Naval Historical Branch facts for kids
 |
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1912-current |
| Preceding |
|
| Jurisdiction | Government of the United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | HMNB Portsmouth |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Office of the Assistant-Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy) |
The Naval Historical Branch is a special part of the Royal Navy. It collects and looks after all the important historical records of the Royal Navy. This branch was first set up in 1912 and is still active today. It was originally called the Historical Section.
Today, the Head of the Naval Historical Branch and Naval Historical Library leads this group. This person reports to the Assistant-Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy).
Contents
Before 1912, the Admiralty Library was in charge of historical documents. This library was later known as the Naval Historical Library. When the Naval Historical Branch was created, its collection was moved there.
First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, started the branch in 1912. This was just before the First World War. He also set up the Admiralty War Staff. Churchill wanted the War Staff to have a historical section. He said it should "sift, develop and apply the results of history and experience." This meant using past events to help guide future decisions for the navy.
This idea is still important today. The Naval Historical Branch (NHB) helps the First Sea Lord's Naval Staff. They give advice and support for defence plans and operations. They also do many tasks for the government and the public.
How the Branch Developed
The Historical Section started temporarily before the First World War. But the war began before it was fully ready. Information was gathered during and after the war. The Historical Section then put all these materials together. They also wrote many secret studies. They even began a full history of the war at sea.
Money cuts meant this big project was never finished. However, the work they did was still very important. For example, it helped the navy quickly start using convoys in 1939. Convoys are groups of ships traveling together for safety.
When the war started, the branch's small team only collected information. But then German mines became a big threat to Britain's coasts. The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff needed historical facts to fight this danger. He saw a lot of raw information but no one to explain it. So, he quickly made the branch both a collection and an analysis group.
During the war, the NHB wrote hundreds of reports. These included quick Battle Summaries. These summaries helped the Royal Navy improve its actions very fast. After the war, these reports became official histories. They even included information from captured German documents. These histories are still used a lot by defence groups. They were the basis for many official records and other works. The NHB is now publishing them so more people can read them.
The branch still gives information and advice to the defence community. This helps improve important policy decisions. They do this by offering a historical view. They also correct any wrong ideas that might have come up without proof.
Recent work includes papers about "effects based warfare." This is a way of planning military actions to achieve specific results. They also studied the navy's role in dealing with terrorists. This work is supported by longer studies of new secret staff histories.
One history project is a special study involving four nations. It looks at how the navies of Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia have worked together since the 1990-1991 Gulf War. The naval chiefs of these countries started this study.
The branch also works with fleet headquarters. They help write "war diaries." These are records of events during military operations. They also provide historical training for naval and joint units. For example, they wrote the naval war diaries for Operation Telic. They also studied the Normandy landings for the Royal Navy's Fleet Battle Staff.
The Naval Historical Branch works with Fleet Headquarters. They make sure that records of the Royal Navy's many activities are made, kept, and organized. This ensures that their content is always available. This is key for the branch's main work. It is also important for legal and compensation issues. These issues are a growing part of the branch's work and can cost a lot of money. The branch does not "judge" these cases. But it gives important expert information. This helps solve fair claims quickly. It also helps challenge claims that might not be true.
Admiral Sir Alan West, a former First Sea Lord, once said: "To those who are sceptical about the cost of this historical input, the loss of just one legal case because of lack of written documents would pay for the Branch…"
This is a partial list of the people who have led the Naval Historical Branch:
- Rear-Admiral Peter Noel Buckley: CB. DSO.(retd), 1968-1975
Sources
- United Kingdom Government, Ministry of Defence, Army Secretariat, Army Headquarters (2012), "A chronology of the historical branches of the 3 services" Naval Historical Branch, pp. 2–3, //www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389352/20141216-FOI07994_Historical_Branches_ArmySec_Redacted.pdf.
