Admiral of the FleetJohn Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe,GCB, OM, GCVO, SGM, DL (5 December 1859 – 20 November 1935)[1] was aRoyal Navy officer. He fought in theAnglo-Egyptian War and theBoxer Rebellion and commanded theGrand Fleet at theBattle of Jutland in May 1916 during theFirst World War. His handling of the fleet at that battle was controversial. Jellicoe made no serious mistakes and the GermanHigh Seas Fleet retreated to port, at a time when defeat would have been catastrophic for Britain, but the public was disappointed that the Royal Navy had not won a more dramatic victory given that they outnumbered the enemy. Jellicoe later served asFirst Sea Lord, overseeing the expansion of the Naval Staff at the Admiralty and the introduction ofconvoys, but was relieved at the end of 1917. He also served as thegovernor-general of New Zealand in the early 1920s.
Jellicoe was born on 5 December 1859 inSouthampton,Hampshire. Jellicoe was the son of John Henry Jellicoe, a captain in theRoyal Mail Steam Packet Company, and Lucy Henrietta Jellicoe (née Keele). He was educated at Field House School inRottingdean and aboard the training shipHMS Britannia, which he joined as a naval cadet in 1872.[2][3] He was made amidshipman in thesteam frigateHMS Newcastle in September 1874 before transferring to theironcladHMS Agincourt in theMediterranean Fleet in July 1877.[3] Promoted tosub-lieutenant on 5 December 1878, he joinedHMS Alexandra, flagship of theMediterranean Fleet, as signal sub-lieutenant in 1880.[3] Promoted tolieutenant on 23 September 1880,[4] he returned to HMSAgincourt in February 1881 and commanded a rifle company of theNaval Brigade atIsmailia during theEgyptian war of 1882.[3]
Jellicoe qualified as a gunnery officer in 1883 and was appointed to the staff of the gunnery schoolHMS Excellent in May 1884.[3] He joined the turret shipHMS Monarch as gunnery officer in September 1885 and was awarded theBoard of Trade Silver Medal for rescuing the crew of a capsized steamer nearGibraltar in May 1886.[5] He joined thebattleshipHMS Colossus in April 1886 and was put in charge of the experimental department at HMSExcellent in December 1886 before being appointed an assistant to theDirector of Naval Ordnance in September 1889.[6]
Promoted tocommander on 30 June 1891, Jellicoe joined the battleshipHMS Sans Pareil in theMediterranean Fleet in March 1892.[6] He transferred to the battleshipHMS Victoria in 1893 (the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, Vice AdmiralSir George Tryon) and was aboard whenit collided withHMS Camperdown and sank offTripoli inLebanon on 22 June 1893.[6] He was then appointed to the new flagship,HMS Ramillies, in October 1893.[6]
Promoted tocaptain on 1 January 1897,[7] Jellicoe became a member of the Admiralty's Ordnance Committee.[6] He served as captain of the battleshipHMS Centurion and chief of staff to Vice AdmiralSir Edward Seymour during theSeymour Expedition to relieve the legations atPeking during theBoxer Rebellion in June 1900.[6] He was badly wounded during theBattle of Beicang[8][3] and told he would die but confounded the attending doctor and chaplain by living.[9] He was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath and given the GermanOrder of the Red Eagle, 2nd class, with Crossed Swords for services rendered in China.[10]Centurion returned to the United Kingdom in August 1901, and was paid off the following month, when Captain Jellicoe and the crew went on leave.[11] He became Naval Assistant toThird Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy in February 1902[12] and was given command of the armouredcruiserHMS Drake on theNorth America and West Indies Station in August 1903.[6]
As a protege of AdmiralJohn Fisher, Jellicoe became Director of Naval Ordnance in 1905 and, having been appointed aCommander of the Royal Victorian Order on the occasion of launching ofHMS Dreadnought on 10 February 1906,[13] he was also made anAide-de-Camp tothe King on 8 March 1906.[14] Promoted torear admiral on 8 February 1907,[15] he pushed hard for funds to modernise the navy, supporting the construction of newDreadnought-type battleships andInvincible-class battlecruisers.[16] He supportedF. C. Dreyer's improvements in gunneryfire-control systems, and favoured the adoption of Dreyer's "Fire Control Table", a form of mechanical computer for calculating firing solutions for warships.[17] Jellicoe arranged for the output of naval ordnance to be transferred from the War Office to the Admiralty.[18]
Jellicoe was appointed second-in-command of theAtlantic Fleet in August 1907, hoisting his flag in the battleshipHMS Albemarle.[16] He was appointedKnight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on the occasion ofthe King's Review of theHome Fleet in theSolent on 3 August 1907.[19] He went on to beThird Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in October 1908 and, having taken part in the funeral ofKing Edward VII in May 1910,[20] he becameCommander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet in December 1910, hoisting his flag in the battleshipHMS Prince of Wales.[16] He advanced toKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath on the Coronation ofKing George V on 19 June 1911 and confirmed in the rank ofvice admiral on 18 September 1911.[16] He went on to be Second-in-Command of theHome Fleet, hoisting his flag in the battleshipHMS Hercules, in December 1911 and, having also been appointed commander of the2nd Battle Squadron in May 1912, joined theRoyal Commission on Fuel and Engines on 1 August 1912.[21] He becameSecond Sea Lord in December 1912.[16]
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At the start of theFirst World War, the First Lord of the AdmiraltyWinston Churchill, removed AdmiralGeorge Callaghan, Commander-in-Chief of theHome Fleet[16] (August 1914). Jellicoe was promoted to fulladmiral on 4 August 1914 and assigned command of the renamedGrand Fleet in Admiral Callaghan's place, though he was appalled by the treatment of his predecessor.[16] He was promoted toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 8 February 1915.[22]
When Fisher (First Sea Lord) and Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty) both had to leave office (May 1915) after their quarrel over theDardanelles, Jellicoe wrote to Fisher: "We owe you a debt of gratitude for having saved the Navy from a continuance in office of Mr Churchill, and I hope that never again will any politician be allowed to usurp the functions that he took upon himself to exercise".[18]
Jellicoe commanded the British Grand Fleet at theBattle of Jutland in May 1916, the largest (and only major) clash ofdreadnoughts, albeit an indecisive one.[16] His handling of the Grand Fleet during the battle remains controversial, with some historians characterising Jellicoe as too cautious and other historians faulting thebattlecruiser commander, AdmiralDavid Beatty, for making various tactical errors.[23] Jellicoe certainly made no significant mistakes during the battle: based on limited intelligence, he correctly deployed the Grand Fleet with a turn to port so as to "cross the T" of the GermanHigh Seas Fleet as it appeared.[24] After suffering heavy damage from shells, the German fleet turned 180 degrees and headed away from the battle.[25] At the time the British public expressed disappointment that the Royal Navy had not won a victory on the scale of the 1805Battle of Trafalgar.[16] Churchill described Jellicoe later as "the only man on either side who could lose the war in an afternoon" –essentially hinting that Jellicoe's decision to prefer caution was strategically correct.[16] He was appointed a member of theOrder of Merit on 31 May 1916,[26] advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order on 17 June 1916[27] and awarded the Grand Cross of the FrenchLegion of Honour on 15 September 1916.[28]
Jellicoe was appointedFirst Sea Lord in November 1916.[16] His term of office saw Britain brought within danger of starvation by Germanunrestricted U-Boat warfare.[29]
At the War Committee (a Cabinet Committee which discussed strategy in 1915–16) in November 1916, the admirals present, including Jellicoe, toldLloyd George that convoys presented too large a target for enemy ships, and that merchant ship masters lacked the discipline to "keep station" in a convoy. In February 1917,Maurice Hankey wrote a memorandum for Lloyd George calling for the introduction of "scientifically organised convoys", almost certainly after being persuaded by CommanderHenderson and the Shipping Ministry officials with whom he was in contact. After a breakfast meeting (13 February 1917) with Lloyd George,Carson (First Lord of the Admiralty) and Admirals Jellicoe andDuff agreed to "conduct experiments". However, convoys were not in general use until August 1917, by which time shipping losses to U-boats were already falling from their April peak.[30]
Jellicoe continued to take a pessimistic view, advising the War Policy Committee (a Cabinet Committee which discussed strategy in 1917) during planning meetings for theThird Ypres Offensive in June and July that nothing could be done to defeat the U-boats. However, removing Jellicoe in July, as Lloyd George wanted, would have been politically impossible given Conservative anger at the return ofChurchill (still blamed for theDardanelles) to office asMinister of Munitions. In August and September Lloyd George was preoccupied with Third Ypres and the possible transfer of resources to Italy, whilst the new First Lord of the Admiralty,Sir Eric Campbell Geddes, was reforming the Naval Staff (including creating a post forWemyss as Deputy First Sea Lord). Geddes and Lloyd George met withBalfour andCarson (both formerFirst Lords of the Admiralty) on 26 October to discuss sacking Jellicoe after he had failed to act on "secret, but absolutely reliable" information about aGerman attack on a Norwegian convoy, but again nothing came of this as Lloyd George was soon preoccupied by theBattle of Caporetto and the setting up of theSupreme War Council. Geddes wanted to return to his previous job in charge of military transportation in France, and by December it was clear that Lloyd George would have to sack Jellicoe or lose Geddes.[31]
Jellicoe was rather abruptly dismissed by Geddes in December 1917.[29] Before he left for leave on Christmas Eve he received a letter from Geddes demanding his resignation. Geddes' letter stated that he was still in the building and available to talk, but after consultingAdmiral Halsey Jellicoe replied in writing that he would "do what was best for the service". The move became public knowledge two days later.[32]
The Christmas holiday, when Parliament was not sitting, provided a good opportunity to remove Jellicoe with a minimum of fuss. Geddes squared matters with the King and with the Grand Fleet commander Admiral Beatty (who had initially written to Jellicoe of his "dismay" over his sacking and promised to speak to Geddes, but then did not write to him again for a month) over the holiday. The other Sea Lords talked of resigning (although Jellicoe advised them not to do so), especially when Geddes suggested in a meeting (31 December) that Balfour and Carson had specifically recommended Jellicoe's removal at the 26 October meeting; they had not done so, although Balfour's denial was less than emphatic. There was no trouble from the generals, who had a low opinion of Jellicoe. In the end the Sea Lords remained in place, whilst Carson remained a member of the War Cabinet, resigning in January over Irish Home Rule.[33]
Although it was pretended that the decision had been Geddes' alone, he let slip in the Naval Estimates debate (6 March 1918) that he had been conveying "the decision of the Government", i.e. of Lloyd George, who had never put the matter to the War Cabinet. MPs picked up on his slip immediately, andBonar Law (Conservative Leader) admitted in the same debate that he too had had prior knowledge.[34]
As First Sea Lord Jellicoe was awarded the Grand Cordon of the BelgianOrder of Leopold on 21 April 1917,[35] the RussianOrder of St. George, 3rd Class on 5 June 1917,[36] the Grand Cross of the ItalianMilitary Order of Savoy on 11 August 1917[37] and the Grand Cordon of the JapaneseOrder of the Rising Sun on 29 August 1917.[38]
Jellicoe was createdViscount Jellicoe of Scapa Flow on 7 March 1918.[39]
At theSupreme War Council at the start of June 1918, amidst concerns that—following theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk—the Germans were about to requisition the RussianBlack Sea Fleet, Lloyd George proposed Jellicoe as Allied Supreme Naval Commander in the Mediterranean. The French were in favour of a combined Allied naval command, but the Italians were not, so nothing came of the suggestion.[40]
Jellicoe was promoted toAdmiral of the Fleet on 3 April 1919.[41] He becameGovernor-General of New Zealand in September 1920[42] and while there also served as Grand Master of New Zealand's Masonic Grand Lodge.[43] Following his return to England, he was createdEarl Jellicoe andViscount Brocas ofSouthampton in the County of Southampton on 1 July 1925.[44] He also served as theCommissioner forLondon Boy Scouts from 1925 to 1928.[45] He was made aDeputy Lieutenant of Hampshire in 1932.[46] He died ofpneumonia at his home inKensington inLondon on 20 November 1935 and was buried inSt Paul's Cathedral.[29]
In 1919, "Sleep, beneath the wave! a requiem" with words by Rev. Alfred Hall and Music by Albert Ham was "Dedicated to Admiral Viscount Jellicoe."[47]
The attempt of his official biographer, AdmiralReginald Bacon, to portray him as the conqueror of the U-boats is, inJohn Grigg's view, absurd, as the main decisions were allegedly taken by other men. Bacon also claimed that his elevation to a viscountcy on dismissal was a deliberate snub, but in factSir John French, the former Commander-in-Chief of the BEF, was only a viscount at the time (both he and Jellicoe became Earls subsequently), whileFisher was never more than a Baron. Bacon's neutrality may be questionable as he had himself been sacked by Geddes from command of theDover Patrol, replaced byRoger Keyes, shortly after Jellicoe's removal.[40]
Jellicoe married, atHoly Trinity Church, Sloane Street, on 1 July 1902, Florence Gwendoline Cayzer, daughter of the shipping magnateSir Charles Cayzer. His brother, Rev.Frederick Jellicoe (1858–1927), conducted the service.[48] Lord and Lady Jellicoe had a son and five daughters.[6] His sonGeorge Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, had a military career during the Second World War, after which he was a parliamentarian and a businessman.[49]
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Kingdom of Prussia :Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class with crossed swords –April 1902[54]
France : Grand Cross of theLegion of Honour –15 September 1916[55]
Belgium : Grand Cordon of theOrder of Leopold –21 April 1917[35]
Russian Empire :Order of St. George, 3rd Class –5 June 1917[36]
Kingdom of Italy : Grand Cross of theMilitary Order of Savoy –11 August 1917[37]
Empire of Japan : Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Paulownia Flowers –29 August 1917[38] |
|
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Rear Admiral Second-in-Command, Atlantic Fleet 1907–1908 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy 1908–1910 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice-Admiral Commanding, Atlantic Fleet 1910–1911 | Succeeded by |
| Second Sea Lord 1912–1914 | Succeeded by | |
| New command | Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet 1914–1916 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Sea Lord 1916–1917 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor-General of New Zealand 1920–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl Jellicoe 1925–1935 | Succeeded by |
| Viscount Jellicoe 1918–1935 | ||
