This letter mollified the admiral. On the 25th February, 1912, he wrote:—
‘I hasten to reply to your letter of February 19th just arrived, because if your Programme (which has my enthusiastic admiration) is not embodied in an Act of Parliament then all my objections vanish! An Act of Parliament (The Naval Defence Act) made us build 20 cruisers that had only 48 hours coal supply. Can I ever forget that! but Providence came along and made them useful as “Minelayers.” However ocean “tramps” at £10 a ton would have been cheaper and more effective. Sir W. White built the “County Class” and forgot the guns, but Providence came along and has made them useful for commerce protectors with their 6–inch guns and big coal supply and good speed—however a few “Mauretanias” would be far more effective than a hundred “Countys”![[16]]
‘I can only pray that your Programme will be officially published—for it is sure to leak out! It will add immensely to your reputation and influence and the moral effect will be prodigious!
‘The Key Note is 2 keels to 1 for all increases above the present German Law! 2 to 1 in Armoured Cruisers is also vital!
‘You don’t say a word of your visit to Jellicoe—but he does! He is “much impressed with your grasp of the whole business,” and as Jellicoe very seldom indeed gives praise I think you must have talked well! as well as that night we stumbled over the dockyard stores at Devonport returning from the Lion and the Monarch! (It’s a pity we didn’t have a shorthand writer!)
‘Don’t make any mistake about big submarines being obligatory!...
‘Big risks bring big success! (It was Napoleon, wasn’t it? “Risk nothing, get nothing!”) Increased surface speed is above all a necessity, and broadside torpedo discharges and the bigger gun will come automatically with the above two essentials, and they (the Big Submarines) will be Destroyers with all the advantages of the present Destroyers and—as well—the power of submergence during daylight attacks. Battle tactics will be revolutionised and England’s power will be multiplied not sevenfold but manifold! and with a radius of action of 6,000 miles ... but it wants an Isaiah to proclaim this vision!
‘For God’s sake trample on and stamp out protected Cruisers and hurry up Aviation....’
For a specimen of Fisher’s genius I commend these last few lines. Ten years of submarine development, spurred on by war on the greatest scale, were required to overtake in exact sequence the processes of that amazing vision in technical affairs. The consequences to Great Britain were, however, not so satisfactory as he forecasted.