Appendix II — Synopsis of Lord Fisher’s Career
Born January 25, 1841, at Rambodde, Ceylon
Son of Captain William Fisher, 78th Highlanders, A.D.C. to the Governor of Ceylon, and Sophia, daughter of A. Lambe, of New Bond Street, and granddaughter of Alderman Boydell. His godmother was Lady Wilmot Horton, wife of the Governor of Ceylon; and his godfather Sir Robert Arbuthnot, Commanding the Forces in Ceylon.
Entered the Royal Navy, June 13, 1854
Received a nomination for the Navy from Admiral Sir William Parker, the last of Nelson’s Captains. Joined his first ship, the “Victory,” at Portsmouth, on July 12, 1854. The “Victory” was also the last ship to fly his flag as an Admiral, October 20, 1904.
Served in Russian War, in Baltic (Medal) in “Calcutta” 84 guns.
Served in the China War, 1856–60, including the capture of Canton and Peiho Forts. (China Medal, Canton and Taku Clasps.) Given command of a small vessel by Admiral Sir James Hope, Commander-in-Chief, the “Coromandel,” of which he was acting Captain at the age of 19.
Also served in “Highflyer,” Captain Shadwell; “Chesapeake,” Captain Hilles; and “Furious,” Captain Oliver Jones. Returned home in 1861 from the China Station.
Lieutenant, November 4, 1860
In passing for Lieutenant, he won the Beaufort Testimonial; and was advanced to Mate on January 25, 1860, and confirmed as Lieutenant within eleven months.
March 28, 1863
Appointed to H.M.S. “Warrior,” Captain the Hon. A. A. Cochrane, the first seagoing ironclad, for gunnery duties. Served in her for three and a half years.
November 3, 1866
Appointed to the Staff of H.M.S. “Excellent,” gunnery schoolship, Portsmouth, Captain Arthur W. A. Hood.
August 2, 1869
Promoted to Commander, and appointed to the China flagship.
September 19, 1872
On returning from China in H.M.S. “Ocean,” was appointed to “Excellent” for Torpedo Service. Started the “Vernon” as a Torpedo Schoolship. Visited Fiume to arrange for the purchase of the Whitehead Torpedo.
October 30, 1874
Promoted to Captain, and re-appointed to “Excellent” for torpedo service and instructional duties, remaining until 1876.
November 16, 1876
Appointed for special service in “Hercules,” flagship of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir James Drummond, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean.
March 15, 1877
Appointed Flag-Captain to Admiral Sir A. Cooper-Key, Commander-in-Chief, North American Station, in the “Bellerophon.”
June 7, 1878
Appointed Flag-Captain to Admiral Sir A. Cooper-Key, Commanding the Particular Service Squadron, in the “Hercules.”
January 1, 1879
Appointed in command of the “Pallas,” corvette, on Mediterranean Station, returning home in July. President of a Committee for the revision of the “Gunnery Manual of the Fleet.”
September 25, 1879
Appointed Flag-Captain to Vice-Admiral Sir Leopold M’Clintock, Commander-in-Chief, North American Station, in the “Northampton.”
January 18, 1881
Appointed to command the “Inflexible,” the largest ship in the Navy.
July 11, 1882
Took part in the bombardment of Alexandria. Afterwards landed with the Naval Brigade at Alexandria. Arranged for the first “armoured train,” and commanded it in various skirmishes with the enemy.
August 14, 1882
Awarded the C.B. for service at Alexandria; also Egyptian Medal, with Alexandria Clasp; Khedive’s Bronze Star; Order of Osmanieh, 3rd Class; etc.
November 9, 1882
Invalided home through illness contracted on active service.
April 6, 1883
Appointed in command of “Excellent,” gunnery schoolship.
1884.
Collaborated with Mr. W. T. Stead in the production of “The Truth About the Navy,” resulting in increased Navy Estimates and the opening of a new era in the provision of an adequate Fleet.
November 1, 1886
Appointed Director of Naval Ordnance, occupying this post four and a half years. Carried out the transfer of the control of naval ordnance from the War Office to the Admiralty.
August 2, 1890
Promoted to Rear-Admiral.
May 21, 1891
Appointed Admiral-Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard. Expedited the completion of the “Royal Sovereign,” first of a new type of battleships. Acted as host when the French Squadron under Admiral Gervais visited the Dockyard, 1891.
February 1, 1892
Appointed Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, and served in the administrations of Lord George Hamilton, Earl Spencer, and Mr. G. J. Goschen as First Lords; and Admirals Sir A. Hood, Sir A. H. Hoskins and Sir F. W. Richards as First Sea Lords. During this period the firm stand of the Admiralty Board brought about the resignation of Mr. Gladstone, March 3, 1894.
May 26, 1894
Appointed K.C.B.
May 8, 1896
Promoted to Vice-Admiral.
August 24, 1897
Hoisted his flag in H.M.S. “Renown” as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station.
1899.
Attended the first Hague Peace Conference as Naval Delegate.
July 1, 1899
Appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Station, with his flag in the “Renown,” remaining in this post until June 2nd, 1902. Admiral Lord Beresford, Second-in-Command, says of this period in his “Memoirs”: “While Vice-Admiral Sir John Fisher was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, he greatly improved its fighting efficiency. As a result of his representations, the stocks of coal at Malta and Gibraltar were increased, the torpedo flotillas were strengthened, and the new breakwaters at Malta were begun. Some of Sir John Fisher’s reforms are confidential; but among his achievements which became common knowledge, the following are notable: From a 12-knot Fleet with breakdowns, he made a 15-knot Fleet without breakdowns; introduced long range target practice, and instituted the Challenge Cup for heavy gun shooting; instituted various war practices for officers and men; invited, with excellent results, officers to formulate their opinions upon cruising and battle formation; drew up complete instructions for torpedo flotillas; exercised cruisers in towing destroyers and battleships in towing one another, thereby proving the utility of the device for saving coal in an emergency; and generally carried into execution Fleet exercises based, not on tradition, but on the probabilities of war.”
1900.
Received from the Sultan of Turkey the 1st Class of the Order of Osmanieh.
November 2, 1901
Promoted to Admiral.
June 5, 1902
Returned to the Admiralty as Second Sea Lord, remaining until August 31, 1903, with Lord Selborne, First Lord, and Admiral Lord Walter Kerr, First Sea Lord.
June 26, 1902
Appointed G.C.B. in the Coronation Honours List.
December 25, 1902
Launched new scheme of naval entry and education for officers, with training colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth.
May 2, 1903
Made his first public speech at the Royal Academy Banquet.
August 31, 1903
Appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, in order to supervise personally the inauguration of his new education scheme at Osborne College. Also energetically promoted the formation and development of the first British submarine flotilla.
November 7, 1903
Appointed member of Committee with Lord Esher and Colonel Sir George Clarke (Lord Sydenham) to reorganise the War Office on the lines of the Admiralty Board.
October 21, 1904
Appointed First Sea Lord in Lord Selborne’s administration, and held this office for five years and three months, the period of his greatest activity and his preparation for a war with Germany. Some of the more notable of his many reforms are dealt with in his “Memories.”
Also appointed, October 21, 1904, First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to King Edward VII.
December 6, 1904
Admiralty Memorandum on the Distribution of the Fleet, introducing nucleus crew system for ships in reserve, and withdrawing obsolete craft from foreign stations.
January, 1905
Committee appointed to inquire into the reorganisation of the dockyards.
March 6, 1905
Appointment of Rear-Admiral Percy Scott to newly-created post of Inspector of Target Practice. By this and other means, including the service of Captain J. R. Jellicoe as Director of Naval Ordnance, the marksmanship of the Navy was vastly improved.
December 4, 1905
Awarded the Order of Merit, and promoted by Special Order in Council to be an additional Admiral of the Fleet, thus giving him five more years on the active list in order to carry out his policy.
February 10, 1906
Launch of the “Dreadnought,” the first all-big-gun and turbine-driven battleship, as recommended by the Admiralty Committee on Design presided over by the First Sea Lord (Sir John Fisher).
November, 1906
Establishment of the Naval War College at Portsmouth.
January, 1907
Institution of a service of Fleet Auxiliaries—ammunition and store ships, distilling and hospital ships, fleet repair ships, fishing trawlers as, mine sweepers, etc., etc., etc., etc.,
March, 1907
Creation of a new Home Fleet, with the “Dreadnought” as flagship for service in the North Sea.
August, 1907
New scheme of advancement and pay of naval ranks and ratings introduced.
September, 1907
Establishment of a wireless telegraphy branch, and installation erected on the Admiralty building.
November 9, 1907
Speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, assuring his countrymen that they could sleep quietly in their beds, and not be disturbed by invasion bogeys.
June, 1908
Visited Reval with King Edward and Queen Alexandra on their visit to the Tsar of Russia. Awarded G.C.V.O. on the conclusion of this cruise.
June 17, 1908
Created honorary LL.D. of Cambridge University.
June, 1909
Entertained delegates to Imperial Press Conference at a review of the Fleet at Spithead, and a display of submarines, etc.
December 7, 1909
Raised to the peerage as Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, in the County of Norfolk, after the manor bequeathed to his only son by the late Mr. Josiah Vavasseur, C.B.
January 25, 1910
Retired from office of First Sea Lord, and was succeeded by Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson, but remained a member of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Recording his retirement in the First Lord’s Memorandum, dated March 4, 1910, Mr. Reginald McKenna said: “The measures which are associated with his name and have been adopted by several successive Governments will prove of far-reaching and lasting benefit to the Naval Service and the country.”
March 10, 1910
Took the oath and his seat in the House of Lords.
May 24, 1912
Visited at Naples by Mr. Churchill (the new First Lord) and Mr. Asquith (Prime Minister).
July 30, 1912
Appointed Chairman of the Royal Commission on Oil Fuel and Oil Engines for the Navy.
September 7, 1914
Appointed Honorary Colonel of the First Naval Brigade, Royal Naval Division.
October 30, 1914
Recalled to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord.
December 8, 1914
Victory of Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee over Admiral Count von Spee, due to the prompt dispatch from England of two battle-cruisers immediately on receipt of the news of the Coronel disaster. This was the most decisive battle of the war, the German force being practically annihilated.
January 24, 1915
Action of Sir David Beatty off the Dogger Bank, and sinking of the “Blücher” another striking success of the battle-cruiser design.
May 15, 1915
Resignation as First Sea Lord over the Dardanelles question.
July 5, 1915
Appointed Chairman of the Board of Invention and Research.
November 16, 1915
First speech in House of Lords, in reference to Mr. Churchill’s speech on the previous day, following the latter’s resignation from Cabinet.
March 21, 1917
Second speech in House of Lords, declaring his refusal to discuss Dardanelles report during the war.
Awarded the Grand Cordon, with Paulownia, of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun.
May 5, 1919
Speech at the luncheon to Mr. Josephus Daniels, U.S. Naval Secretary.
October 21 (Trafalgar Day), 1919
Publication of “Memories.”
December 8 (Falkland Islands Day), 1919
Publication of “Records.”
Footnotes
1 Was that our Sea Policy during the War? Did we not keep our Fleet in cotton wool?
2 These mottoes were painted up in my first ship, and I have had them in every ship I have commanded since.
3 One Sample out of Many.—“Lord Tweedmouth and Mr. Robertson, having tasted blood in their reduction of this year’s Estimates, are about to strike a blow at the vital efficiency of the Navy. But what are we to think of the naval officers on the Admiralty Board, men who cannot plead the blindness and ignorance of their civilian colleagues? No one knows better than Sir John Fisher the real nature and the inevitable consequences of those acts to which he is a consenting party. And we are not speaking at random when we assert that more than any one man, the responsibility and the guilt for those reductions lies at his door.” (The Globe, 21 Sept. 1906.)
4 This was written in October, 1906.
5 Not reprinted.
6 There are two alternative schemes which may possibly be preferred to this.
7 The “Pegasus” was massacred at Zanzibar by the Germans!—F. 1919.
8 For these predictions, see Letter to Lord Esher of (?) Jan., 1904 “Memories,” p. 173.
9 See below, p. 181.
10 Only this morning (November 5th, 1919), I have arranged to deal with the drawings of a proposed Submersible Battleship carrying many Big Guns, and clearly a practicable production.
11 Note.—For steam raising 3 tons of oil are only equivalent to 4 tons of coal.
12 The War stopped this.—F. 1919.
13 This was said in 1910, and Mr. Asquith did leave office as here predicted, in November, 1916, six years afterwards! And Sir John Jellicoe took command of the Grand Fleet forty-eight hours before war was declared, and the war with Germany did break out as predicted in 1914!
14 These are the five Battle Cruisers built on my return to the Admiralty in 1914–1915.
15 This 18-in. gun was ordered by me without any of the usual preliminary trials or any reference to any Gunnery Experts whatever. The credit of its great success is due to Major Hadcock, Head of the Elswick Ordnance Manufacturing Department, who also designed the 20-in. gun for the fast Battleship Type which was to have been built had I remained at the Admiralty in May, 1915.
A model of this 20-in. gun Battle Cruiser of 35 knots speed, was got out before I left the Admiralty—three days more they would have started building.
16 See Chapter XV.
17 The Foreign Office would not permit an efficient blockade, and the outrageous release of vessels carrying war-helping cargoes caused intense dissatisfaction in the fleet. No vessels ever passed our chain of Cruisers without detention and examination.
18 See Chapter XI.