Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original illustrations.
See 41109-h.htm or 41109-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/41109/pg41109-images.html)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41109/41109-h.zip)
Images of the original pages are available through the
Internet Archive. See
http://archive.org/details/admiraljellicoe00appl
ADMIRAL JELLICOE
by
ARTHUR APPLIN
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| ADMIRAL JELLICOE |
| |
| |
| _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ |
| |
| |
| Lord Roberts: |
| |
| THE STORY OF HIS LIFE |
| |
| By ROY VICKERS |
| |
| "A thrilling tale of the adventures of the Great |
| Field-Marshal.... Well written and makes a suitable gift |
| book." |
| --DAILY CALL. |
| |
| |
| Also at 1/6 net |
| |
| Lord Kitchener: |
| |
| THE STORY OF HIS LIFE |
| |
| By HORACE G. GROSER |
| |
| "An excellent life ... giving just the information the |
| general reader requires, and its perusal enables |
| everyone to understand the great part Lord Kitchener |
| has played in recent history." |
| --THE FIELD. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
[Illustration: SIR JOHN JELLICOE AS CAPTAIN]
ADMIRAL JELLICOE
by
ARTHUR APPLIN
London
C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.
Henrietta Street, W.C.
1915
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. THE BOY AND THE MAN
II. EARLY DAYS ON THE "BRITANNIA"
III. CADET--MIDSHIPMAN--LIEUTENANT
IV. THE SINKING OF THE "VICTORIA"
V. THE BOXER RISING IN CHINA
VI. THE SPIRIT OF DRAKE
VII. AS ORGANISER
VIII. VICE-ADMIRAL
IX. 1911-1913
X. SUPREME ADMIRAL OF THE HOME FLEETS
FOREWORD
In trying to chronicle the events in Admiral Sir John Jellicoe's life
one is faced with many difficulties, the greatest of which is that
hitherto his most important battles have been fought on land, behind
closed doors and, as far as the public is concerned, in the dark.
Although Sir John Jellicoe has seen active service in Egypt and in
China, has sailed his ships on many seas and gone down into the Valley
of the Shadow on no fewer than three occasions, he has nevertheless
managed to give valuable years to the Admiralty on shore; and it was
during the periods when he became successively Assistant Director of
Naval Ordnance, Naval Assistant to the Controller of Navy, Director of
Naval Ordnance and Controller of the Navy that his most valuable work
was done.
Another important position behind the scenes which he filled was that
of Superintendent of the building of ships of war in private as well
as in Royal Dockyards.
The object of this little book is better to acquaint the general
public with the man who stands with his hand at the helm of the Ship
of England's destiny, the ship in which we must all sink or swim.
Never since the days of Nelson has such a responsibility been vested
in one man. Never in the history, not only of our Empire, but of the
world, has the issue of the fight for sea power and supremacy been so
vital, so tremendous.
What our ships and sailors have accomplished in the past gives us hope
for the future, and courage to wait in the silence of the long night
that now hides England and her defenders from one another.
But above all we are confident, because we have faith in the man who
was sent us with the hour; the man on whom the cloak of the Emir of
the Sea--"Emir-al-Bahr"--has fallen.
That this brief sketch of the Sea Lord and his career is altogether
unworthy of him I am quite aware. My apology for offering it to the
public must be that it is the first attempt to give any coherent
account of his life that has been made. A life, as I have already
pointed out, which has been lived behind the scenes, devoted to duty,
careless of opinion, fearful of applause.
For the details of his career and a brief outline of the work he has
done I am indebted to his wife, Lady Jellicoe, who most kindly placed
at my disposal the few chronicles she possessed of his services, and
gave me all the help she could in my task even to the extent of
reading the MSS. of the volume before it was set up in type.
A. A.
ADMIRAL JELLICOE
CHAPTER I
THE BOY--AND THE MAN
If Admiral Sir John Jellicoe had been born in 1858 instead of a year
later, he would have first opened his eyes on this now sorely troubled
world on the Centenary of Nelson's natal day.
But the gods timed his arrival exactly one hundred and one years
later, and it was on the cold and blustering dawn of December the 5th,
1859, that Captain John H. Jellicoe was informed of the happy event.
How happy for the Empire, as well as for himself and his wife, the
gallant Captain little dreamed at the time.
Southampton was Jellicoe's birthplace, and he came of the race that
the sea breeds. His father, who only died in the autumn of 1914 at the
age of ninety, was Commodore of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
until he retired from active service at the age of seventy
years--still a young man. He then became a director of the Company and
took an active part in its affairs almost until the day of his death.
Though as British as the seas which christened the Admiral of the
Fleet and the Guardian of our Empire, Sir John Jellicoe's name is
derived from the French, and it is probable that the family originally
was of French extraction:--"Admiral Sir John Jellicoe serait, parâite
il d'origine française, et descendrait d'une famille protestante
emigrée à la Révocation de l'édit de Nantes, et son Nom indiquerait son
origine. Jellicoe serait une sorte de contraction de Angélycois, nom
des habitants de St. Jean d'Angely."
Gentilcorps--anglicized Noblebody--would be the modern French
equivalent. There is an English surname somewhat similar,
"Handsomebody," a name that was found on the Honours List some five or
six years ago. Jellicorse is another form of Sir John's name, and it
is doubtless from this that one of the nicknames has been derived
which is popular among the men of the Fleet--Jellymould.
Admiral Patton, Second Sea Lord at the time of the Battle of
Trafalgar, was Jellicoe's great grandfather; it is something of a
coincidence that at the outbreak of the present World-War Admiral
Jellicoe was also Second Sea Lord. Jellicoe's youngest daughter is
called Prudence Patton, and Prudence Patton served King Charles II.
faithfully in the troubles and wars that filled that unfortunate
monarch's reign.
Like all popular men in the Service--with the sole exception of
Admiral May, who, though loved and respected by everyone, has, like
the Springtime, been always "May"--Sir John can boast a multitude of
nicknames.
"Jacky-Oh!" "Hell Fire Jack!" (owing to the revolution he made in
Naval gunnery), "All-Jelly" (reminiscent of Epsom Race Course on Derby
Day, but again due probably to the deadly effect of his ship's
gunnery), "The Little Admiral" (this in polite society), "Silent Jack"
and "Dreadnought Jack."
Jellicoe, as everyone connected with the Navy knows, was a
Dreadnought man, and one of Lord Fisher's most enthusiastic pupils.
The nickname most in favour in the "forecastle" for Sir John is Hell
Fire Jack, yet there is nothing of the fire-eating commander or the
bold buccaneer in Admiral Jellicoe's personal appearance. He was
always a little boy--his mother and father's "little boy," without a
doubt--and, physically, he is a little man. Nelson might have been
able to give him half an inch in height. And it is worth remembering
that the majority of great leaders of men have been small of stature,
from Julius Cæsar to Napoleon, Domville, Sir John French or the late
great little Lord Roberts.
Marat was insignificant to look at, and the Kaiser, in his socks,
hardly suggests the leader of the Race of Nietzsche's Great Blonde
Beasts.
Not only does Jellicoe lack inches, but Nature built him on the lean,
light pattern, yet hard as well-tempered steel. He possesses a vast
amount of vitality and reserve force.
Time has given his bright, piercing eyes shrewdness and kindliness;
they are the eyes of a man who, while he is willing to give all,
demands all--or nothing--from those who serve. His nose is long and
adventurous rather than Napoleonic.
Quiet as a boy, he has less to say as a man when he is at work. But
among his intimate friends he has the reputation of a brilliant
conversationalist and a wit, and when Jellicoe speaks those about him
listen. At sea he has not the usual flow of highly-coloured language
generally associated with those who go down to the sea in ships. A
small vocabulary has always sufficed him. His mouth is remarkable; the
thin, lightly-compressed lips suggest determination and severity; but
they turn up at the corners in a curious way, and one feels
instinctively that the disciplinarian has a delicious sense of humour.
Sir John has an elder brother, who is in the Church; beyond a general
family likeness there seems little resemblance between the two men. It
is enough that the life of each has been given to the services of his
God and his Country.
Jellicoe's sister, on the other hand, bears a quite remarkable
likeness to the "Little Admiral." The same keen, flashing eyes,
adventurous nose and firm mouth--a trifle more tender of course, but
with the same delightful suggestion of fun lurking at the corners.
One day, not so very long ago, Miss Jellicoe and a friend had stopped
at a street corner to watch a pavement artist at work. He had just
completed a picture of the Kaiser, a not too flattering one, and he
was busy on the outlines of another picture.
As the portrait progressed beneath his chalky fingers the man
occasionally sat upright and surveyed his work and gave a sly chuckle.
A minute or two later the "Little Admiral's" sister--who is as modest
and retiring as her brother--started and gave a cry of embarrassment.
A small boy, also watching the work of the pavement artist, had nudged
her:
"He's a drawing of yer picture, Miss!"
And so apparently he was. There, in bold chalky outlines, were the
adventurous nose, the bright eyes, the humorous mouth.
Miss Jellicoe tried to escape through the gathering crowd.
"'er portrait," shouted the artist in disgusted tones. "Not likely!
Carn't you recognize Hell Fire Jack, you idjit--him as is going ter
give the Road 'Og here a early mornin' dip in the North Sea!"
If he had glanced at Miss Jellicoe he might have received a shock--and
been able to congratulate himself on the cleverness of his portrait.
But she fled.
In Sir John Jellicoe one realizes a man, something infinitely greater
than the human machine beloved of the Prussian Military Caste. A man,
human and humane; devoid of fear, with an unbreakable will. Those
gentle eyes can flame and the quiet voice thrill when a command is
issued, though he seldom raises it above the ordinary conversational
tone.
Probably no one really knows Admiral Jellicoe but his men. And the
Navy likes to keep her heroes to herself. She does not talk about
them: they are one of her secrets. She kept Nelson to herself, and no
one talked about him--beyond the quarter deck or outside the
forecastle--until after his death. Then the sea gave up her secret and
entrusted the memory of one of England's greatest heroes to her
keeping.
And to-day the sea has given us Jellicoe. Just in time--lest we
forget.