Admiralty

The Admiralty was the organisation responsible for the command of the Royal Navy in the Kingdom of England, and later in Great Britain, and until 1964 in the United Kingdom. Originally exercised by a single person, the Lord High Admiral, the Admiralty was, from the early 18th century onwards, almost invariably put "in commission" and exercised by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, who sat on the Board of Admiralty.

In 1964, the functions of the Admiralty were transferred to a new Admiralty Board, which is a committee of the tri-service Defence Council of the United Kingdom and part of the Ministry of Defence. The new Admiralty Board meets only twice a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is controlled by a Navy Board (not to be confused with the historic Navy Board described later in this article). It is common for the various authorities now in charge of the Royal Navy to be referred to as simply The Admiralty.

The title of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom was vested in the monarch from 1964 to 2011. The title was awarded to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh by Queen Elizabeth II on his 90th birthday. There also continues to be a Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom and a Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, both of which are honorary offices.

Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg

The Admiralty building is the former headquarters of the Admiralty Board and the Imperial Russian Navy in St. Petersburg, Russia and the current headquarters of the Russian Navy.

The edifice was re-built in the nineteenth century to support the Tsar's maritime ambitions. The original design was a fortified shipyard which was later surrounded by five bastions and further protected by a moat.

The Empire Style edifice visible today lining the Admiralty Quay was constructed to Andreyan Zakharov's design between 1806 and 1823. Located at the western end of the Nevsky Prospekt, The Admiralty with its gilded spire topped by a golden weather-vane in the shape of a small sail warship (Korablik), is one of the city's most conspicuous landmarks and the focal point of old St. Petersburg's three main streets - Nevsky Prospect, Gorokhovaya Street, and Voznesensky Avenue - underscoring the importance Peter I placed on Russia's Navy.

Vladimir Nabokov, writer and native of St. Petersburg, wrote a short story in May 1933 entitled "The Admiralty Spire."

Admiralty Station (MTR)

Admiralty station is an MTR station located on Hong Kong Island, in an area often referred to as Admiralty. The station's livery is blue. The station connects the Tsuen Wan Line with the Island Line in cross-platform interchange type. Before the opening of the Tsuen Wan branch line in 1982, it was part of the Kwun Tong Line.

The station is named after HMS Tamar (a place of land now known as the Tamar site), once the headquarters of the Royal Navy in Hong Kong - this, even though HMS Tamar had never actually been the Admiralty. It was built on the former site of the Hong Kong naval dockyards, which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s.

Currently the station is undergoing major expansion for accommodating 2 more metro lines, North South Corridor and South Island Line (East). This will make Admiralty station the first railway hub in Hong Kong providing access to 4 metro services in one single structure.

Development

The Government had given the MTR Corporation first refusal on the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) site, which was subsequently sold to it in 1976 for around HK$200 million for cash and equity consideration.