Director of Naval Construction

The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty and head of the Department of Naval Construction, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966.

The postholder was the senior member of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors. Members of the Corps were responsible for the designing and building warships, whether they were built in the Royal Dockyards (such as Chatham) or contracted out to private industry (such as Armstrong Whitworth). The Director was a naval architect as well as a manager.

Work in the dockyards was covered to some extent by the two posts of Director of Naval Construction and the separately held Director of Dockyards. The latter's officers were responsible for checking that work contracted out by the former was being undertaken correctly.

In designing warships the Director of Naval Construction had to work with the Engineer-in-Chief, another Admiralty post, which existed from 1847 to 1889. The Engineer-in-Chief post arose after the adoption of steam engines for propulsion.

The French Navy had a similar post, Directeur des Construction Navales.

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