Board of Ordnance (Britain)

Last modified: 2005-07-16 by rob raeside
Keywords: board of ordnance | ordnance | master general of the ordnance | cannons | cannonballs | sua tela tonanti |
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• Establishment
• Master General of the Ordnance
• War Department Fleet
• Ordnance and Royal Artillery
• Army Council
• Army Service Corps (Royal Army Service Corps after 1918)
• Military Authorities Afloat
• Submarine Mining Service
• Naval Ordnance
• Royal Engineers
• Royal Corps of Transport Fleet
• Flags that have used the Seal of the Board of Ordnance, the shield, or the crest of its Arms, and other army maritime flags
• Style of cannon on Board of Ordnance flags

See also:

• United Kingdom
• Ministry of Defence and Army

Establishment

The Office of Ordnance, created by Henry VIII in 1544, became the Board of Ordnance in 1597. There was no standing army, and its principal duties were to supply guns, ammunition, stores and equipment to the King's Navy. The Great Master of Ordnance ranked immediately below the Lord High Admiral. In 1683 the Board became a Civil Department of State, under a Master General. A shield bearing three field-guns in pale, and three cannon balls in chief was adopted as the Seal of the Board. Being a metal die it was colourless, but paintings of the seal were made in a variety of colours: