John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, , commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a British Admiral of the Fleet known for his efforts at naval reform. He had a huge influence on the Royal Navy in a career spanning more than 60 years, starting in a navy of wooden sailing ships armed with muzzle-loading cannon and ending in one of steel-hulled battlecruisers, submarines and the first aircraft carriers. The argumentative, energetic, reform-minded Fisher is often considered the second most important figure in British naval history, after Lord Nelson.
Fisher is primarily celebrated as an innovator, strategist and developer of the navy rather than a seagoing admiral involved in major battles, although in his career he experienced all these things. When appointed First Sea Lord in 1904, he removed 150 ships then on active service which were no longer useful and set about constructing modern replacements, creating a modern fleet prepared to meet Germany during the First World War.Fisher saw the need to improve the range, accuracy and rate of fire of naval gunnery, and was an early proponent of the use of the torpedo, which he believed would supersede big guns for use against ships. As Controller, he introduced torpedo boat destroyers as a class of ship intended for defence against attack from torpedo boats or submarines. As First Sea Lord, he was responsible for the construction of HMS Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun battleship, but he also believed that submarines would become increasingly important and urged their development. He was involved with the introduction of turbine engines to replace reciprocating engines, and the introduction of oil fuelling to replace coal. He introduced daily baked bread on board ships, whereas when he entered the service it was customary to eat hard biscuits, frequently infested by biscuit beetles.He first officially retired from the Admiralty in 1910 on his 69th birthday, but became First Sea Lord again in November 1914. He resigned seven months later in frustration over Churchill's Gallipoli campaign, and then served as chairman of the Government's Board of Invention and Research until the end of the war.
Wikipedia
“Hit first! Hit hard! Keep on hitting!! (The 3 H's)”
p274 https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/274/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
p. 273. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/273/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“Favouritism is the secret of efficiency”
The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 74.
“…and you may sleep quietly in your beds.”
Speech at The Royal Academy Banquet, 1903, regarding the threat of invasion.
p. 83. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n113/mode/1up
The phrase 'Sleep quiet in your beds' appears in Records, p. 85 https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n116/mode/1up and Memories, p. 202. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/202/mode/1up
The phrase 'So sleep easy in your beds' was used for the title for the sixth episode of the BBC documentary The Great War.
Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
“It is an historical fact that the British Navy stubbornly resists change.”
p. 177. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n218/mode/1up
Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
“The Frontiers of England are the Coasts of the Enemy.”
p. 92. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n123/mode/1up
Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 265.
“Can the Army win the war before the Navy loses it?”
The World Crisis, Vol 3, 1916-1918, Part I (1927), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 283.
At the 1st Hague Peace Conference, May 1899
Quoted in Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pEf98V-dbwoC&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=jacky+fisher+moderation+in+war+imbecility&source=bl&ots=UsLopgdefe&sig=FA9GN8mdf4T3qRbja8zCWvNWlzk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9quGN6abTAhWCJMAKHds2C2cQ6AEISTAH#v=onepage&q&f=false(1991), Robert K. Massie, p. 431.
This originated from the notes of the journalist W.T. Stead, quoted in full in Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 223.
Context: The humanising of war? You might as well talk about the humanizing of Hell!...... The essence of war is violence! Moderation in war is imbecility!..... I am not for war, I am for peace! That is why I am for a supreme Navy....... The supremacy of the British Navy is the best security for peace in the world...... If you rub it in both at home and abroad that you are ready for instant war..... and intend to be first in and hit your enemy in the belly and kick him when he is down and boil your prisoners in oil (if you take any), and torture his women and children, then people will keep clear of you.
“The Essence of War is Violence. Moderation in War is Imbecility.”
p. 75. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n104/mode/1up
Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
At the 1st Hague Peace Conference, May 1899
Quoted in Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pEf98V-dbwoC&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=jacky+fisher+moderation+in+war+imbecility&source=bl&ots=UsLopgdefe&sig=FA9GN8mdf4T3qRbja8zCWvNWlzk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9quGN6abTAhWCJMAKHds2C2cQ6AEISTAH#v=onepage&q&f=false(1991), Robert K. Massie, p. 431.
This originated from the notes of the journalist W.T. Stead, quoted in full in Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 223.
Context: The humanising of war? You might as well talk about the humanizing of Hell!...... The essence of war is violence! Moderation in war is imbecility!..... I am not for war, I am for peace! That is why I am for a supreme Navy....... The supremacy of the British Navy is the best security for peace in the world...... If you rub it in both at home and abroad that you are ready for instant war..... and intend to be first in and hit your enemy in the belly and kick him when he is down and boil your prisoners in oil (if you take any), and torture his women and children, then people will keep clear of you.
p. 53. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/53/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
p. 71. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n100/mode/1up
Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
Letter to Churchill, dated 16/1/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 140.
“Churchill, 9 Sept 1917]]We want brave men! ANY BLOODY FOOL CAN OBEY ORDERS!”
Letter to Admiral Beatty, dated 3 February 1915.
Fear God and Dread Nought: The Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone. Vol 3 (1959), p. 152.
“The luxuries of the present are the necessities of the future.”
Letter to Churchill, dated 16/1/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 139.
Context: The luxuries of the present are the necessities of the future. Our grandfathers never had a bath-room....
p. 38 https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/37/mode/1up.
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
Context: ... Jellicoe had all the Nelsonic attributes except one - he is totally wanting in the great gift of Insubordination. Nelson's greatest achievements were all solely due to his disobeying orders!..... Any fool can obey orders! But it required a Nelson to disobey Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, to disregard the order to retire at Copenhagen, to go into the Battle of the Nile by night with no charts against orders, and, to crown all, to enter into the Battle of Trafalgar in a battle formation contrary to all the Sea orders of the time! BLESS HIM! Alas! Jellicoe is saturated with Discipline!
Letter to Churchill, dated 9 Sept 1917.
Original held in Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, file reference FISR 1/25/40-41 https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FFISR%201%2F25
Also mentioned in Memories, p. 78. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/78/mode/1up
“Length of course depends on the stupidity of the class…”
Fisher's notes in the front cover of his own copy of A Short Treatise on Electricity and the Management of Electric Torpedoes (1868)
Fisher of Kilverstone (1973), Ruddock F. Mackay, Clarendon Press, p. 48.
p. 53. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/53/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“"Tact" is insulting a man without his knowing it.”
p. 273. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/273/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“Even a man's faults may reflect his virtues.”
p. 273. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/273/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“I went the whole hog, totus porcus.”
The World Crisis, Vol 2, 1915 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 165.
Also mentioned in Memories https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/164/mode/2up, p. 165-6.
“The best scale for an experiment is 12 inches to the foot.”
p. 276. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/276/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“As age increases, audacity leaks out and caution comes in.”
p. 90. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n121/mode/1up
Records (1919) https://archive.org/stream/cu31924027924509#page/n0/mode/1up
“Big risks bring big success!”
Letter to Churchill, dated 25/2/1912, quoted in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 107.
“Never Deny : Never Explain : Never Apologise”
p.275. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/275/mode/1up
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
“The 3 Requisites for Success - Ruthless, Relentless, Remorseless”
The 3 R's
p. 274. https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/274/mode/1up
Also The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 73.
Memories (1919) https://archive.org/stream/memoriesbyadmira00fishuoft#page/n0/mode/2up
Lord Fisher and his Biographer, Great Contempories (1947), Churchill, John Gardner (Liverpool), 3rd Ed. p. 265.
Paraphrased again in The World Crisis, Vol 1, 1911-14 (1923), Churchill, Thornton Butterworth (London), p. 73.
Letter to Lord Selborne, dated 13 January 1901, describing Buggins's turn, a system by which appointments or awards are made in rotation rather than on merit.
Fear God and Dread Nought: The Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone. Vol 1 (1953), p. 181.
