How the Royal Navy employed its admirals

Did the Royal Navy place senior officers in desk jobs like a modern military?

Admirals could hold geographic station commands, with dangerous disease environments making some overseas appointments much less desirable than others.

The Royal Navy's geographic stations offered senior officers a different form of employment from command of a single ship. Admirals could command a station and oversee naval activity across a region. Potentially attractive appointments such as the South America station contrasted with the East Indies and West Indies, where disease made service especially hazardous. Status alone did not make every senior posting comfortable or safe.