The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) was created as a component part of the
Admiralty War Staff in 1912. It was the intelligence arm of the
BritishAdmiralty before the establishment of a unified
Defence Intelligence Staff in 1964. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of
naval intelligence. It was also known as "Room 39", after its room number at the Admiralty.[1]
History
The Foreign Intelligence Committee was established in 1882[2] and it evolved into the Naval Intelligence Department in 1887.[3]
The NID staff were originally responsible for fleet mobilisation and war plans as well as foreign intelligence collection; thus in the beginning there were originally two divisions: (1) intelligence (Foreign) and (2) Mobilisation. In 1900 another division, War, was added to deal with issues of strategy and defence, and in 1902 a fourth division, Trade, was created for matters related to the protection of merchant shipping. The Trade Division was abolished in October 1909 in the wake of the Committee of Imperial Defence inquiry into the feud between the
First Sea Lord,
Admiral Sir John Fisher and former Commander-in-Chief
Channel Fleet,
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, when it was discovered that the captain heading the Trade Division had been supplying the latter with confidential information during the inquiry.[4]
In 1910, the NID was shorn of its responsibility for war planning and strategy when the outgoing Fisher created the Navy War Council as a stop-gap remedy to criticisms emanating from the Beresford Inquiry that the Navy needed a naval staff—a role the NID had been in fact fulfilling since at least 1900, if not earlier. After this reorganisation, war planning and strategic matters were transferred to the newly created Naval Mobilisation Department and the NID reverted to the position it held prior to 1887—an intelligence collection and collation organisation.[5]
In 1912 the division was established as a component part of the new
Admiralty War Staff organisation when that body was abolished in 1917 it continued as a division of the new
Admiralty Naval Staff until 1964 when the
Admiralty Department was abolished.
World War I
During
World War I the NID was responsible for the Royal Navy's highly successful cryptographic efforts, Room 40.[6] The interception and decoding of the
Zimmermann Telegram played a role in bringing the United States into the War. It has described as the most significant intelligence triumph for Britain during World War I,[7] and one of the first occasions on which a piece of signals intelligence influenced world events.[8]
World War II
Naval
Ultra messages were handled differently from Army and Air Force Ultra because the Admiralty was an operational HQ and could give orders during a battle; while the Imperial General Staff (Army) and Air Staff would give commanders general orders such as, "clear the enemy out of Africa" without telling them how to do it. Hence verbatim translations of naval decodes were sent by
Hut 4 to the NID and nowhere else (except for some naval intelligence sent directly from
Bletchley Park to Commanders-in-Chief in the Mediterranean).[9]
Hut 8 which decrypted
Enigma messages for
Hut 4 to translate and analyse had less information for
Ultra as the Kriegsmarine operated Enigma more securely than the German Army and Air Force. Hut 4 also broke various hand cyphers and some Italian naval traffic.[10]
The Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty, produced a series of Geographical Handbooks from 1917-1922 to provide information for the
British Armed Forces. The
Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946 to provide information for the British Armed Forces.[12]
However, well before the mid-1990s another Royal Naval branch existed, namely the Directorate of Naval Security & Integrated Contingency Planning (DNSyICP), which is based at HM Naval Base Portsmouth under the staff command of the Second Sea Lord & C-in-C Naval Home Command.[citation needed]
^"Why was the Zimmerman Telegram so important?". BBC. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017. It was, many believed, the single greatest intelligence triumph for Britain in World War One.
Allen, Matthew (February 1995). "The Foreign Intelligence Committee and the Origins of the Naval Intelligence Department of the Admiralty". The Mariner's Mirror. 81 (1): 65–78.
doi:
10.1080/00253359.1995.10656533.
The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) was created as a component part of the
Admiralty War Staff in 1912. It was the intelligence arm of the
BritishAdmiralty before the establishment of a unified
Defence Intelligence Staff in 1964. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of
naval intelligence. It was also known as "Room 39", after its room number at the Admiralty.[1]
History
The Foreign Intelligence Committee was established in 1882[2] and it evolved into the Naval Intelligence Department in 1887.[3]
The NID staff were originally responsible for fleet mobilisation and war plans as well as foreign intelligence collection; thus in the beginning there were originally two divisions: (1) intelligence (Foreign) and (2) Mobilisation. In 1900 another division, War, was added to deal with issues of strategy and defence, and in 1902 a fourth division, Trade, was created for matters related to the protection of merchant shipping. The Trade Division was abolished in October 1909 in the wake of the Committee of Imperial Defence inquiry into the feud between the
First Sea Lord,
Admiral Sir John Fisher and former Commander-in-Chief
Channel Fleet,
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, when it was discovered that the captain heading the Trade Division had been supplying the latter with confidential information during the inquiry.[4]
In 1910, the NID was shorn of its responsibility for war planning and strategy when the outgoing Fisher created the Navy War Council as a stop-gap remedy to criticisms emanating from the Beresford Inquiry that the Navy needed a naval staff—a role the NID had been in fact fulfilling since at least 1900, if not earlier. After this reorganisation, war planning and strategic matters were transferred to the newly created Naval Mobilisation Department and the NID reverted to the position it held prior to 1887—an intelligence collection and collation organisation.[5]
In 1912 the division was established as a component part of the new
Admiralty War Staff organisation when that body was abolished in 1917 it continued as a division of the new
Admiralty Naval Staff until 1964 when the
Admiralty Department was abolished.
World War I
During
World War I the NID was responsible for the Royal Navy's highly successful cryptographic efforts, Room 40.[6] The interception and decoding of the
Zimmermann Telegram played a role in bringing the United States into the War. It has described as the most significant intelligence triumph for Britain during World War I,[7] and one of the first occasions on which a piece of signals intelligence influenced world events.[8]
World War II
Naval
Ultra messages were handled differently from Army and Air Force Ultra because the Admiralty was an operational HQ and could give orders during a battle; while the Imperial General Staff (Army) and Air Staff would give commanders general orders such as, "clear the enemy out of Africa" without telling them how to do it. Hence verbatim translations of naval decodes were sent by
Hut 4 to the NID and nowhere else (except for some naval intelligence sent directly from
Bletchley Park to Commanders-in-Chief in the Mediterranean).[9]
Hut 8 which decrypted
Enigma messages for
Hut 4 to translate and analyse had less information for
Ultra as the Kriegsmarine operated Enigma more securely than the German Army and Air Force. Hut 4 also broke various hand cyphers and some Italian naval traffic.[10]
The Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty, produced a series of Geographical Handbooks from 1917-1922 to provide information for the
British Armed Forces. The
Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946 to provide information for the British Armed Forces.[12]
However, well before the mid-1990s another Royal Naval branch existed, namely the Directorate of Naval Security & Integrated Contingency Planning (DNSyICP), which is based at HM Naval Base Portsmouth under the staff command of the Second Sea Lord & C-in-C Naval Home Command.[citation needed]
^"Why was the Zimmerman Telegram so important?". BBC. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017. It was, many believed, the single greatest intelligence triumph for Britain in World War One.
Allen, Matthew (February 1995). "The Foreign Intelligence Committee and the Origins of the Naval Intelligence Department of the Admiralty". The Mariner's Mirror. 81 (1): 65–78.
doi:
10.1080/00253359.1995.10656533.