SUPREME ADMIRAL OF THE HOME FLEETS
Nineteen hundred and thirteen was a very busy year for Sir John
Jellicoe. On May 16th he left England for Germany to attend the
wedding festivities of the Emperor's only daughter, Princess Victoria
Louise, who was to be married to Prince Ernest of Cumberland.
Sir John and Lady Jellicoe were, curiously enough, the first English
guests to reach Berlin. The King and Queen of England left Sheerness
on the 20th on board the Royal Yacht _Victoria and Albert_, the
Duchess of Devonshire accompanying Her Majesty and Sir Frederick
Ponsonby and Sir Colin Keppel being Equerries in Waiting to the King.
Berlin was _en f'te_ for over a week, and among those present at
Princess Victoria's wedding, besides our own Royal Family, were the
Czar of Russia, the Grand Duchess of Baden, the Duke and Duchess of
Cumberland, the Grand Duke of Hesse and ambassadors from nearly every
country in the world.
Festivities commenced with a gala dinner given the day the Czar of
Russia arrived in Berlin. The following morning there was a luncheon
at the British Embassy in honour of King George and Queen Mary, at
which the Imperial Chancellor, the Ambassador in Berlin and Sir John
and Lady Jellicoe were among the principal guests. That same evening
there was a gala performance at the Opera. "Lohengrin" was performed
at the special request of Princess Victoria.
The Opera House presented a wonderful appearance; from foyer to
ceiling it was decorated with red and white carnations, the outsides
of all the loges being turned into great banks of these flowers. Sir
John and Lady Jellicoe occupied one of the loges near the stage, where
the ambassadors, ministers and distinguished officers were seated. The
royal party not only filled the vast court box but overflowed into the
boxes at the back of the dress circle. There was, of course, a
brilliant display of uniforms and decorations, and against the
background of red and white carnations the colour scheme was
extraordinarily effective.
Earlier in the day King George and Queen Mary entertained the English
Colony in Berlin, and the King made a short speech which is worth
quoting:
"We are exceedingly happy to be the guests of the Sovereign of
this great nation in order to celebrate the marriage of two
young people which we pray may be fraught with every blessing.
Fostering and maintaining friendly relations between yourselves
and the people of this your adopted home you will help to
insure the peace of the world, the preservation of which is my
ardent desire as it was the principal aim of my dear father's
life."
Sir John Jellicoe spent some little time in Berlin, where he made
himself exceedingly popular, being entertained by all the great
officers of State, the Army and Navy, including Admiral Von
Tirpitz--fated just a year later to be his great rival. But the
meeting between these two great men must have been interesting as we
may rest assured it was friendly.
Jellicoe had the honour of dining with the Emperor at Potsdam, and on
May 20th he cruised for two hours in the Zeppelin airship _Hansa_
accompanied by Captain Watson, the British Naval Attaché in Berlin.
Jellicoe returned to England in time to prepare for the naval
manoeuvres which commenced early in July. No manoeuvres which the
British Fleet has undertaken attracted so much attention or were
fraught with such vital issues as those of 1913. At the same time
there has never been so much mystery attached to the movements of the
ships or to the result of the mimic warfare which took place.
There were six squadrons of battleships involved, two of them, the
Fourth and Sixth squadrons, being much below strength. There were ten
squadrons of cruisers and torpedo destroyers and submarine flotillas.
There were also mine layers and mine sweepers, and three aeroplanes
actively employed.
Tests of fuel and its conveyance to any point necessary and its quick
transference to ships in action were carried out.
By far the most important part of the manoeuvres was an attempt to
invade these shores and land a large force of men on them. For this
purpose the Fleet was divided into two parts. The Red or hostile Fleet
being under the command of Jellicoe and the Blue or defending Fleet
under Callaghan.
The Red Fleet had not only to contend against a superior force, but
supposing her ships were able to defeat or avoid the defenders, she
still had the battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines waiting
for her at Sheerness, Harwich, Rosyth, Dundee and Cromarty. And
supposing she escaped the attentions of all these forces, the East
Coast from the North to the South was guarded by forces of Infantry
and mounted troops with their machine gun sections. Large forces
drawn from the Territorials were also said to be held in reserve
further inland.
Criticising these manoeuvres before they took place, which is
obviously a dangerous thing to do, the critic in the _Evening
Standard_ of July 10th made the following announcement:
"If Sir John Jellicoe, heavily handicapped, fails, as no doubt he is
meant to fail, we shall be told that this only proves how safe we are
against a raid in force or an invasion. Of course all it will prove is
that if you are allowed to arrange the terms beforehand, load the dice
in your own favour, you can win the game--especially when it is only a
game and the elements of accident, luck and human personality are
rigorously excluded. It will show that a raid might fail in certain
conditions ... and then no doubt we shall be informed by Ministers
that Britain is invulnerable against all assault; that we can all
sleep quietly in our beds under the protection of a sham Territorial
Army and a Navy proved to be of overwhelming superiority to any
possible foe. It is not a game of strategy that is being played, but a
game of politics. The German Admiralty will not be deceived, but
perhaps the British Electorate may be."
Now what really happened when the manoeuvres commenced was a very
successful raid by the enemy on the Norfolk coast in which a portion
of the Blue Fleet was defeated. Jellicoe's next move was an attack on
the Humber and the capture of Grimsby and Immingham. Nearly 3,000 men
with their guns were landed. They seized the railway, and
commandeering trains they sent troops inland. The docks and wireless
stations were seized and Cleethorpes and New Holland were also taken.
This raid on the Humber was evidently a complete surprise to the
defenders.
While this was taking place, the Red Fleet was scoring other successes
elsewhere. A cruiser and destroyers appeared off Sunderland with two
troopships from which over a thousand men were landed at the docks.
Blyth was also captured on the Northumberland coast, and a force of
infantry with a battery of 12-prs. was landed.
Now these raids by the Red Fleet under Jellicoe were not just ordinary
manoeuvres. He struck just where he knew our enemies would try to
strike. He landed men and guns, captured railways, docks and wireless
stations; held the position which he captured and, when discovered by
the defending fleet, he either eluded or kept their ships at bay.
Perhaps the landing at Blyth was the most important, and the transport
_Rohilla_ was congratulated for the excellent work she did.
Whatever those manoeuvres proved they undoubtedly proved that men
are greater than warships--and that Jellicoe is a very great man. It
was practically admitted that the defence had failed and had failed
through the brilliant strategy of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.
The full history of the naval manoeuvres of 1913 was never written.
The Press of course indulged in a wordy warfare, and the battles of
the Red and Blue were--on paper--fought over and over again.
The men who knew most said nothing, and Jellicoe, a silent man, having
done his job, slipped out of the limelight, which he hates so keenly,
as quickly as possible.
But very probably his successful raid on the Humber was responsible
for the crisis which occurred in the Cabinet when the Naval Estimates
came up for discussion early in the New Year. Mr. Winston Churchill,
who had been accused of not spending enough money on the Navy, was now
accused of wanting to spend too much. As a matter of fact Mr.
Churchill did not on behalf of the Admiralty put forward any new
proposals, but simply wished to carry out the policy which had already
been adopted by the Cabinet. The Admiralty had long ago decided that
it was necessary to have 60 per cent. superiority in Dreadnoughts over
the next greatest naval power to ours in place of the former two-power
standard.
It was as early as February, 1914, that the name of Vice-Admiral Sir
John Jellicoe was mentioned as being the probable successor to Sir
George Callaghan as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleets. It was on
March 17th that Mr. Winston Churchill fought his battle in the Cabinet
on the Navy Estimates. The Board of Admiralty was with him, and he
received authority to ask Parliament to devote over £15,000,000 to new
naval construction--the largest sum that has ever been devoted to that
purpose.
In July the test mobilization of our Fleets was carried out, the ships
passing His Majesty the King off the Nab lightship, seaplanes and
aeroplanes hovering high above them in the air, while submarines
slipped beneath the waters underneath. After the Review was over our
ships steamed up the Channel in order to carry out certain peace
exercises in manoeuvres, while a patrol flotilla was actively
employed in testing a scheme for sealing the exit which the Channel
makes to the North Sea. Less than a fortnight later the incredible
thing happened.
Rumours of war, sudden, by the majority unexpected.
Then war.
It could not have happened at a more auspicious moment as far as the
British Navy was concerned. Sir John Jellicoe was appointed supreme
Admiral of the Home Fleets. Two destroyers building for Chile were
compulsorily purchased by the Admiralty as well as two battleships
just completed for Turkey.
Drake's drums had rattled.
England in her hour of need had found two great leaders--Jellicoe and
French at the head of her Navy and Army. And behind them two brilliant
Statesmen--Asquith and Churchill at the head of her people.
What these four men have already done is history. What remains to be
done, and what they will do unflinchingly, no matter the cost, will,
we all know, make history.
But it is only natural that we, the sons and daughters of the greatest
Empire the world has ever seen, who are left in our little sea-girt
isle, and strain our eyes through the mist and foam to those seas
beyond the North toward one man in whose keeping more than that of any
other man lies the destiny of our race; the fate perhaps not only of
our great Empire but of the world.
Never before has silence spoken so eloquently as it spoke from the
North Sea when Jellicoe led our ships into her mists and storms.
"Not unto us,"
Cried Drake, "not unto us--but unto Him
Who made the sea, belongs our England now!
Pray God that heart and mind and soul we prove
Worthy among the nations of this hour."
--_Alfred Noyes._
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That we shall prove worthy among the nations it is almost impossible
to doubt. With such leaders how could a people fail?
With an Empire on which the sun never sets, and which has given men,
gold and even food to the Mother Country with a lavish hand, will not
her rich merchants as well as her poorer sons of the Mother Country
make as great sacrifices and show as much heroism as the sons of
France, of Russia and Belgium?
We cannot doubt it. Though, after three months of the bloodiest
warfare the world has ever seen, several million young Englishmen were
still listening unmoved to the Drums of Drake--to the call of England,
their England, for men to defend her in her hour of danger yet we know
that, though slow to understand and hard to move, Englishmen, once
they have understood and once they have been moved, will be true to
themselves, their inheritance and their beloved little island. With
Henley they will cry with one voice and one soul:
"England, My England--
Take and break us: we are yours,
England my own!
Life is good, and joy runs high
Between English earth and sky:
Death is death; but we shall die
To the song on your bugles blown."
And they will follow their devoted leaders into battle--French on the
land and Jellicoe on the wild North seas.
And those who are left at home to carry on "business as usual," will
not they make some sacrifices too?
_Miller, Son, & Compy., Ltd., Printers, Fakenham and London._
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Transcriber's note:
Archaic and inconsistent spelling and punctuation were retained.