The Admiralty Constabulary[1] was a police force in the United Kingdom formed under the Special Constables Act 1923.

[3] The constabulary can trace its history back to 1686 when the Royal Navy needed an organisation to prevent dockyard crime.

So the Secretary to the Admiralty – Samuel Pepys, the diarist – formed a force of 'porters, rounders, warders and watchmen' to guard the naval yards.

Rewards for obtaining convictions quickly led to corruption, so the force was 'cleaned up' and then abolished.

In 1860 dockyard divisions of the Metropolitan Police took over and senior naval officers became magistrates.