The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916

by John Rushworth Jellicoe

BATTLESHIPS

(B., British; G., German)

Date	Dreadnoughts	Pre-Dreadnoughts	Battle cruisers	Light cruisers	Destroyers	Airships	Cruisers
August 4th, 1914
B	20	8	4	12	42		9
G	13	16	3	15	88	1	2
October 1st, 1914
B	20	12	6	12	42		10
G	15	16	3	14	88	3	2
January 1st, 1915
B	21[B]	8	6	17	44		14
G	16	16	4	12	88	6	1
April 1st, 1915
B	23	8	9	18	54		17
G	17	16	4	14	88	6
October 1st, 1915
B	25	10	10	25	66		15
G	17	16	4	15	88	12

[B] 21 completed, but two of these (Monarch and Conqueror) were seriously damaged and one other battleship was refitting.

The above list gives the vessels nominally available.

In comparisons of the strength at Germany’s selected and our average moment, the following facts should be remembered, and were necessarily taken into account by me at the time:

(a) We usually had at least two battleships, one or two light cruisers, six destroyers, one or two cruisers, and perhaps one battle cruiser under refit, in addition to any other vessels that might be temporarily disabled.

(b) Germany would see to it that none of her ships was refitting when planning an operation, and she could reinforce her Fleet by several light cruisers and two or more flotillas of destroyers from the Baltic.

(c) The pre-Dreadnoughts were not a very important factor on either side owing to inferiority of speed, and, in the case of our ships, the comparatively short range of their guns, due to the small amount of elevation of which their mountings admitted.

(d) The German Zeppelins, as their numbers increased, were of great assistance to the enemy for scouting, each one being, in favourable weather, equal to at least two light cruisers for such a purpose.

(e) Account is not taken in the British figures of the Harwich force, as this force could not be counted upon to effect concentration with the remainder of the Grand Fleet at the German selected moment.

(f) The British cruisers, not being very modern, lacked the speed necessary for efficiency as scouts. They were very slightly faster than the battleships of the “Dreadnought” type, and, owing to their lack of speed, they were awkwardly placed if they came within range of an enemy Battle Squadron or Battle Cruiser Squadron. On the other hand, they were very superior in fighting qualities to the German light cruisers.

It will be seen from the above statements that the enemy had by far his best opportunity from the naval point of view in the early months of the War, as he was then much nearer equality of strength with the Grand Fleet than at any later period. A carefully laid trap, which included minefields and submarines, with the High Sea Fleet as a bait, might have been very effective at any period of the War in inflicting considerable losses on us. The Germans had their best opportunities between November, 1914, and February, 1915. After April, 1915, the situation got steadily worse for the enemy.

The lesson of vital importance to be drawn from this review of relative naval strength, is that if this country in the future decides to rely for safety against raids or invasion on the Fleet alone, it is essential that we should possess a considerably greater margin of superiority over a possible enemy in all classes of vessels than we did in August, 1914.

CHAPTER III
THE GRAND FLEET AND ITS BASES

The Grand Fleet may be said to have come into being only at the outbreak of the War, when it was so christened. As with the name, so with the organisation.

The great majority of the really effective ships in the Grand Fleet were the outcome of the policy initiated by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone when he took up the appointment of First Sea Lord in 1904 in the Administration of the Earl of Selborne. One of Lord Fisher’s first acts—and he carried through a number of other changes which reacted favourably on the efficiency of the Fleet for war—was the introduction of the “all-big-gun” type of battleship, of which the Dreadnought, laid down at Portsmouth on October 2nd, 1905, was the earliest example. She was closely followed by the three “all-big-gun” battle-cruisers of the “Invincible” class, which were of the same programme—1905–6. Much criticism was levelled at the Dreadnought, but even more at the principle embodied in the battle-cruisers—ships with the speed of cruisers, but the same calibre armament as battleships. The War has fully justified Lord Fisher’s conception.

Our superiority in capital ships at the outbreak of war was due to the efforts of the Boards presided over by Lord Selborne and his successors from 1904 onwards, and Lord Fisher held the post of First Sea Lord for five and a half years of that period. At the beginning of 1909, during Mr. McKenna’s tenure of office as First Lord, great efforts were necessary to ensure the maintenance of a sufficient standard of superiority in capital ships over Germany, and to make good our deficiencies in destroyers. The nation has good reason for the most profound gratitude to Mr. McKenna for the very strong attitude he assumed at this highly critical period. Reference to the table on [page 31] will show the position that would have arisen if the four additional “Dreadnoughts” had not been included in the 1909–10 building programme. In the later Administration, presided over by Mr. Churchill, continued efforts were necessary, and were made, and steps were also taken with a view to meeting the crying need for modern light cruisers; Lord Beresford had for some years been pointing out how essential it was to add largely to our programmes of light cruisers and destroyers.

So much for construction in pre-War days when the Germans were carrying out their Navy Acts, one following the other in rapid succession.

It is also of interest to note the part which Lord Fisher took in building up the Fleet organisation that existed in 1914. He introduced the system of manning the older ships, not in the first line, with nucleus crews composed of the principal officers and ratings. These ships were thus rendered capable of being put, in a very short time, into a condition in which they were fit to fight. This system superseded the old arrangement, by which ships not in full commission were not manned at all. Although it naturally led to a reduction in the total number of fully-manned ships, a disadvantage which was minimised by reducing squadrons abroad, it is probably accepted now that in the circumstances existing at the time the nucleus crew system is far preferable; it raised the general standard of the whole Navy in British waters, and facilitated the use of the Royal Fleet and Naval Reserves on the outbreak of war.