All the orders for great movements of the fleets and ships are directed by this board and signed by its secretary, the board, by a fiction of the law, being considered an individual replacing the lord high admiral--which it did, in 1632.

The board is supposed to meet every day with all the members present, the vote of each member carrying as much weight as that of any other member.

Naturally, the first lord of the admiralty being a cabinet officer and a member of Parliament, has a far greater influence on broad questions than any other member; and the first sea lord being the person of the most experience in naval matters, has the most weight on strictly naval questions.

Theoretically, however, neither of these gentlemen can carry a measure opposed to the others; and any member, even a junior, has equal opportunity with the others to bring up and discuss any question and to attempt to procure its passage by the full board; but in 1869 the first lord at that time, Mr.Childers, brought about a change whereby the first lord was made personally responsible to the government.

This vastly increased the power of the first lord, relatively to the others.
Two other navies, the German and the Japanese, which with the British, are the most efficient navies in the world, have systems somewhat different from the British.