The Hydrographer of the Navy is the principal hydrographical Royal Naval appointment. From 1795 until 2001, the post was responsible for the production of charts for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

, and around this post grew the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO). In 2001, the post was disassociated from UKHO, and the Hydrographer of the Navy is now a title bestowed upon the current captain—hydrography and meteorology—on the staff of the Devonport Flotilla at HMNB Devonport.

History

Before the establishment of the post, captains of Royal Navy ships were responsible for the provision of their own charts. In practice this meant that ships often sailed with inadequate information for safe navigation, and that when new areas were surveyed, the data rarely reached all those who needed it. The

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

appointed Alexander Dalrymple as hydrographer on 12 August 1795, with a remit to gather and distribute charts to HM Ships. Within a year existing charts had been collated, and the first catalogue published. It was five years before the first chart—of

Quiberon Bay Quiberon Bay (french: Baie de Quiberon) is an area of sheltered water on the south coast of Brittany. The bay is in the Morbihan département. Geography The bay is roughly triangular in shape, open to the south with the Gulf of Morbihan to t ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

—was produced by the Hydrographer. Under Dalrymple's successor, Captain Thomas Hurd, Admiralty charts were sold to the general public, and by 1825, there were 736 charts listed in the catalogue. In 1829, the first Sailing Directions were published, and in 1833, under Rear-Admiral Sir

Francis Beaufort Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer, rear admiral of the Royal Navy, and creator of the Beaufort cipher and the Beaufort scale. Early life Francis Beaufort was descende ...

—of the eponymous Beaufort scale—the tide tables were first published.

Notices to Mariners A notice to mariners (NTM or NOTMAR,) advises mariners of important matters affecting navigational safety, including new hydrographic information, changes in channels and aids to navigation, and other important data. Over 60 countries which pr ...

came out in 1834, allowing for the timely correction of charts already in use. Beaufort was certainly responsible for a step change in output; by the time he left the office in 1855, the Hydrographic Office had a catalogue of nearly 2,000 charts and was producing over 130,000 charts, of which about half were provided to the Royal Navy and half sold. In 1939, on the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Hydrographic Office moved to Taunton, and the post of hydrographer moved with it. In 2001, a chief executive was appointed to run the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office as a profit-making agency of the British government, and at this time the roles of National Hydrographer and Hydrographer of the Navy were divided. The title of hydrographer devolved to Captain (hydrography and meteorology), a senior officer on the staff of the Commodore of the Devonport Flotilla, and the senior Royal Navy officer within the HM branch. , the post has been renamed Captain (HM Ops), but continues to carry the title Hydrographer of the Navy.

List of hydrographers

* 1795–1808: Alexander Dalrymple * 1808–1823: Captain Thomas Hurd * 1823–1829: Rear Admiral Sir Edward Parry * 1829–1855: Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort * 1855–1863: Rear Admiral John Washington * 1863–1874: Vice Admiral Sir George Richards * 1874–1884: Captain Sir Frederick Evans * 1884–1904: Rear Admiral Sir William Wharton * 1904–1909: Rear Admiral Sir Arthur Mostyn Field * 1909–1914: Rear Admiral Sir Herbert Purey-Cust * 1914–1919: Rear Admiral Sir John Parry * 1919–1924: Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Learmonth * 1924–1932: Vice Admiral Sir Percy Douglas * 1932–1945: Vice Admiral Sir John Edgell * 1945–1950: Rear Admiral Arthur Norris Wyatt * 1950–1955: Vice Admiral Sir Archibald Day * 1955–1960: Rear Admiral Kenneth Collins * 1960–1966: Rear Admiral Sir Edmund Irving * 1966–1971: Rear Admiral Steve Ritchie * 1971–1975: Rear Admiral Geoffrey Hall * 1975–1985: Rear Admiral Sir David Haslam * 1985–1990: Rear Admiral Roger Morris * 1990–1994: Rear Admiral John Myres * 1994–1996: Rear Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh * 1996–2001: Rear Admiral John Clarke * 2001–2003: Captain Mike Barritt * 2003–2005: Captain David Lye * 2005–2007: Captain Ian Turner * 2007–2010: Captain Robert Stewart * 2010–2012: Captain Vaughan Nail * 2012–2013: Captain Stephen Malcolm * 2013–2016: Captain David Robertson * 2016–2017: Captain Matt Syrett * 2017–2019: Captain Gary Hesling * 2019–2021: Captain Derek Rae * 2021–2023: Commander Mathew J Warren

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Hydrography National hydrographic offices Royal Navy appointments