The Admiralty is the department of the Government of Sivad concerned with defence of the realm. It oversees the Royal Naval Service, the Royal Marine Corps, and the Royal Naval Aerospace Service. The Admiralty was briefly consolodated into the Department of Defence during the Birthright War, but that department was subsequently disbanded. The Admiralty is nominally lead by the Lord High Admiral of Sivad, but that title has, since 2895, been held in commission by the seven Lords Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral, more commonly known as the Admiralty Board. The First Lord of Admiralty, a member of the Cabinet is the head of the Admiralty Board.
The Royal Naval Service is one of the largest and most complex departments in the entire Sivadian government. It's manning and ship needs, as well as victualizing, repair, and specialist procurement, require a large number of dedicated and skilled officers and civil servants.
The overarching decisions of naval strategy and manning are made by the cabinet. These decisions are carried out by the Admiralty, located in Admiralty House on Cobb Square in Enaj.
The Admiralty commissions all naval vessels based on the budget allotted to it by the Council of Equals each year. It also decides the basic specifications of all new ship classes, and the role of the ship and requirements for the new design, generally expressed in ship size, gross tonnage, crew size, and type and placement of weapons.
The Admiralty Board meets every day - even Christmas. Its decisions direct naval movements, direct ships, commission and promote officers, and deal with administrative matters. When Sivad faces a military emergency, the Admiralty would also serve as its military command centre.
The Admiralty flag, a dark blue flag with a horizontal silver anchor, flies at Admiralty House at all times except when all members of the board are absent. It flies at half-mast only at the death of the Soverign.
The Admiralty has one subsidiary board, called the Navy Board, which builds and supplies ships, runs the dockyards, purchases or manufactures all the navy's stores and equipment, and appoints most warrant officers. It has ten members, normally appointed for life by the Admiralty Board, are called "The Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Navy." These members are both military and civilian, but are generally skilled in ship design and development. The Navy Board is always lead by a military officer, referred to as the Controller of the Navy.
Subsidiary to the Navy Board are the Victualising board, concerned with supplies for the fleet, and the Board of Naval Medicine, which examines surgeons, recommends commissions as Surgeon-Commander to the Admiralty, and runs the Navy hospitals.
The Navy's professional head is the First Space Lord, who is Chief of Naval Staff. He is assisted by the Second through Fifth Space Lords, each a senior career member of the Admiralty.