lenses but Supply Officers were. Thus there was no real need for a Supplementary List (SL) of Supply Officers and it was not until 1966 that the Admiralty Board introduced a scheme for SL Supply Officers. Even then, SL(S) was exclusively for a maximum of three supply branch rating
s each year on the Upper Yardman scheme; there was no direct recruitment from civilians as a Supplementary List pusser, though this appears to have been introduced in the 1990s. Supplementary List officers were offered 10 year short-service commissions, with the opportunity to extend to 16 years and beyond, should the exigencies of the Service require; promotion to Lieutenant-Commander (SL)(S) was by selection and only one officer from this scheme was promoted to Commander (SL)(S) - Commander J R (Russ) Cameron on 1 October 1993. SL Supply Officers, like other branch SL officers, were afforded the opportunity to transfer to the General List by selection.
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 barrister
s. 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 barrister
s.
Officer, though the function is largely unchanged. The careers page http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.4993 on the Royal Navy's website in 2006 described the duties:
and the Royal New Zealand Navy
both have Supply Officers who are broadly similar in employment to those of the Royal Navy and the Logistics Branch (Canadian Forces)
is also a sister branch. For some history of the United States Navy
equivalents, visit http://users.sisna.com/justinb/purs.html and see Navy Supply Corps.
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".
in 1938-1939, and some of his subsequent career, can be found at http://www.hmshood.com/crew/bios/EvansTKbio.html. 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 http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/summary/ru30-001.shtml.
During the First Battle of Narvik, in the Norway campaign, the destroyer leader HMS Hardy
(Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee
RN) was attacked by German destroyer
s in Ofotfjord
on 10 April 1940, and Captain (D) was seriously wounded and most other officers were killed. Captain (D)'s Secretary, Paymaster Lieutenant Geoffrey H. Stanning survived and he awoke from the fearful blast to find his spine and legs badly injured by shrapnel, the ship out of control and heading for the shore at thirty knots. Since the wheel house was below him and nobody was answering his increasingly desperate orders to put the wheel over, he managed to drag himself down a ladder to the wheel house and alter course, enough to stop hitting the shore. When he regained the bridge helped by some seamen, he saw that they were now heading for two German
destroyer
s. Since he could not slow down he decided to ram one of them. Luckily for all those left alive on board, whilst he was deciding which one to have a go at, one of the boilers was hit and the engines ground to a halt. All the forward guns on the Hardy were by now inoperable, but one of the stern guns was still banging away at the Germans who naturally returned fire into the burning wreck. Luckily the Hardy still had some 'way' on her which allowed Stanning to manoeuvre her into Vidrek
where she ran aground. As she glided ashore still blazing furiously Stanning gave the order to abandon ship. One hundred and forty men plunged into the icy water, and in between the shell bursts from the German destroyers, managed to clamber to safety on the shore. Captain Warburton-Lee was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross
and Paymaster Lieutenant Stanning the DSO
. (Source: http://www.submerged.co.uk/narvik%20hardy.php and the Supplement to the London Gazette of 1 July 1947 - see http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/LondonGazette/38005.pdf).
pilot
s in the 1950s, four supply officers qualified as fixed-wing pilot
s; both Brian Brown
and Andrew Richmond rose to flag rank in the 1980s. There was a similar, but short-lived, scheme in the late 1960s when at least three supply officers were trained as helicopter
aircrew; at least one "pusser pilot" served in a number of flying appointments.
Typically, in the 1970s and 1980s, a commando
carrier such as HMS Bulwark
would have nine Supply Officers on board led by a Commander (S), including two borne for the duties of Captain's Secretary - a Lieutenant-Commander and Captain's Assistant Secretary - a Lieutenant or Sub-Lieutenant. A County Class
guided missile
destroyer had three Supply Officers on board, one as Captain's Secretary, and a Leander Class frigate
, Hecla Class survey ship
and nuclear submarine
just the one Supply Officer in "supply charge", usually a senior Lieutenant (S), with a junior seaman
officer given the additional role of "Correspondence Officer". A Frigate
Squadron Leader had a Lieutenant-Commander as Squadron Supply Officer and a junior Lieutenant or Sub-Lieutenant as Captain's Secretary. Supply Officers rarely served in ships with a ship's company of fewer than 100. Some supply branch Captains and Commodores have been appointed in command of large naval shore establishments such as HMS Cochrane
, HMS Nelson
, HMS Raleigh
and HMS Terror
.
In the 1980s, one former submariner supply officer served successfully as First Lieutenant
(Executive Officer) of a frigate
. From 2004-2007, Lieutenant-Commander (Commander from 2006) Heber Ackland
served as Equerry
to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
1982:
Their names are on the Falklands War memorial in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral
in the City of London
.
s: His Honour Judge [Shaun] Lyons, His Honour Judge [John L] Sessions and His Honour Judge [A G Y (Tony)] Thorpe; His Honour Judge Robert Fraser was appointed a Circuit Judge
on his retirement as Commodore in 2007. In the Navy List 2006, 26 male and female Logistics Officers were listed as Barristers.
s 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 submarine
s and damage control
section-base officers.
. Retiring as Chief of Fleet Support in 1977, Admiral Sir Peter White
GBE
(born 1919) was promoted on 28 June 1976, becoming the first of the branch to be appointed to the Admiralty Board. He had a most appropriate surname for the first four-star pusser, given the colour of the distinction cloth worn historically by his branch. Admiral Sir Brian Brown
KCB, CBE
was promoted to that rank on 26 August 1989. Happily, there has been at least one serving Supply Officer with the surname
Purser - Benjamin Purser was promoted Lieutenant-Commander in July 1973. While there have also certainly been Supply Officers with the surname of Cook, perhaps the surname
s Beauclerk, Bezant, Cater, Clark(e)/Clerk(e), Pay, Purves/Purvis, Scriven(er), Steward and Storer have been those of supply officers, too, over the centuries.
Twelve Supply Officers 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 Flag rank in the Royal Navy, at any one time one, two or three Supply Officers have been Rear-Admirals. One of these two-star officers is appointed Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer
(CNSSO) - now CNLO - as head of branch; however, there was no admiral in the Logistics Branch from 2008–2010 and the senior officer branch was a Commodore. Rear-Admiral David Steel
, a barrister
, was promoted to two-star rank on 20 April 2010 and became Naval Secretary
and Chief Naval Logistics Officer (CNLO). A Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve
(RNR) is head of the RNR Logistics Branch.
(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.
s and ratings - is a lodger unit within HMS Raleigh
in Torpoint
, Cornwall
PL11 2PD. Functionally however, the school exists as a 'franchise' of the Defence College of Logistics and Personnel Administration, whose headquarters reside in Deepcut
, Surrey
. The Commandant of the DMLS is Commander Heber Ackland
RN. From 1 April 1958 to 1983 the RN Supply School (RNSS) was in HMS Pembroke, Chatham
, Kent
ME4 4UH. Previously the RNSS was in Thorp Arch, Wetherby
, Yorkshire
, the training establishment being known as HMS Ceres from 1 October 1946 to 31 March 1958 (see http://www.myoldschools.co.uk/ceres/muster.htm and http://www.myoldschools.co.uk/ceres/ceres001.htm) and before that as HMS Demetrius, which had commissioned on 15 July 1944 as the Accountant Branch school. The school had transferred from its former wartime home in Highgate School
, London
N6, where it had been established as HMS President V since being requisitioned and commissioned on 1 November 1941 as the training school for Accountant Branch ratings. The boys of Highgate School
had been evacuated from London owing to The Blitz
. (Thorp Arch became a borstal
when the Navy left in 1958 and it is now known as HM Young Offenders' Institution, Wetherby
, LS22 5ED).
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
which has recently been superseded by the Logistics Officer
Logistics Officer
A Logistics Officer is a member of an armed force responsible for overseeing the support of an army, air force, or navy both at home and abroad. Logistics Officers can be stationary on military bases or deployed as an active part of a field army, air wing, or naval force. The responsibilities of...
, recognising the need to align with the nomenclature and function of similar cadres in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. Though, initially, employment of Logistics Officers in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
remained broadly the same, it has begun to reflect exposure to the 'tri-service' environment, including a significantly greater number of operational logistics posts, as well as the more traditional Cash, Pay and Records, and 'outer-office' or Aide de Camp duties. The Logistics Branch in the Royal Navy is one of the three main branches of the Senior Service
Senior Service
Senior Service is a nickname of the Royal Navy, and can refer to:* The Royal Navy* Senior Service : a cigarette brand using the nickname* Service by a United States federal judge in senior status...
, though due to its unique nature has interaction with all branches of the Naval Service, including the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
and the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, as well as the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation, the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
and many other agencies and organisations. In centuries past, the Supply Officer had been known as the Clerk, Bursar
Bursar
A bursar is a senior professional financial administrator in a school or university.Billing of student tuition accounts are the responsibility of the Office of the Bursar. This involves sending bills and making payment plans with the ultimate goal of getting the student accounts paid off...
, Purser
Purser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...
and, later, the Paymaster
Paymaster
A paymaster often is, but is not required to be, a lawyer . When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with large amounts of money , most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such large amounts of money...
. Logistics officers are still generally referred to by the historic sobriquet
Sobriquet
A sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...
'pusser', a derivation of 'purser'.
History
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 officerWarrant Officer
A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
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
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
said of the Purser "A purser without professed cheating is a professed loser."
By the end of the seventeenth century, a new post of captain's clerk
Captain's clerk
A captain's clerk was a rating, now obsolete, in the Royal Navy for a person employed by the captain to keep his records, correspondence, and accounts. The regulations of the Royal Navy demanded that a purser serve at least one year as a captain's clerk, so the latter was often a young man working...
was ordained and all Pursers had to pass through this office; this resulted in promotion to the post of Purser largely resting with ship's captains. Gradually, the status of the Purser rose and he received the uniform of a Warrant Officer in 1787. The Purser first received a distinctive uniform in 1805 and by 1808 was officially recognized as a "Warrant Officer of Wardroom
Wardroom
The wardroom is the mess-cabin of naval commissioned officers above the rank of Midshipman. The term the wardroom is also used to refer to those individuals with the right to occupy that wardroom, meaning "the officers of the wardroom"....
rank". The oldest man in the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, 21 October 1805, was the Purser of Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
. Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
-born Purser Walter Burke was then 69 and survived a further ten years, dying in September 1815; his gravestone is in Wouldham
Wouldham
Wouldham is a small village on the bank of the River Medway in Kent, Great Britain. As of 2006 its population is approximately 1000 people, with the 11th century church, one school, one village shop, and three public houses....
churchyard, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Admiral Nelson's Secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
, John Scott, was killed at Trafalgar; his body was sliced in two by a cannonball
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...
, while he was talking with Captain Hardy on the quarterdeck
Deck (ship)
A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary deck is the horizontal structure which forms the 'roof' for the hull, which both strengthens the hull and serves as the primary working surface...
; his body parts were thrown over the side.
It had long been the custom for Royal Navy Flag Officer
Flag Officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in...
s to select as their secretaries "purser
Purser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...
s of talent and approved character" and the Purser's other role as a Secretary was generally formalised by 1816.
The Purser became formally responsible in 1825 for the payment of the ship's company. He transformed into the "Purser and Paymaster
Paymaster
A paymaster often is, but is not required to be, a lawyer . When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with large amounts of money , most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such large amounts of money...
" in 1842 and became a commissioned officer in 1843. The title of Purser finally disappeared in 1852 and he became the Paymaster.
In 1855 the status of these officers was clarified by Order in Council. They were to be "Accountant officers for cash to the Accountant General of the Navy ..." and the ranks of Assistant-Paymaster, Clerk and Assistant Clerk emerged. In 1864, these officers were authorised to wear a white strip of distinction cloth between the gold rings on their arms.
By 1867, it was laid down that a Paymaster of 15 years' seniority should rank
Command hierarchy
A command hierarchy is a group of people committed to carrying out orders "from the top", that is, of authority. It is part of a power structure: usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part of it.-Sociology:...
with a Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
and in 1886 followed the distinction between Fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
Paymaster (ranking with Commander) and Staff Paymaster
Paymaster
A paymaster often is, but is not required to be, a lawyer . When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with large amounts of money , most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such large amounts of money...
(ranking with Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
s of 8 years' seniority). A Paymaster-in-Chief ranked with a four-stripe captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
.
In March, 1918 from among the Paymasters-in-Chief was selected a Paymaster-Director-General and, on 8 November 1918, the first of these ex-warrant officers was promoted to admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
's rank, the Paymaster-Director-General, William Whyte, becoming Paymaster Rear-Admiral - the right-sounding name for the first two-star head of the branch! 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 Naval Cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
.
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 http://www.naval-review.org/issues/1945-4.pdf - 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
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
branch (see http://www.rnwa.co.uk), the Stores and Victualling branches, Cook
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
s and Officers' Stewards and, if borne, the NAAFI Canteen Manager.
They were also employed, ashore and afloat, as Admiral's Secretary, Commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
'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 Merchant Navy and the Royal Fleet AuxiliaryRoyal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...
continue to wear a white distinction cloth.
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 Rear-Admiral. Commodore was, until the late 1990s, reserved for a few senior appointments but is now a formal rank achieved by selection from Captain. GL supply officers were thus able to serve in a much wider range of appointments, such as shore command, naval attaché, intelligence; indeed none of the posts held by the six serving supply officer admirals in 1991 would have been open to a pusser before 1956.
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 full dress uniform the now well-known "half-stripe" of quarter-inch gold lace between the two distinctive rings of half-inch braid which the ordinary Lieutenant wore, and by 1877 he could wear it in undress uniform too. "Senior Lieutenant" had thus become a rank in all but name. From 1914, promotion to Lieutenant-Commander was automatic on reaching eight years' seniority as a Lieutenant though, in around the year 2000, this has changed and the "half-stripe" is now achieved only by selection.
Supply branch rating
Naval rating
A Naval Rating is an enlisted member of a country's Navy, subordinate to Warrant Officers and Officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant...
s 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
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
. The Upper Yardman scheme (entering Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
(BRNC), Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
, 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
Admiralty Interview Board
The Admiralty Interview Board is the instrument of Officer selection for the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve, and Royal Fleet Auxiliary...
before final selection for promotion and entry to BRNC.
The second avenue of promotion from rating to commissioned officer was to the Special Duties (SD) List. Petty Officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
s and Chief Petty Officer
Chief Petty Officer
A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...
s could, with the approval of their Commanding Officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
, become a CW candidate (an 'SD candidate') and such supply branch senior ratings were similarly specially reported on with a view to promotion to officer, generally between the ages of 28 and 35, though most were in their early 30s when promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant on the Special Duties List. Unlike GL and SL (see below) officers, SD officers retained their former rating branch specialisation; for example the Supply Officer (Cash) of a large warship or shore establishment would typically be a Lieutenant (SD)(S)(W), the (W) indicating that he is a commissioned officer from the Writer branch of ratings. SD officers were, of course, promoted from all supply branches - Writer (W), Stores Assistant/Accountant (S) or (V), Cook (CK), Officer's Steward/Steward or Caterer (CA). Once confirmed as a Sub-Lieutenant, an SD officer was promoted Lieutenant after three years; promotion to Lieutenant-Commander (SD) was by selection and, from these, a very small number were promoted to Commander from 1966 onwards. Retirement was generally compulsory at age 50. A few SD officers were further selected for transfer to the General List, seniority being adjusted on transfer, so as to level the promotion opportunities (generally these officers were earmarked as likely to reach the rank of Commander). In the 1970s, to make up for certain branch shortages, some Chief Petty Officers, age over 35, from the supply branch were selected and promoted Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant (SD), a few of whom were later promoted to Temporary Lieutenant (SD). By the 1980s, Supply Officers were no longer necessarily being appointed according to the List they were on (GL, SD or SL); it was not uncommon to find, in different ships in the same squadron or flotilla, a pusser in supply charge from each List.
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 Commissioned Warrant Officer; from 1946, officer rank was achieved by commission rather than by warrant. Of the old "standing officers" (the Master
Master mariner
A Master Mariner or MM is the professional qualification required for someone to serve as the person in charge or person in command of a commercial vessel. In England, the term Master Mariner has been in use at least since the 13th century, reflecting the fact that in guild or livery company terms,...
, Boatswain
Boatswain
A boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...
, Gunner
Gunner (rank)
Gunner is a rank equivalent to Private in the British Army Royal Artillery and the artillery corps of other Commonwealth armies. The next highest rank is usually Lance-Bombardier, although in the Royal Canadian Artillery it is Bombardier....
and Carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
) from the days of sail, the Cook was the first to lose his status as a full-blown Warrant Officer and head of his own department; indeed, an order of 1704 helped him in his downward career as, in future, in the appointment of Cooks, the Navy Board
Navy Board
The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
was "to give the preference to such cripples and maimed persons as are pensioners of the chest
Chest
The chest is a part of the anatomy of humans and various other animals. It is sometimes referred to as the thorax or the bosom.-Chest anatomy - Humans and other hominids:...
at Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
". Warrant Officers lived in a separate mess - the gunroom
Gunroom
A gunroom is the junior officers' mess on a naval vessel. It was occupied by the officers below the rank of lieutenant, but who are not warrant officers of the class of the boatswain, gunner or carpenter. In the wooden sailing ships it was on the lower deck, and was originally the quarters of the...
- from Wardroom
Wardroom
The wardroom is the mess-cabin of naval commissioned officers above the rank of Midshipman. The term the wardroom is also used to refer to those individuals with the right to occupy that wardroom, meaning "the officers of the wardroom"....
officers and, by the 1800s, wore one thin stripe of gold sleeve lace with, from 1864, for supply branch officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
s, the white distinction cloth below. The Warrant Officer
Warrant Officer
A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
's dress uniform was instituted in 1787. In all other respects they were treated as for commissioned officers. A Commissioned Warrant Officer wore the same sleeve lace as a Sub-Lieutenant - one gold stripe proper; these officers lived in the Wardroom mess
Mess
A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...
.
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 - executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
s were not recruited if they needed any corrective lenses but Supply Officers were. Thus there was no real need for a Supplementary List (SL) of Supply Officers and it was not until 1966 that the Admiralty Board introduced a scheme for SL Supply Officers. Even then, SL(S) was exclusively for a maximum of three supply branch rating
Naval rating
A Naval Rating is an enlisted member of a country's Navy, subordinate to Warrant Officers and Officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant...
s each year on the Upper Yardman scheme; there was no direct recruitment from civilians as a Supplementary List pusser, though this appears to have been introduced in the 1990s. Supplementary List officers were offered 10 year short-service commissions, with the opportunity to extend to 16 years and beyond, should the exigencies of the Service require; promotion to Lieutenant-Commander (SL)(S) was by selection and only one officer from this scheme was promoted to Commander (SL)(S) - Commander J R (Russ) Cameron on 1 October 1993. SL Supply Officers, like other branch SL officers, were afforded the opportunity to transfer to the General List by selection.
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 barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
s. 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 barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
s.
Supply Officer renamed Logistics Officer
In early 2004 the Supply Officer became the LogisticsLogistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
Officer, though the function is largely unchanged. The careers page http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.4993 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, submarineSubmarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s 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".
Supply Officers in other Navies
The Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
and the Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
both have Supply Officers who are broadly similar in employment to those of the Royal Navy and the Logistics Branch (Canadian Forces)
Logistics Branch (Canadian Forces)
The Logistics Branch is a personnel branch of the Canadian Forces . In April 2007, the CF Armed Forces Council decided to incorporate the Personnel Selection Branch into the Logistics branch.-Unification:...
is also a sister branch. For some history of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
equivalents, visit http://users.sisna.com/justinb/purs.html and see Navy Supply Corps.
Naval Slang for the Supply Officer
Naval slangSlang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
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
Pusser's
Pusser's is a brand name of rum produced by Pussers Ltd, on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Pusser is Royal Navy slang for a purser, a ship's supply officer, now called a Logistics Officer, in the Royal Navy; thus the word became naval slang for "one hundred per cent Service", as in...
rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
". 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
In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by David Lean and Noël Coward. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information ....
(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 HoodHMS Hood (51)
HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. One of four s ordered in mid-1916, her design—although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction—still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be...
in 1938-1939, and some of his subsequent career, can be found at http://www.hmshood.com/crew/bios/EvansTKbio.html. 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 http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/summary/ru30-001.shtml.
During the First Battle of Narvik, in the Norway campaign, the destroyer leader HMS Hardy
HMS Hardy (1936)
|HMS Hardy was the flotilla leader for the H-class destroyers, built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict...
(Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee
Bernard Warburton-Lee
Captain Bernard Armitage Warburton Warburton-Lee VC was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Spanish Civil War:In 1936 due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil...
RN) was attacked by German destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s in Ofotfjord
Ofotfjord
Ofotfjord or Narvik Fjord, an inlet of the Norwegian sea north of the Arctic circle, is Norway's 12th longest fjord, long, and the 18th deepest, with a maximum depth of . Along the shores of this fjord is the major town of Narvik...
on 10 April 1940, and Captain (D) was seriously wounded and most other officers were killed. Captain (D)'s Secretary, Paymaster Lieutenant Geoffrey H. Stanning survived and he awoke from the fearful blast to find his spine and legs badly injured by shrapnel, the ship out of control and heading for the shore at thirty knots. Since the wheel house was below him and nobody was answering his increasingly desperate orders to put the wheel over, he managed to drag himself down a ladder to the wheel house and alter course, enough to stop hitting the shore. When he regained the bridge helped by some seamen, he saw that they were now heading for two German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s. Since he could not slow down he decided to ram one of them. Luckily for all those left alive on board, whilst he was deciding which one to have a go at, one of the boilers was hit and the engines ground to a halt. All the forward guns on the Hardy were by now inoperable, but one of the stern guns was still banging away at the Germans who naturally returned fire into the burning wreck. Luckily the Hardy still had some 'way' on her which allowed Stanning to manoeuvre her into Vidrek
Vidrek
Vidrek is a small village in the municipality of Narvik, Norway. Its population is about 70.On 10 April 1940, in the First Naval Battle of Narvik, the British flagship HMS Hardy was beached in flames on Vidrek, and nearby 30 seamen were killed....
where she ran aground. As she glided ashore still blazing furiously Stanning gave the order to abandon ship. One hundred and forty men plunged into the icy water, and in between the shell bursts from the German destroyers, managed to clamber to safety on the shore. Captain Warburton-Lee was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
and Paymaster Lieutenant Stanning the DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
. (Source: http://www.submerged.co.uk/narvik%20hardy.php and the Supplement to the London Gazette of 1 July 1947 - see http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/LondonGazette/38005.pdf).
Employment since 1950
Owing to a shortage of Fleet Air ArmFleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
s in the 1950s, four supply officers qualified as fixed-wing pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
s; both Brian Brown
Brian Brown (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Brian Thomas Brown KCB CBE is a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.-Naval career:Educated at Peter Symonds College, Brown joined the Royal Navy in 1952...
and Andrew Richmond rose to flag rank in the 1980s. There was a similar, but short-lived, scheme in the late 1960s when at least three supply officers were trained as helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
aircrew; at least one "pusser pilot" served in a number of flying appointments.
Typically, in the 1970s and 1980s, a commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
carrier such as HMS Bulwark
HMS Bulwark (R08)
The sixth HMS Bulwark of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 tonne Centaur-class light fleet aircraft carrier.-Construction:Bulwark was laid down by the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast on 10 May 1945...
would have nine Supply Officers on board led by a Commander (S), including two borne for the duties of Captain's Secretary - a Lieutenant-Commander and Captain's Assistant Secretary - a Lieutenant or Sub-Lieutenant. A County Class
County class destroyer
The County class was a class of guided missile destroyers, the first such vessels built by the Royal Navy. Designed specifically around the Sea Slug anti-aircraft missile system, the primary role of these ships was area air-defence around the aircraft carrier task force in the nuclear-war...
guided missile
Guided Missile
Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....
destroyer had three Supply Officers on board, one as Captain's Secretary, and a Leander Class frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
, Hecla Class survey ship
Hecla class survey vessel
The Hecla class formed the backbone of the Royal Navy's ocean survey fleet from the mid-1960s. Three ships, , and , were ordered in the early 1960s to replace the aging survey ships and ....
and nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
just the one Supply Officer in "supply charge", usually a senior Lieutenant (S), with a junior seaman
Seaman
Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....
officer given the additional role of "Correspondence Officer". A Frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Squadron Leader had a Lieutenant-Commander as Squadron Supply Officer and a junior Lieutenant or Sub-Lieutenant as Captain's Secretary. Supply Officers rarely served in ships with a ship's company of fewer than 100. Some supply branch Captains and Commodores have been appointed in command of large naval shore establishments such as HMS Cochrane
HMS Cochrane
Two ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Cochrane, after Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald: was a Duke of Edinburgh class armoured cruiser launched in 1905. She was stranded in 1918 and broken up....
, HMS Nelson
HMS Nelson
Three ships and a naval base of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Nelson in honour of Horatio Nelson: was a 120-gun first rate launched in 1814. She was converted to screw propulsion and rearmed to 90 guns in 1860, and was handed over to the government of the Dominion of Victoria, Australia, in 1867...
, HMS Raleigh
HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)
HMS Raleigh is the modern-day basic training facility of the Royal Navy at Torpoint, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is spread over several square miles, and has damage control simulators and fire-fighting training facilities...
and HMS Terror
HMS Terror
Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Terror:*HMS Terror was a 4-gun bomb vessel launched in 1696, and captured and burnt by the French in 1704.*HMS Terror was a 14-gun bomb vessel launched in 1741 and sold in 1754....
.
In the 1980s, one former submariner supply officer served successfully as First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
(Executive Officer) of a frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
. From 2004-2007, Lieutenant-Commander (Commander from 2006) Heber Ackland
Heber Ackland
Commander Heber Kemble Ackland, MA Oxford MVO, RN, was Equerry to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom from July 2004 to July 2007.Born in 1969, he was educated between 1987 and 1990 at the Keble College, Oxford, where he studied Medieval and Modern History....
served as Equerry
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Falklands War 1982
Three Supply Officers were killed in action, in the South Atlantic, during the Falklands WarFalklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
1982:
- Lieutenant-Commander David I Balfour RN - Supply Officer, HMS SheffieldHMS Sheffield (D80)HMS Sheffield was the second Royal Navy ship to be named after the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire. She was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer laid down by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness on 15 January 1970, launched on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975.An...
- killed 4 May 1982, age 37 - Lieutenant-Commander Richard (Rick) W Banfield RN - Supply Officer, HMS ArdentHMS Ardent (F184)HMS Ardent was a Royal Navy Type 21 frigate. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland. She was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position...
- killed 21 May 1982, age about 31 - Lieutenant David H R Tinker - Captain's Secretary, HMS GlamorganHMS Glamorgan (D19)HMS Glamorgan was a County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy with a displacement of 5,440 tonnes. The ship was built by Vickers-Armstrongs in Newcastle Upon Tyne and named after the Welsh county of Glamorgan. She was launched on 9 July 1964, and was delivered to the Navy two years later...
- killed 12 June 1982, age about 23 (his letters were the basis for Professor Hugh Tinker's book about his son, A Message from the Falklands: The Life and Gallant Death of David TinkerDavid TinkerLieutenant David Hugh Russell Tinker was a Royal Navy supply officer, appointed as Captain's Secretary in the county class destroyer . He was killed in action on the 12 June 1982 on the last day of the Falklands War, when Glamorgan was hit by an Exocet missile fired from a lorry by an Argentine...
(1982), on which a play was later based)
Their names are on the Falklands War memorial in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
Barristers
Unlike the other armed forces, the Royal Navy has no separate uniformed legal branch. A few Supply Officers are trained as barristers and one Captain (S) serves as Chief Naval Judge Advocate (CNJA). 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 JudgeJudge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s: His Honour Judge [Shaun] Lyons, His Honour Judge [John L] Sessions and His Honour Judge [A G Y (Tony)] Thorpe; His Honour Judge Robert Fraser was appointed a Circuit Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
on his retirement as Commodore in 2007. In the Navy List 2006, 26 male and female Logistics Officers were listed as Barristers.
Additional duties at sea
With the advent of flight deckFlight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...
s 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
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
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 submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
s and damage control
Damage control
Damage control is a term used in the Merchant Marine, maritime industry and navies for the emergency control of situations that may hazard the sinking of a ship...
section-base officers.
Admirals and Head of Branch - and a Purser Pusser
Only two Supply Officers have ever been promoted to the rank of 'full' AdmiralAdmiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
. Retiring as Chief of Fleet Support in 1977, Admiral Sir Peter White
Peter White (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Peter White GBE was a Royal Navy officer who ended his career as Chief of Fleet Support.-Naval career:...
GBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1919) was promoted on 28 June 1976, becoming the first of the branch to be appointed to the Admiralty Board. He had a most appropriate surname for the first four-star pusser, given the colour of the distinction cloth worn historically by his branch. Admiral Sir Brian Brown
Brian Brown (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Brian Thomas Brown KCB CBE is a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.-Naval career:Educated at Peter Symonds College, Brown joined the Royal Navy in 1952...
KCB, CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
was promoted to that rank on 26 August 1989. Happily, there has been at least one serving Supply Officer with the surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
Purser - Benjamin Purser was promoted Lieutenant-Commander in July 1973. While there have also certainly been Supply Officers with the surname of Cook, perhaps the surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
s Beauclerk, Bezant, Cater, Clark(e)/Clerk(e), Pay, Purves/Purvis, Scriven(er), Steward and Storer have been those of supply officers, too, over the centuries.
Twelve Supply Officers 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 Flag rank in the Royal Navy, at any one time one, two or three Supply Officers have been Rear-Admirals. One of these two-star officers is appointed Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
(CNSSO) - now CNLO - as head of branch; however, there was no admiral in the Logistics Branch from 2008–2010 and the senior officer branch was a Commodore. Rear-Admiral David Steel
David Steel (Royal Navy officer)
Rear Admiral David George Steel CBE is a Royal Navy officer who currently serves as Naval Secretary.-Naval career:Steel trained as a barrister and then chose to join the Royal Navy. In December 1999 he was commended for valuable service in support of operations in Kosovo and Macedonia earlier that...
, a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, was promoted to two-star rank on 20 April 2010 and became Naval Secretary
Naval Secretary
The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RN. It is a senior RN appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Rear-Admiral. The Naval Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is...
and Chief Naval Logistics Officer (CNLO). A Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
(RNR) is head of the RNR Logistics Branch.
Women
Women officers in the Women's Royal Naval ServiceWomen's Royal Naval Service
The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...
(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
Carolyn Stait
Commodore Carolyn J Stait CBE is a retired officer of the Royal Navy, and was from 2004 to 2007 the first woman to command a Naval Base in Britain...
OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
FCIPD was the Naval Base Commander, Clyde
HMNB Clyde
Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy...
in from 2004 to 2007.
Defence Maritime Logistics School, RN Logistics School and RN Supply School - history
The present Defence Maritime Logistics School (DMLS) (see http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/operations-and-support/establishments/training-establishments/hms-raleigh/defence-maritime-logistics-school), (until September 2006 the Royal Naval Logistics School (RNLS)) - the alma mater of logistics officerLogistics Officer
A Logistics Officer is a member of an armed force responsible for overseeing the support of an army, air force, or navy both at home and abroad. Logistics Officers can be stationary on military bases or deployed as an active part of a field army, air wing, or naval force. The responsibilities of...
s and ratings - is a lodger unit within HMS Raleigh
HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)
HMS Raleigh is the modern-day basic training facility of the Royal Navy at Torpoint, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is spread over several square miles, and has damage control simulators and fire-fighting training facilities...
in Torpoint
Torpoint
Torpoint is a civil parish and town on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar....
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
PL11 2PD. Functionally however, the school exists as a 'franchise' of the Defence College of Logistics and Personnel Administration, whose headquarters reside in Deepcut
Deepcut
Deepcut is a village in Surrey, situated close to Camberley. It is home to the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut.Malacologist Major Matthew Connolly lived at the Lock House at Deepcut where he brought up his son the writer and critic Cyril Connolly....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. The Commandant of the DMLS is Commander Heber Ackland
Heber Ackland
Commander Heber Kemble Ackland, MA Oxford MVO, RN, was Equerry to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom from July 2004 to July 2007.Born in 1969, he was educated between 1987 and 1990 at the Keble College, Oxford, where he studied Medieval and Modern History....
RN. From 1 April 1958 to 1983 the RN Supply School (RNSS) was in HMS Pembroke, Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
ME4 4UH. Previously the RNSS was in Thorp Arch, Wetherby
Wetherby
Wetherby is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road, being mid-way between London and Edinburgh...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, the training establishment being known as HMS Ceres from 1 October 1946 to 31 March 1958 (see http://www.myoldschools.co.uk/ceres/muster.htm and http://www.myoldschools.co.uk/ceres/ceres001.htm) and before that as HMS Demetrius, which had commissioned on 15 July 1944 as the Accountant Branch school. The school had transferred from its former wartime home in Highgate School
Highgate School
-Notable members of staff and governing body:* John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Cromwellian General* 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, owner of Kenwood, noted for judgment finding contracts for slavery unenforceable in English law* T. S...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
N6, where it had been established as HMS President V since being requisitioned and commissioned on 1 November 1941 as the training school for Accountant Branch ratings. The boys of Highgate School
Highgate School
-Notable members of staff and governing body:* John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Cromwellian General* 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, owner of Kenwood, noted for judgment finding contracts for slavery unenforceable in English law* T. S...
had been evacuated from London owing to The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. (Thorp Arch became a borstal
Borstal
A borstal was a type of youth prison in the United Kingdom, run by the Prison Service and intended to reform seriously delinquent young people. The word is sometimes used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory, such as Approved Schools and Detention Centres. The court...
when the Navy left in 1958 and it is now known as HM Young Offenders' Institution, Wetherby
Wetherby (HM Prison)
HMP/YOI College of Secure Learning Wetherby is a male juveniles prison, located in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...
, LS22 5ED).
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 and Supply 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 AylardRichard AylardCommander Richard Aylard, CVO Royal Navy is a Director and Special Advisor to the Chief Executive of Thames Water. From 1991-1996 he was Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales.-Education:...
- Sir Ronald Brockman
- Sir Norman DenningNorman DenningVice Admiral Sir Norman Egbert Denning KBE CB was a British Royal Naval and Intelligence Officer at the Admirality and Defence Intelligence Staff who served as Director of Naval Planning from 1945–1956, Director of Naval Intelligence from 1960–1964 and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff for...
- Alan HardakerAlan HardakerAlan Hardaker was an English football administrator for the Football League, a wartime Royal Navy officer, and previously an amateur footballer...
- football administrator - Duncan Lustig-Prean and Beckett v United Kingdom
- Charlotte ManleyCharlotte ManleyCommander Charlotte Manley, LVO, OBE has been Chapter Clerk of St George's Chapel, Windsor since 2003, and was Private Secretary and Treasurer to the Duke of York 2001-2003....
- Edward TravisEdward TravisSir Edward Wilfred Harry Travis KCMG CBE was a British cryptographer and intelligence officer, becoming the operational head of Bletchley Park during World War II, and later the head of GCHQ.-Career:...
(later Sir Edward Travis) - operational head of Bletchley ParkBletchley ParkBletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
Feb 1942 to Apr 1952 - Nicholas Peter WrightNicholas Peter WrightCaptain Nicholas Peter Wright, CVO has been Private Secretary to The Princess Royal since 2002.He was educated at Ampleforth College, the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and the Joint Service Defence College....
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