All this involves so immense an addition to the responsibilities of the Admiralty, apart from the one chief function of the Navy of seeking out and fighting the enemy’s fleets, that we have to hesitate; but we can’t let matters go on as at present.
Notes by Sir John Fisher on New Proposals.
Organisation for War.
“If the Trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”
(St. Paul, I Corinthians, xiv. 8.)
The object of the following remarks is to make clear what has now to be done to organise and prepare for war. What are the two great essentials?
I. The Sufficiency of Strength and the Fighting Efficiency of the Fleet.
II. Absolute Instant Readiness for War.
To get these two essentials an immense deal is involved! It is believed they can both be got with a great reduction in the Navy Estimates!
This reduction, combined with an undeniable increase in the fighting efficiency of the Navy, involves great changes and depends absolutely on one condition:—