The office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty was a former government position in the Admiralty of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Assistants to the Secretary of the Admiralty (later called the First Secretary) were initially only intermittently appointed, being sometimes designated "joint secretary" and sometimes "deputy secretary". Appointments became regular from 1756, and the title of the office was established as "Second Secretary" on 13 January 1783. In the nineteenth century, it increasingly became the case that the First Scretary of the Admiralty was a member of the Government, while the Second Secretary was a civil servant, and the titles of the offices were changed to reflect this in 1871, the First Secretary becoming the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty and the Second Secretary the Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty.
In 1871 the office was renamed Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty.
Permanent Secretaries:
7 May 1857 William Romaine 19 June1869 Vernon Lushington, (Admiral Robert Hall performed duties from Lushington's retirement June 1877 until Tryon's appointment.) 13 June 1882 George Tryon 2 April 1884 Sir Evan Macgregor 9 May 1907 Sir Inigo Thomas