6-766: Captain William Henry Hall (20 April 1842 – 10 March 1895) was the first Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy . Hall was thought of highly by John A. Fisher , who had requested him to act as Commander in HMS Inflexible , which Fisher was to captain and which was under construction at the time. Hall had to decline the offer for private reasons. He was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Committee in 1882, and became director of Naval Intelligence in 1887 when
12-607: A decade after the Second World War . The title was probably used informally up until the abolition of frigate and destroyer squadrons with the Fleet FIRST reorganisation circa 2001. Ashore, the rank of captain is often verbally described as "captain RN" to distinguish it from the more junior Army and Royal Marines rank , and in naval contexts, as a "four-ring captain" (referring to the uniform lace) to avoid confusion with
18-587: Is equivalent to a colonel in the British Army and Royal Marines , and to a group captain in the Royal Air Force . There are similarly named equivalent ranks in the navies of many other countries. In the Royal Navy, the officer in command of any warship of the rank of commander and below is informally referred to as "the captain" on board, even though holding a junior rank, but formally
24-486: Is titled "the commanding officer" (or CO). Until the nineteenth century, Royal Navy officers who were captains by rank and in command of a naval vessel were referred to as post-captains ; this practice is now defunct. Captain (D) or Captain Destroyers, afloat, was an operational appointment commanding a destroyer flotilla or squadron , and there was a corresponding administrative appointment ashore, until at least
30-523: The Naval Intelligence Department was formed. His son, William Reginald Hall , also became director of Naval intelligence in 1914. This biographical article related to the Royal Navy is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Captain (Royal Navy) Captain ( Capt ) is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy . It ranks above commander and below commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank
36-515: The title of a seagoing commanding officer. In the Ministry of Defence , and in joint service establishments, a captain may be referred to as a "DACOS" (standing for deputy assistant chief of staff) or an "AH" (assistant head), from the usual job title of OF5-ranked individuals who work with civil servants. The rank insignia features four rings of gold braid with an executive curl in the upper ring. When in mess dress or mess undress, officers of
#417582