Royal Naval Research and Development

Military Records Information 38

1. Admiralty Records

Historically, naval research and development has taken the form of a partnership between the Admiralty and private industry, the former providing the patronage necessary for the implementation of new ideas. With the accelerating pace of technological advance in the nineteenth century, individual departments of the Royal Navy, in particular those of the Engineer-in Chief and of the Director of Naval Construction, worked together with private firms and individuals to develop new inventions, such as the Parsons marine turbine and the Whitworth self-propelling torpedo. These developments may be traced in the main series of files for the whole range of Admiralty business in ADM 1 : Admiralty and Secretariat Papers. Indexes (to persons and ships) and Digests (subject indexes) for this class are in ADM 12 , a guide to which is available at the National Archives.

For the period before 1850, ADM 2 : Admiralty and Secretariat Out-letters (to 1859); ADM 7 : Admiralty and Secretariat Miscellaneous and ADM 106 : Navy Board Records (to 1837) will also prove useful sources of information on technological developments in the navy. Records of the detailed design and construction of warships: the so-called Ships' Covers (ADM 138 ) are held in the National Maritime Museum, as are the specifications for hull and machinery issued by the Contracts Department (ADM 168 ). Reports on the sailing qualities of ships can be found among the records of the Controller of the Navy in ADM 95 . Records of the Surveyor of the Navy, the Materials Department and the Steam Department in ADM 83-94 will contain relevant material on the building, fitting out and repairing of naval ships for the period before 1860.

From 1852, major subject files, known as case papers, were kept separately and most may be found in ADM 116 , also grouped by subject codes. For most of this series (ADM 116/1-5460 ), the relevant codes include 11 (Armaments); 59 (Inventions and Suggestions); 80.1 (Experiments) and 81 (Machinery). Such case files cover a wide variety of technological developments, including patent fuel, ship design, mines, gyroscopes, wireless, torpedoes, torpedo nets, electrical indicators, the Verey pistol and even the "landship" i.e. the tank (ADM 116/1339 ).

There was also an Admiralty Awards Council which recommended awards to inventors, the records of which (1894-1925) may be found in ADM 245 .

2. Treasury Records

The main series of Treasury Board papers in T 1 , indexed by general registers in T 2 and subject registers (1830-1920) in T 108 , will provide information on the financial implications of naval research and development, for the period before 1920. For the period 1920-1948, the Supply Files, in T 161 should be consulted, and for the period after 1948 those of the Defence Policy and Materials Division in T 225 should be consulted.

Records of the Treasury Solicitor, held at The National Archives contain some information about Admiralty inventions in TS 21 : Deeds and Evidences, 1731 to 1920 and TS 32 : Registered Files: Admiralty series, from 1841.

3. Cabinet Records

Records of the Cabinet Office describes the records of the Cabinet and the Committee of Imperial Defence, which should be consulted for policy decisions concerning research and development. During the Second World War the Cabinet established a Scientific Advisory Committee, the records of which are in CAB 90 . Its terms of reference are given in ADM 1/10860 .

4. Naval Ordnance

The development of naval ordnance was the responsibility of the Board of Ordnance, until its abolition in 1855. The Ordnance Office In-letters include a series of inventions submitted, some by serving naval officers, mainly post 1825, in WO 44/620-636 . These inventions were assessed by the Ordnance Select Committee (WO 44/637 , WO 44/638 , WO 44/639 and WO 44/640 ; after 1855, SUPP 6 ). Records of the testing of explosives by ordnance factories are in SUPP 6 .

In 1855, the War Office took over control of ordnance and the Admiralty did not establish its own Naval Ordnance Department until 1891. Records of the Naval Ordnance Department, which include technical reports on weapons 1944-1954, are in ADM 256 , with reports of the Naval Ordnance Inspection Department laboratories in ADM 257 and ADM 213 . Records of the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (see below) are in ADM 263 . The report of a 1925 Committee on research, design and experimental work on guns, ammunition and projectiles is in ADM 268/14 .

Minutes of the Ordnance Board's Naval Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Committee (1919-1921) and Naval Cordite Committee (1925-1927) are in SUPP 6 .

Technical reports and memoranda of the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, relating to the development of conventional weapons for all the armed services, are in DEFE 15 .

5. Private Firms and Inventors

For patents and specifications of inventions in general, held by the National Archives up to 1853, see Domestic Records Information 3.. Those after that date remain with the Patent Office, and copies are available from State Patent Office Sale Branch, St Mary Gray, Orpington, Kent, BR5 3RD.

The Design Registers for 'Useful Designs' in BT 45 do include a number of inventions relating to naval matters. There is a subject index covering the period 1843-1883 in BT 46/9 .

6. Royal Commissions on Awards to Inventors

The first such Royal Commission, set up in 1919, investigated claims by individual inventors whose work had been exploited by the government during the First World War. Its records, in T 173 , are arranged alphabetically by name of inventor or company but there is a subject index which includes ships, torpedoes, submarines and sea-planes. A similar Commission was appointed in 1946 and its records, which are not indexed by subject, may be found in T 166 , with related material in T 225 .

7. 1914-1918 War - The Board of Invention and Research

Although the Admiralty had established an Experimental Works of its own in the 1870s (see below under Naval Research Establishments and Organisations), the Navy possessed no central research establishment. However the outbreak of the First World War gave a powerful stimulus to naval research and development, with the realisation that technological superiority in mechanical and chemical science was essential to success. Particularly important was the threat to British naval supremacy posed by the new technology of the submarine and the urgent need for a submarine detection device. Records relating to these developments may be found in ADM 137 , a collection of material brought together for the official history of the First World War, which is indexed by subject.

In July 1915, the Admiralty established the Board of Invention and Research "for the purpose of securing for the Admiralty, during the continuance of the war, expert assistance in organising and encouraging scientific effort in relation to the requirements of the Naval Service" (Report of the Board, 1917 - ADM 116/1430 ). It consisted of a central committee under Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Fisher, and including Sir Charles Parsons; a consulting panel of scientific experts, including Sir Ernest Rutherford, and a secretariat. Its role was to assess invention proposals made by the general public and transmit those of use to the war effort to the Admiralty technical departments, which did not have the manpower to do this. Senior naval officers were invited to submit any "problems connected with the scientific side of the Navy". Numerous sub-committees were established, ranging from Airships to Internal Combustion Engines and Oil Fuel. The minutes of the Airship, Aeroplane and Seaplane sub-committees may be found in ADM 116/1431 . Minutes of the Board itself and reports of experiments submitted to it are in ADM 293 . For experimentation, it drew on the resources of private industry; the National Physical Laboratory and a number of Admiralty establishments, all of which are described in the Holland Report of September 1917 (ADM 116/1601B ). Reports relating to work carried out by the National Physical Laboratory on behalf of the Admiralty, during and after the war, may be found in its registered files in DSIR 10 and Records Bureau Files in DSIR 36 .

8. Directorate of Scientific Research and Experiment

The Board was dissolved in January 1918 and a Director of Experiments and Research was appointed for co-ordination of the various experimental stations, run by the technical Departments of the Admiralty, that had proliferated during the war. On the Admiralty Board, the Third Sea Lord (Controller) was responsible for naval research and development in general. The Directorate of Scientific Research and Experiment ran the Admiralty Research Laboratory and subsequently the Royal Navy Physiological Laboratory and the Services Electronics Research Laboratory. It also looked after the administration of scientific finance, contracts, patents and technical records. Its reports may be found in ADM 283 and correspondence files are in ADM 1 . Records of the Admiralty, Advisory Panel on Research are also in ADM 1 .

The technical departments of the Navy retained responsibility for research, development and production within their own fields. The directorate of Naval Construction ran the Admiralty Experiment Works and the Naval Construction Research Establishment and its reports, in ADM 281 , include research testing. The Engineer-in-Chief ran the Admiralty Fuel Experiment Station and the Admiralty Engineering Laboratory. The Director of Underwater Weapons was responsible for the Torpedo Experiment Establishment; the Admiralty Mining Establishment; the Underwater Detection Establishment and the Underwater Launching Establishment, but the records of the Directorate, so far transferred (in ADM 292 ) mainly consist of captured German documents about the development of torpedoes. the division of responsibilities is outlined in a report of 1947 on the organisation of Admiralty Research and Development in ADM 213/523 .

Printed confidential reports, monographs and training manuals, covering new developments in armaments, engineering, navigation and signals may be found in ADM 186 . Other technical handbooks are in ADM 234 and ADM 239 .

9. Royal Naval Scientific Service

In 1946, the Department of Scientific Research was re-organised to form the Royal Naval Scientific Service which had four Directorates. Programmes and Planning was in charge of general administration of the Admiralty Centre for Scientific Information and Liaison (ACSIL), which succeeded the Technical Records Section that had been established in 1929. Reports from scientific and research institutions collected by ACSIL may be found in ADM 213 and are indexed by institution and records of the Directorate of Programmes and Planning are in ADM 282 . The Directorate of Physical Research co-ordinated physical research and its records are in ADM 285 . Some registered files of the Directorate of Aeronautical and Engineering Research, subsequently Engineering and Materials Research, are in ADM 278 . Records of the Directorate of Operational Research are in ADM 287 . The printed Journal of the Scientific Service may be found in ADM 206 .

10. Ministry of Defence

After the establishment of the Ministry of Defence in 1946, to co-ordinate the policies of the three armed services, a Defence Research Policy Committee was established, to provide advice on scientific and technical matters and review research and development costs and needs. Its minutes and memoranda, closed to public access for 50 years, are in DEFE 10 , with related papers of its first chairman, Sir Henry Tizard, in DEFE 9 . Files of the Central Scientific Defence Staff, which co-ordinated the work of the Chief Scientists of the armed forces, are in DEFE 19 .

After 1971, and the creation of the Procurement Executive within the Ministry of Defence, research and development establishments were placed under one Controller in the Executive, with greater reliance being placed once again, as in the nineteenth century, on developments within private industry. Subsequently, the Admiralty Engineering Laboratory was amalgamated with the Admiralty Oil Laboratory, within the National Gas Turbine establishment; a number of other research establishments (see below) were amalgamated into the Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment, now the Admiralty Research Establishment.

11. Naval Research Establishments and Organisations:

Admiralty Advisory Committee on Structural Steel - reports of the Admiralty Ship Welding Committee and its research panel on the testing of steels may be found in ADM 213 , ADM 220 and ADM 284 .

Admiralty Armour Experimental Programme - reports are with the records of the Director of Naval Construction in ADM 281 . Some reports of the Armour Technical Committee are in ADM 213 .

Admiralty Chemical Department - an Admiralty Chemist was first appointed in 1870 and subsequently an Admiralty Chemical Department developed at Portsmouth. In 1965, it was amalgamated with the Central Metallurgical Laboratory to form the Central Dockyard Laboratory. Its reports, from 1939, may be found in ADM 248 .Reports of the Chemical Advisory Panel, established in 1943 to advise the Director of Scientific Research are in ADM 247 and ADM 220 .

Admiralty Corrosion Committee - established in 1939 by the Engineer-in-Chief, it was later placed under the chairmanship of the Director of the Naval Scientific Service to co-ordinate research into the prevention of corrosion and marine fouling. In 1974, it was absorbed by the Ship Hull Corrosion Committee. Its records, with reports of experiments carried out, are in ADM 249 and 220/3-7.

Admiralty Compass Observatory - in 1842, the Admiralty Compass Branch was established, in association with the Hydrographic Department. Its observatory moved to Slough in 1917 and became part of the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment in 1971. Its records (ADM 235 ) are now held by the National Maritime Museum, although there is a history of the observatory in AVIA 46/225 .

Admiralty Computing Service - compiled tables of mathematical functions, 1944-1946, under the Directorate of Scientific Research and Development (see above).

Admiralty Craft Experimental Establishment - formed out of three directorates that had come into being during the Second World War (Miscellaneous Weapons Development, Combined Operations Material and Coastal Forces Material) and based at Haslar, it was responsible for sea trials and development of coastal attack craft and their equipment. Part of HMS Hornet after 1950, it was closed in 1957. Its records, which include extracts from the German Hydrofoil Committee reports 1941-45, are in ADM 250 .

Admiralty Development Establishment - a civilian establishment within the Vickers Armstrong works at Barrow, it was commissioned by the Admiralty in 1946 to research into submarine propulsion, at first based on hydrogen peroxide and later nuclear power. In 1964, it was disbanded: its reports are in ADM 251 and ADM 213 .

Admiralty Distilling Experimental Stations - established at Portland in 1951 to develop equipment for boiler feed water, it was absorbed by the Admiralty Marine Engineering Establishment in 1974. Records have not yet been transferred.

Admiralty Engineering Laboratory - established in 1917, at the City and Guilds College, South Kensington to develop diesel engines for submarines, it moved to West Drayton in 1920 where it was joined by the laboratory for electrical experiments that had been set up in 1919. They remained as a separate Mechanical Engineering Department and Electrical Engineering Department, testing commercial engines and equipment for naval use, with limited research functions. In 1977, the laboratory was absorbed by the National Gas Turbine Establishment. Its reports are in ADM 227 and ADM 213 .

Admiralty Experiment Works - In 1870, the Admiralty granted £2,000 to William Froude to build the world's first model experiment ship tank at Torquay and run it for 2 years (ADM 116/137 ). Experiments into the stability and propulsion of ships began in 1872 and when the site proved too small, it moved to Haslar, Gosport in 1886. Its work expanded to cover all types of naval vessel, including the submarine, and the testing of oils and oil fuel. Reports on experiments carried out, from 1874, may be found in ADM 226 and there are photographs of the tank (c.1956) in ADM 195/50 .

Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit - established in 1933 for research and development of diving techniques and equipment, it moved to HMS Vernon, Portsmouth in 1945. Reports of diving trials and experiments are in ADM 315 and ADM 213 . There is a history of diving experiments 1878-1919 in ADM 315/1 .

Admiralty Experimental Station Welwyn - established to develop propulsion using hydrogen peroxide c.1946-1950. Its records have not yet been transferred, and are intended to form class ADM 297 .

Admiralty Fuels and Lubricants Advisory Committee - established in 1953 to improve the quality and supply of fuels and lubricants, its records are in ADM 308 .

Admiralty Fuel Experimental Station - established in 1902, at Haslar, to research into the naval use of oil fuel in boilers, it was subsequently absorbed into the Admiralty Marine Engineering Establishments. Its records may be found in ADM 226 and ADM 289 .

Admiralty Gunnery Establishment - originally the fire control group within the Admiralty Research Laboratory, it functioned as a separate establishment 1943-1959. Most of its reports are in ADM 263 . Its functions were inherited by the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment and the Armament Research and Development Establishment.

Admiralty Hydro-Ballistic Research Establishment - formed in 1948, by the amalgamation of two testing stations, to investigate the effects of water on bombs and torpedoes dropped from the air, that had been established during the Second World War by the Admiralty and the Air Ministry, at Glen Fruin and Coulport respectively. It was subsequently absorbed by the Admiralty Research Laboratory and so its records are in ADM 204 .

Admiralty Hydrographic Department - the Hydrographic Department at Taunton is a place of deposit for its own records.

Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment - formed in 1978 from the amalgamation of the Naval Construction Research Establishment and the Admiralty Materials Laboratory.

Admiralty Materials Laboratory - established in 1947 for research into metallurgy, rubber, plastics and chemicals, it was absorbed into the Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment. Its records are in ADM 252 .

Admiralty Mining Department - see Underwater Countermeasures Establishment.

Admiralty Oil Laboratory - set up in 1953, to improve quality control on fuels and lubricants, it was absorbed by the National Gas Turbine Establishment in 1977. Its records are in ADM 289 .

Admiralty Research Laboratory - During the First World War, the Anti-Submarine Division of the Admiralty had established experimental stations at Hawkcraig (Aberdour) and Parkeston Quay, Harwich, with out-stations at Dartmouth and Wemyss Bay, to work on submarine detection methods. The Admiralty also established an experimental station at Shandon, Dumbartonshire, working with the Lancashire Anti-Submarine Committee and the Clyde Anti-Submarine Committee, which subsequently moved to Teddington in 1921, becoming the Admiralty Research Laboratory. Its main fields of research expanded to include oceanography (it housed the National Institute of Oceanography, 1949-1953); electromagnetics; underwater ballistics; visual aids; acoustics; infra-red radiation; photography and assessment techniques.

Correspondence and papers of the laboratory and its predecessors, from 1915 to 1946 may be found in ADM 212 and reports, from 1921 to 1963, in ADM 204 , with related papers in ADM 213 and ADM 218 .

Admiralty Ship Welding Committee - see Admiralty Advisory Committee on Structural Steel.

Admiralty Signals and Radar Establishments - see below.

Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment - research into radio communications began at Portsmouth before the First World War and, based at the Signals School there from 1917, expanded into the development of radar. In 1959, the Signals and Radar Establishments was amalgamated with the Gunnery Establishment to become the Surface Weapons Establishment for research into new weapons systems and their evaluation for procurement. In 1984, it was absorbed by the Admiralty Research Establishment. The reports, technical notes and other records of these establishments, from 1921, are in ADM 220 .

Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment - established in 1960 on the amalgamation of the Underwater Detection Establishment, Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishments and the Torpedo Experimental Establishment. Its records are in ADM 302 .

Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit - During the First World War, experiments on dropping torpedoes from aircraft were carried out by the Fleet Air Arm at Gosport. The experimental section came under the control of the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1941 and its reports, from 1933, are in AVIA 16 and ADM 213 . It was absorbed by the Underwater Weapons Establishment in 1975.

Anti-Submarine Experimental Establishment - see Underwater Detection Establishment.

Armour Technical Committee - see Admiralty Armour Experimental Programme.

Central Metallurgical Laboratory - established at Portsmouth c.1936 to investigate naval metallurgical problems, it acquired a number of outstation laboratories. In 1956 it was amalgamated with the Admiralty Chemical Department. Its records are in ADM 254 .

Co-ordination of Valve Development - established in 1938 by the Director of Scientific Research, to work on the development and procurement of thermionic valves, with a Services Valve Life Testing Laboratory, working for all the armed forces, subsequently amalgamated with the Services Electronics Research Laboratory that had been established in 1945. Records of both are in ADM 272 , with some administrative and committee records in ADM 220 .

Miscellaneous Weapon Development Directorate - established in 1941, it undertook research into the trial and development of weapons of unconventional warfare, in particular anti-aircraft and anti-submarine measures and amphibious assaults, subsequently becoming the Craft and Amphibious Material Directorate. its reports are in ADM 277 .

Naval Institute of Oceanography - see Admiralty Research Laboratory

Naval Aircraft Materials Laboratory - established in 1946 at the Royal naval Aircraft Repair Yard, Fleetlands to investigate the problems of naval aircraft, its records are in ADM 291 .

Naval Construction Research Establishment - see Underwater Explosion Works.

Naval Ordnance Inspection Department - established in 1922 to test guns and ammunition and subsequently torpedoes and mines, its records are in ADM 257 .

Royal Greenwich Observatory - although established in 1695, it did not become the responsibility of the Hydrographer of the Navy until 1820, taking over the role of the Board of Longtitude. It passed out of naval control in 1965 and its records are now held by Cambridge University Library but those of the Board of Visitors are in ADM 190 .

Royal Naval Personnel Research Committee - established in 1942 by the Medical Research Council to promote the operational efficiency of servicemen, including underwater physiology and survival at sea, its reports may be found in ADM 298 , with some early reports in ADM 1/12192 , 15579 and 18069. There is a report on personnel research in the Royal Navy during the Second World War in ADM 298/78 .

Royal Naval Physiological Laboratory - established in 1943, by the Royal Naval Scientific Service, to investigate physiological problems peculiar to the navy, such as those connected with living conditions in submarines and the endurance of divers and swimmers. Some reports may be found in ADM 213 .

Services Electronics Research Laboratory - see Co-ordination of Valve Development.

Services Valve Test Laboratory - see Co-ordination of Valve Development.

Torpedo and Anti-Submarine School- HMS Vernon, fitted out as a Torpedo Instruction School in 1876, subsequently came to house the Admiralty Signals School and a diving school. Annual reports of the school, from 1881, and reports on experiments on torpedoes, mines, depth-charges, anti-submarine measures and chemical warfare are in ADM 189 .

Torpedo Experimental Establishment - Tests for protection against torpedoes had been carried out as early as 1886 by Sir William White and during the First World War a large barge, known as the Chatham Float, was used for experiments with energy absorbing devices. However, a research establishment was not set up until in 1943, at the Royal Naval Torpedo Factory at Greenock (see SUPP 5/177 for the establishment of the factory); it closed in 1959, when responsibility for torpedo research passed to the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment. Reports and technical notes may be found in ADM 290 .

Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishment - established in 1951, inheriting the role of the Admiralty Mining Department that had been established at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth in 1915, it was closed in 1959. Records of the Mining Department, subsequently Mining Establishment, are in ADM 253 and those of UCWE are in ADM 258 and ADM 213 .

Underwater Detection Establishment - an ASDIC Research and Development unit was established at HMS Osprey (Portland Naval Base) in 1927, moving to Fairlie as the Anti-Submarine Experimental Establishment in 1940 and back to Portland in 1947 as Underwater Weapons Establishment. Its records are in ADM 259 .

Underwater Explosion Works - established in 1943 at Rosyth dockyard, to investigate the use of underwater explosives and defence against them, it was later re-named the Naval Construction Research Establishment (NCRE), working on noise reduction and the effect of explosions on ships' hulls and equipment. It moved to Dunfermline in 1949 and was absorbed into the Admiralty Technology Establishment in 1977. It is now part of the Admiralty Research Establishment.

Records of the Advisory Panel on Underwater Explosion Research, responsible for the Rosyth works, are in ADM 1/15149 and ADM 279 . Reports of NCRE are in ADM 280 , ADM 213 and ADM 229 .

Underwater Weapons Launching Establishment - design and production of torpedo and mine launching equipment was based at Portsmouth Dockyard from the First World War. In 1947, design was made the responsibility of the Underwater Weapons Launching Establishment, the reports of which are in ADM 260 and ADM 213 . On closure in 1959, this function passed to the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment.

12. Further Reading:

D K Brown, A Century of Naval Construction 1883-1983 (Conway Maritime Press, 1983)
M M Postan, D Hay, & J P Scott Design and Development of Weapons (HMSO, 1964)
B Ranft (ed.), Technical Change and British Naval Policy 1860-1939 (1977)

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