The Naval Intelligence Department was founded in 1887 from the Foreign Intelligence Committee established in 1883. Earlier foreign intelligence had depended partly on information collected during hydrographic surveys. Pressure for a systematic study of trade defence helped secure more funding and officers, and a trade division followed in 1902. Its abolition in 1909 interrupted that work, while later organisational changes still left a gap between good information and effective action in 1914. Station intelligence officers gathered reports from consuls and port officials and advised merchant masters on routes and precautions. A route could be declared unsafe, but ships using it still proceeded at their own risk.
Notable Point · 37:19-40:55
Trade protection helped turn intelligence into a naval institution
The need to track foreign navies and protect merchant routes pushed the Royal Navy from improvised reporting toward permanent intelligence departments and station networks.