A GREAT SAILOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1921, Page 5

A GREAT SAILOR.

LORD JELLICOE’S CAREER. THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND. Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa, to whom North Taranaki will extend a cordial welcome during the next few days, is probably the greatest naval officer of the age. He is now in his 60th year; and. all but thirteen years of his life has been spent in the service of his country. He entered the British Navy in 1872. On August 4, 1914, the day that Great Britain declared war on Germany, he was chosen to take command of the British Grand Fleet, of which he was in supreme command at the battle of Jutland. The responsibility thus thrust upon him was enormous. The fleet under his control represented the concentration of at least 90 per cent, of the naval defensive power of the British Empire. In his main column at the battle of Jutland Lord Jellicoe had 24 modem battleships, whose aggregate striking force was greater than that of 10,000,000 infantry soldiers. He had, besides these vessels, nine (bat-tle-cruisers, under the immediate command of Sir David Beatty, a squadron of light cruisers, 70 destroyers, and a number of submarines. No other person at any time in the world’s history has commanded a force comparable in power to that over which Lord Jellicoe had control. And for two years he remained at the helm, until, in December, 1916, he became First Sea Lord. STRATEGY AT JUTLAND. Since hostilities ceased there has been much discussion as to the wisdom of Lord Jellicoe’s strategy while in command of the British Grand Fleet. He has been charged with missing the chance of a great and decisive naval victory when the British and German High Sea Fleets came into contact. Admiral Beatty had engaged the enemy warships with his battle-cruisers, but in the face of a threatened torpedo attack Lord Jellicoe diverted the Grand Fleet several points away from the enemy. Critics of the Admiral’s action claim that he should have got into grips with the 'Germans, and risked the Joss of several ships, if a great victory could have been achieved in consequence. On the other hand, Lord Jellicoe has set out in his own book dealing with the work of the Grand Fleet from 1914 to 1916 the reasons which actuated him in bis handling of the Fleet at Jutland. To many people his book has proved a sufficient answer to all criticism. A decisive defeat of the German at Jutland, it is admitted, would most likely have brought the war to a much speedier conclusion, but, on the other hand, had the British Fleet been destroyed', or even injured so greatly as to be reduced below the German Fleet in power, the plight of the Empire and of the Allies would have been well nigh hopeless. The German Fleet took to its heels at Jutland, and Lord Jellicoe forebore from the risk of leading the British Fleet, upon whose safety so much depended, into the danger of a night engagement, where luck as much as skill would play a part in the result. There are critics who have blamed Lord Jellicoe for his prudence; others equally capable of expressing an opinion have voiced the view that the course he took was the only one possible in the best interests of the Empire.

Towards the end of 1916 Lord Jellicoe relinquished command of the Grand Fleet and became First Sea Lord. He held office at the Admiralty until December, 1917, when his appointment was terminated in circumstances that gave rise to considerable comment at the time. There were many who thought, and who did not hesitate to state, that Sir John Jellicoe, as he was then, had been the victim of political intriguing. When he was made a peer as a reward for his distinguished service, it was unanimously agreed that never had such an honor been more richly deserved.

A MAGNIFICENT RECORD. To few men is the opportunity given to carve out a career of such magnitude and brilliance as that standing to the credit of Lord Jellicoe. He owes his position not to influence, but to sheer dogged perseverance and natural ability. His life has been full of incident. As a young officer he specialised in gunnery, and when he baceme a lieutenant in 1880 he possessed three first-class certificates. Three years later he received a prize of £BO for gunnery at the Royal Naval College. In 1882, while serving as a lieutenant on board H.M.S. Agincourt, he took part in the fighting in the Egyptian War, and was awarded the Khedive’s bronze medal for his services. In 1886 he was awarded the Board of Trade silver medal for having commanded a gig, manned by volunteers, which set out to rescue the crew of a steamer stranded on a sand bank near Gibraltar. A heavy sea was running, and the boat capsized, but the crew, being provided with cork jackets, managed to reach the shore in safety. Lord Jellicoe was assistant to the Director of Naval Ordnance from 1888 to 1891. On June 30, 1891, he became a commander, and was serving in H.M.S. Victoria when she, foundered off Tripoli, after a collision with H.M.S, Camperdown, on June 27, 1893. Admiral C. G. Tryon, who was in command of the Mediterranean Squadron at the time, went down with the Victoria when she sank, and 21 officers and 350 seamen also lost their lives. During the Boxer outbreak Lord Jellicoe, who was then a flag captain in H.M.S. Centurion, took part iu Admiral Sir E. H. Seymour’s international expedition to relieve the Pekin legations. In this expedition he acted as chief staff officer, was wounded, and afterwards received the C.B. for his services. He was naval assistant to the Controller of the Navy from 1902, to August, 1903; captain of H.M.S. Drake from August, 1903, to January, 1905; and Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes from 1905 to August, 1907. In the previous March he had been made aide-de-camp to the King, a post which he held until February 8, 1907, when lie became an admiral. In 1908 he was appointed Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy, and in 1910 he was given command of the Atlantic Fleet. The following year he commanded the second division of the Home Fleet, and in 1912 he was appointed Second Sea Lord. In recognition of his services during the war he received the G.C.B. on February 8, 1915, and on May 31, 1916, he was awarded the Order of Merit. x Last April, Lord Jellicoe was promoted to be Admiral of the Fleet, as from April 3. Sir David Beatty was similarly promoted, and in each case the appointment was “in addition to the ordinary numbers of Admirals of the 'Fleet.”’ This rank is, of course, the highest in the Navy,