We are delighted to report that the senior submariner, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Boyce KG GCB OBE DL has been appointed as Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom by Her Majesty The Queen. Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom is the deputy to the Lord High Admiral. It is good to have a submariner in charge again!

For the history buffs:

In former days, the Vice-Admiral of England (or Vice-Admiral of Great Britain following the 1707 union with Scotland) was the second most powerful position in the Royal Navy, and until 1801 was officially called the Lieutenant of the Admiralty. The office was created in 1545 by Tudor King Henry VIII. Amongst other responsibilities, the Lieutenant of the Admiralty presided over the Council of the Marine, later known as the Navy Board.

As the deputy of the Lord High Admiral, the responsibilities of the pre-1964 Board of Admiralty would, in theory, have devolved upon the Vice-Admiral had the entire Board been incapacitated before a new Commission of Admiralty could pass the Great Seal. However, such a contingency never occurred in practice.