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Jackie Fisher and the Admiralty
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Battles with Beresford
Battles with Beresford
Fisher's reforms, however, were criticised by Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, who following his termination as Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, made his criticisms public.
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford 'Appointed to the command of the Mediterranean Fleet which includes the Pandora. 'c.1905.
Among Beresford’s claims was that, despite Fisher’s efforts, the British Fleet was not ready for a war with Germany and that the loss of so many ships to the fleet as part of Fisher’s cuts compromised national security.
Below is an extract from the Beresford Enquiry, 1909, undertaken by the Admiralty to investigate the claims of Lord Beresford on the state of the Royal Navy. For more extracts from the enquiry please search our database.
Copy of a letter to Asquith from Beresford submitted for consideration in the Beresford Enquiry, dated April 2 1909. (RNM)
The letter above was sent by Beresford to the Prime Minister after finishing his post as Commander in Chief of the Channel Fleet. In the letter Beresford argues that the Royal Navy is not ready to fight a naval war. He writes -
'During the whole of my tenure of the Command of the Channel Fleet proper, that force, owing to the number of vessels constantly withdrawn from it for the purposes of refit, has never, even for a day, been equal to the force which it might have to encounter in home waters. During that period the fleets in home waters have not been organized in readiness for war, and they are not organized in readiness for war now, to-day.'
Typed letter from Admiral Lord Charles Beresford to barrister Albert H. Bencke, 12 October 1910. (RNM)
Beresford also communicated his fears to a number of other individuals. In the letter above written to barrister Albert H. Bencke he writes -
'What has made me pessimistic is to see that the people never paid the slightest attention to the fact that although they were assured in January last during the late election, that the British Navy was 'unassailable both now and for the future', in March (12 weeks afterwards), over 6 millions were added to the Navy Estimates, (including the supplementary Navy Estimate for 1909-10), although nothing had occurred in the interval and indeed, there was nothing new that was not known with regard to German acceleration for five years.'
Although the Committee did not uphold Beresford's claims, Fisher was disappointed in what he felt was a lack of support from the government and resigned as First Sea Lord in 1910.
The letter below illustrates Fisher's bitter disappointment in the Committee of Imperial Defence's Enquiry on the allegations of Lord Charles Beresford against the Admiralty. He declares -
'It's a d - d cowardly business! I am very sick about it all, considering that each member of the Committee had previously said to me. Burn this letter.'
Copy of a letter to Asquith from Beresford submitted for consideration in the Beresford Enquiry, dated April 2 1909.
Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, who was sympathetic to his predecessor’s reforms, succeeded Fisher. Fisher still remained an influential character. As the Chairman for the Royal Commission on Fuel he was central in lobbying the Royal Navy to develop the first oil-fired ships. This move was realised in the Queen Elizabeth-Class dreadnoughts launched in 1913-1915.
A New Navy - why coal must go! Why oil must come! 1912. By John Fisher as Chairman of the Royal Commission on Fuel. (RNM)
He returned as First Sea Lord for a brief spell during World War One but resigned again after disagreements with First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
