First Sea Lord in the context of "Flagship"

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known.

Over the years, the term "flagship" has become a metaphor used in industries such as broadcasting, automobiles, education, technology, airlines, and retail to refer to their highest quality, best known, or most expensive products and locations.

His Majesty's Naval Service, referred to colloquially as the Royal Navy, after the primary fighting arm of the service, is the United Kingdom's naval warfare and maritime service. It consists of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve and Naval Careers Service. The Naval Service as a whole falls under the command of the Navy Board, which is headed by the First Sea Lord. This position is currently held by General Sir Gwyn Jenkins (appointed May 2025). The Defence Council delegates administration of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence.

The Naval Service is dominated by the Royal Navy, and operates primarily from three bases in the United Kingdom where commissioned ships are based; Portsmouth, Clyde and Devonport, the last being the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. As of December 2025, there were about 90 vessels in service with the various branches of the Naval Service, plus more than 90 additional vessels operated by the supporting Serco Marine Services. These vessels included: 63 commissioned ships of the Royal Navy, 17 principal landing craft of the Royal Marines, 10 auxiliary ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and 90+ supporting Marine Services vessels. Additional vessels are under charter to the Ministry of Defence. As of 2022, HM Naval Service (Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Naval Careers Service) employed about 39,500 regular and reserve personnel.

The Navy Command is the current headquarters body of the Royal Navy, and as of 2012 its major organisational grouping. It is a hybrid, neither a command, nor simply an installation. Royal Navy official writings describe Navy Command Headquarters both as a physical site, on Whale Island (at Portsmouth, Hampshire), a collective formed of the most senior RN officers, and as a budgetary grouping.

On 1 April 2006 the Fleet Top Level Budget was established. A Top Level Budget (TLB) is the major financial accounting group of the MOD. On 1 April 2010 the Fleet TLB was renamed Navy Command. Navy Command is the Top Level Budget (holder) for the RN. Navy Command supports the First Sea Lord in the management of the Command, and delivers the Service's current and future outputs as articulated in the Command Plan.

HMS Repulse was one of two Renown-class battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Originally laid down as an improved version of the Revenge-class battleship, her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war because she would not be ready in time. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval for her to resume construction as a battlecruiser that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ship in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but the ship was delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Repulse and her sister ship Renown were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.

Repulse participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, the only combat she saw during the war. She was reconstructed twice between the wars; a reconstruction in the 1920s increased her armour protection and made lesser improvements, while another in the 1930s was much more thorough. Repulse accompanied the battlecruiser Hood during the Cruise of the Special Service Squadron on a round-the-world cruise in 1923 to 1924 and protected international shipping during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 to 1939.

Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss, GCB, CMG, MVO (12 April 1864 – 24 May 1933), known as Sir Rosslyn Wemyss between 1916 and 1919, was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War, he served as commander of the 12th Cruiser Squadron and then as Governor of Moudros before leading the British landings at Cape Helles and at Suvla Bay during the Gallipoli campaign. He went on to be Commander of the East Indies & Egyptian Squadron in January 1916 and then First Sea Lord in December 1917, in which role he encouraged Admiral Roger Keyes, Commander of the Dover Patrol, to undertake more vigorous operations in the Channel, ultimately leading to the launch of the Zeebrugge Raid in April 1918.

The Admiralty Arch is a historic landmark building in London, providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, it was designed by Aston Webb, and is now a Grade I listed building. Until 2011, the building housed government offices, including the residence of the First Sea Lord, and was used by the Admiralty. In 2012, the government sold the building on a 125-year lease for £60m for redevelopment into the Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch luxury hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2026.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) is composed of the most senior military personnel in the British Armed Forces, who advise on operational military matters and the preparation and conduct of military operations. The committee consists of the chief of the defence staff, who is the chairman and professional head of the armed forces, and the vice-chief of the defence staff, who is the vice-chairman and deputy professional head of the armed forces. The committee also includes the heads of the three branches of the armed forces – the first sea lord and chief of the naval staff, the chief of the general staff and the chief of the air staff.

Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Victory:

• English ship Victory (1569), a 42-gun ship, originally named Great Christopher, purchased by the Royal Navy in 1569 and commanded by Sir John Hawkins during 1588 battle against the Spanish Armada and broken up in 1608.
• English ship Victory (1620), a 42-gun great ship launched at Deptford in 1620. She was rebuilt in 1666 as an 82-gun second-rate ship of the line and broken up in 1691.
• HMS Victory (1695), a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line launched in 1675 as Royal James, renamed 7 March 1691. Great repair 1694-1695. Burnt by accident in February 1721.
• HMS Victory (1737), a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line launched in 1737. She was wrecked in 1744 in the Western Approaches to the English Channel, and found again in 2008.
• HMS Victory (1764), an 8-gun schooner launched in 1764. She served in Canada and was burned in 1768.
• HMS Victory, a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line launched in 1765, one of the most famous warships ever launched. She served in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She was Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent and Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar. She served as a harbour ship after 1824 and was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth in 1922, where she has been the flagship of the Second Sea Lord (until 2012) and the First Sea Lord (presently), and is preserved as a museum ship.

• HMS Victory IV – the designation for the Royal Naval Division during the First World War.

HMS Renown was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the Revenge-class battleships. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in time. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval to restart her construction as a battlecruiser that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, quickly produced a new design to meet Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal but the ship was delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Renown, and her sister HMS Repulse, were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.

Renown did not see action during the war and was reconstructed twice between the wars; the 1920s reconstruction increased her armour protection and made other more minor improvements; the 1930s reconstruction was much more thorough. The ship frequently conveyed royalty on their foreign tours and served as flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron when Hood was refitting.