The Navy Board and Admiralty Board divide naval power

The Lord High Admiral's authority could be placed in commission and exercised by Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Alongside them, the Navy Board controlled much of the material administration of ships, especially dockyards and vessels laid up in ordinary. From 1660 the Controller chaired the Navy Board, while royal and ministerial appointments gave its officers enough independent standing to resist their nominal superiors. The resulting institutional contest lasted until the two boards were fused in 1832.