Second Secretary to the Admiralty

United Kingdom Office of the Second Secretary to the Admiralty
Royal Arms as used by Her Majesty's Government
Flag of the Secretary to the Admiralty
Admiralty Department
Style	The Right Honourable (Formal prefix) Second Secretary to the Admiralty
Member of	British Cabinet Board of Admiralty
Seat	Westminster, London
Appointer	The British Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	1702-1964
First holder	George Clarke
Final holder	Clifford Jarrett
Website	www.gov.uk

The office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty was the senior civil servant at the Admiralty, of Great Britain the department of state responsible for the administration of the Royal Navy. He was head of the Admiralty Secretariat later known as the Department of the Permanent Secretary. Although he was not a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, he was as a member of the Board, and did attend all meetings the post existed from 1702 to 1964.

Assistants to the Secretary of the Admiralty (later called the First Secretary) were initially only intermittently appointed, being sometimes designated "joint secretary" and sometimes "deputy secretary". Appointments became regular from 1756, and the title of the office was established as "Second Secretary" on 13 January 1783. In the 19th century, it increasingly became the case that the First Secretary of the Admiralty was a member of the Government, while the Second Secretary was a civil servant, and the titles of the offices were changed to reflect this in 1869, the First Secretary becoming the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty and the Second Secretary the Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty. When the Admiralty Department was abolished in 1964 and its functions merged within a new Ministry of Defence the post holder became formally known as the Permanent Under Secretary of State for the Navy.

He was primarily responsible for the interrelationships and office organization of the various departments that serve the Royal Navy. He assumed the role Secretary to the Board, his chief responsibility was to examine thoroughly all questions involving expenditures and to advise the Board as to the possibility of savings where possible.