First Sea Lord

The First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff (1SL/CNS). is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; originally the title was the First Naval Lord. The current First Sea Lord is Admiral Sir George Zambellas (appointed April 2013).

History
Lords High Admiral were appointed from the 15th century until the 18th, and Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty from the 17th century, as the governors of the English and later British Royal Navy. From 1683 to 1684, there were seven paid Commissioners and one supernumerary Commissioner who served without salary. The number varied between five and seven Commissioners through the 18th century. The standing of all the Commissioners was in theory the same, although the First Commissioner or First Lord exercised an ascendancy over his colleagues from an early date.

In 1805, for the first time, specific functions were assigned to each of the 'Naval' Lords, who were described as 'Professional' Lords, leaving to the 'Civil' Lords the routine business of signing documents. The title of the First Naval Lord was changed to First Sea Lord on the appointment of Sir Jackie Fisher in 1904. From 1923 onward, the First Sea Lord was a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee; and from 1923 to 1959 in rotation with the representatives of the other services (the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Chief of the Air Staff) would serve as the chairman of that committee and head of all British armed forces. The title was retained when the Board of Admiralty was abolished in 1964 and its functions integrated into the Ministry of Defence.

Under the current organisation, the First Sea Lord sits on both the Defence Council and the Admiralty Board.

First Naval Lords, 1828–1904
First Naval Lords include:
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn 1828–1830
 * Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy 1830–1834
 * Rear Admiral The Hon. Sir George Heneage Dundas 1834
 * Admiral Sir Charles Adam 1834
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn 1834–1835
 * Admiral Sir Charles Adam 1835–1841
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn 1841–1846
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, Bt 1846
 * Admiral Sir Charles Adam 1846–1847
 * Admiral Sir James Dundas 1847–1852
 * Admiral The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley 1852
 * Vice Admiral Hyde Parker 1852–1854
 * Admiral The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley 1854–1857
 * Vice Admiral The Hon. Sir Richard Saunders Dundas 1857–1858
 * Admiral Sir William Martin 1858–1859
 * Vice Admiral The Hon. Sir Richard Saunders Dundas 1859–1861
 * Admiral The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey 1861–1866
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne 1866–1868
 * Admiral Sir Sydney Dacres 1868–1872
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne 1872–1876
 * Admiral Sir Hastings Yelverton 1876–1877
 * Admiral Sir George Wellesley 1877–1879
 * Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key 1879–1885
 * Admiral Sir Arthur Acland Hood 1885–1886
 * Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay 1886
 * Admiral Sir Arthur Acland Hood 1886–1889
 * Admiral Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton 1889–1891
 * Admiral Sir Anthony Hoskins 1891–1893
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Richards 1893–1899
 * Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Kerr 1899–1904

First Sea Lords, 1904–present
First Sea Lords include:
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Arbuthnot Fisher 1904–1910
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson 1910–1911
 * Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman 1911–1912
 * Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg 1912–1914
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Fisher 1914–1915
 * Admiral Sir Henry Jackson 1915–1916
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Jellicoe 1916–1917
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Wester Wemyss 1917–1919
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Beatty 1919–1927
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Madden, Bt 1927–1930
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Field 1930–1933
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Chatfield 1933–1938
 * Admiral Sir Roger Backhouse 1938–1939
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound 1939–1943
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope 1943–1946
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Cunningham 1946–1948
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Fraser of North Cape 1948–1951
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick McGrigor 1951–1955
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma 1955–1959
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Lambe 1959–1960
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Caspar John 1960–1963
 * Admiral Sir David Luce 1963–1966
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg 1966–1968
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Le Fanu 1968–1970
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Hill-Norton 1970–1971
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Pollock 1971–1974
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Ashmore 1974–1977
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Lewin 1977–1979
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach 1979–1982
 * Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Fieldhouse 1982–1985
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Staveley 1985–1989
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Julian Oswald 1989–1993
 * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Benjamin Bathurst 1993–1995
 * Admiral Sir Jock Slater 1995–1998
 * Admiral The Lord Boyce 1998–2001
 * Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh 2001–2002
 * Admiral Sir Alan West 2002–2006
 * Admiral Sir Jonathon Band 2006–2009
 * Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope 2009–2013
 * Admiral Sir George Zambellas 2013–Present