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National Maritime Museum

Oliver, Sir Henry Francis, Admiral Of The Fleet (1865-1965)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0064 OLV

Held at: National Maritime Museum

Title: Oliver, Sir Henry Francis, Admiral Of The Fleet (1865-1965)

Date(s): 1914-1965

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 1ft; 30cm

Name of creator(s): Oliver | Sir | Henry Francis | 1865-1965 | Knight | Admiral Of The Fleet

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Oliver entered the Navy in 1878 and passed for lieutenant in 1884. In 1903 he was promoted to captain and founded the navigation school in the Mercury. This school was later given the name HMS Dryad. Oliver became Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord in 1908, and after a seagoing appointment became Director of Naval Intelligence in 1913. He was promoted to rear-admiral in the same year. In 1914 Oliver became Naval Secretary to the First Sea Lord. At the end of the war he commanded the First Battle Cruiser Squadron in the Grand Fleet, hoisting his flag in the REPULSE. In 1919 he was promoted to vice-admiral and in 1921 he was appointed Second Sea Lord. In 1923 he was made admiral. His last active employment was as Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, in which post he remained until 1927. He was made Admiral of the Fleet in 1928 and retired in the same year. See Sir William James, A great seaman. The life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry F. Oliver (London, 1956).

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Sir Henry Francis Oliver, they include papers relating to the establishment of the Navigation School, and to the Dardanelles Operations, 1915 to 1917; included in the latter are minutes and notes by Churchill. There is also a Report of the Grand Fleet Committee on Officers' Pay and Prospects, 1919. Other letters and papers span Oliver's career, 1914 to 1965, although thinly. There is a diary, 1925 to 1927, a draft autobiography and official service documents.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were deposited on loan by H.M.S. Dryad, the Navigation School, in 1967.

ALLIED MATERIALS

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Diaries | Nonfiction
Naval affairs | Military affairs | Military science | Social sciences
Naval operations | Military operations | Military engineering
World War One (1914-1918) | World wars (events) | Wars (events)
Primary documents

Personal names
Oliver | Sir | Henry Francis | 1865-1965 | Admiral Of The Fleet

Corporate names
Royal Navy

Places
Dardanelles | Turkey | Middle East