John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher

JOHN ARBUTHNOT FISHER, 1st Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, was born January 25, 1841, at Rambodde, in Ceylon, where his father, Captain William Fisher, of the 78th Highlanders, on retiring from the army, had taken up the life of a coffee planter. He entered the navy on June 12, 1854, on board the Victory at Portsmouth, being the last midshipman to be received into the Service by Admiral Sir William Parker, the last of Nelson’s sea captains. He was nominated for this distinction by a niece of Nelson. He saw active service in the Calcutta with the Baltic Fleet during the Crimean war and later in China.

Promoted Captain in 1874, he commanded the Inflexible at the bombardment of Alexandria, 1882. He landed there with the naval brigade, and was the adaptor of the armoured train, which he commanded in several engagements, receiving the C.B. for his services. In February, 1892, he was appointed to the board of Admiralty as controller of the navy, a post which he held until August, 1897, when he took command of the squadron on the North America station. Fisher returned to Europe in 1899 to represent British naval interests at the Hague peace conference. From July, 1899, until May, 1902, he was commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, and on his return was appointed second sea lord of the Admiralty.

He was largely responsible for the scheme of entry and training for naval officers which abolished the Britannia, substituting the colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth, and trained executive officers, engineers, and marines together up to the rank of lieutenants, after which they specialised into the various branches. From August, 1903, to October, 1904, he was commander-in-chief at Portsrnouth, and served as a member of Lord Esher’s committee on national defence. He was appointed first sea lord on October 21, 1904, and held that office until his resignation in 1910.

Remarkable changes in naval organization and material were carried out in this period, due mainly to the rapid rise in strength of the German navy and to the development of naval ordnance and the science of gunnery. The British fleets on foreign stations were drastically reduced, and in 1907 a Home Fleet was formed which, two years later, absorbed all of the commissioned naval forces in home waters.

Lord Fisher, who was knighted in 1894 and created a baron in 1909, was the creator of the Dreadnought and battle cruiser type, and the introducer of oil fuel and submarines into the British navy. His work in improving the shooting of the navy was of the utmost importance. He was specially promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, and was appointed in 1912 chairman of a royal commission on oil fuel in relation to the navy. He was recalled to be first sea lord on the resignation of the marquess of Milford Haven, October 29, 1914. He took steps to lay down 612 new ships of various types, many of which were designed for special work in the Baltic. He also ordered a large number of aircraft, including the small airships dften known as blimps, which proved of great value for reconnaissance in the early stages of the war at sea. He advocated the introduction of much heavier guns. Fisher strongly opposed the Dardanelles expedition, and was with difficulty prevented from resigning when it ordered, early in 1915, by the Cabinet. He finally resigned on May 15, 1915, on the ground that ships required by the Grand Fleet in the North Sea were being imperilled at the Dardanelles.

In the general conduct of the war he was successful; the decisive result of the battle of the Falkland Islands, December 8, 1914, was entirely due to his action in sending two battle cruisers secretly from the North Sea to the coast of South America. In July, 1915, he was appointed president of the board of invention and research. He died July 10, 1920, retaining to the last his vigour of mind and speech. His letters to "The Times" in 1919-20 were memorable for the refrain "sack the lot," and he always spoke of himself as "ruthless and relentless."