The Board of Admiralty was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. Its purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requirements of the Royal Navy; at that point administrative control of the navy was still the responsibility of the Navy Board, established in 1546. This system remained in place until 1832, when the Board of Admiralty became the sole authority charged with both administrative and operational control of the navy when the Navy Board was abolished. The Board of Admiralty existed until 1964 when the office of First Lord of the Admiralty was finally abolished and the functions of the Lords Commissioners were transferred to the new Admiralty Board and the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom as part of the Ministry of Defence.

1843-current [2014], Royal Naval dockyard, ship / boat construction and repairs, Plymouth, Devon, England, British 1843 - name changed from Plymouth Dock to Devonport Royal Dockyard. Construction started on the Keyham (steam) Yard, linked to the main dockyard by a tunnel. 1853 - Keyham (steam) Yard opened. 1863 - Ocean launched. 1895 - the ram cruiser Arrogant launched. 1896 - the ram cruiser Furious launched. 1898 - the battleship Implacable launched. 1899 - construction work began on the extension of Keyham, Yard. 1902 - the battleship Prince Edward launched. 1905 - Hibernia launched. 1907 - new extension to Keyham Yard officially opened. Temeraire launched. 1908 - Collingwood launched. 1911 - Centurion launched. 1912 - Marlborough launched. 1913 - Warspite launched. Work commenced on a turbine shop to repair and maintain the units responsible for powering the dreadnought battleships. 1914 - Royal Oak launched. 1940 - German bombing raids devastated the south yard. 1956 - the aircraft carrier, the Centaur, entered dry dock for extensive refitting. 1962 - post war reconstruction culminated in the completion of the dockyard wall. 1966 - a new central office block completed. 1968 - Scylla, the last vessel built at the dockyard, launched. 1969 - announcement that the dockyard would become an operational base for nuclear powered submarines. 1973 - Refitting facilities for nuclear submarines commenced. 1977 - new frigate complex opened. 1981 - the new Submarine Refit Complex completed on the old Keyham extension.