Churchill, Admiralty offices, and oil fuel

The Queen Elizabeth design emerged from an Admiralty divided among operational, personnel, and construction offices. The First Sea Lord oversaw operations, the Second Sea Lord handled personnel, and the Third Sea Lord controlled construction and the material fleet. Jellicoe oversaw the study phase, Charles Briggs the ordering phase, and Gordon Moore the period in which the ships were laid down, while Watts and D'Eyncourt supplied design expertise. Churchill insisted on oil firing after Fisher's advice even though the constructors argued that changing the current design was more disruptive than making the next class oil-fired from the start. Briggs and D'Eyncourt were less inclined or less able to challenge Churchill than Jellicoe or Moore, which helps explain why the oil conversion did not also become a bolder small-tube-boiler redesign.