Admiral Sir William Wordsworth Fisher (26 March 1875 – 24 June 1937) was a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
officer who captained a battleship at the
Battle of Jutland and became
Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet.
Arthur Marder wrote that he was "the outstanding admiral of the inter-war period".
Naval career
Fisher was born at Blatchington in
Sussex, the son of historian
Herbert William Fisher
Herbert William Fisher (30 July 1826 – 17 January 1903) was a British historian, best known for his book ''Considerations on the Origin of the American War'' (1865).
Life
He was born at Poulshot, Wiltshire, the son of Rev. William Fisher"The Pr ...
and his wife Mary Louisa Jackson (1841–1916). He joined the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in 1888
[Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]
/ref> and trained in HMS ''Britannia''.[
As a midshipman he served in , flagship of the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Squadron, for three years from 1890 to 1893, before joining in the Training Squadron. After examinations and courses, and now a sub-lieutenant, he joined the ]protected cruiser
Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
in the Mediterranean Fleet in January 1896. The ship was a byword for smartness. According to Fisher's biographer "she was remembered as the ship whose stream anchor was kept burnished like polished silver". He left her as a lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
with highly appreciative reports from his captains and was selected to qualify in gunnery.
He joined the gunnery course, for a first year at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...
, on 14 September 1898, along with other lieutenants who were likewise to distinguish themselves in later years:, Frank Larken
Vice-Admiral Sir Frank Larken KCB CMG (15 November 1875 – 21 January 1953) was a Royal Navy officer who became Naval Secretary.
Early life and education
Larken was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the middle son of Eliza Larken and solicitor ...
, Tufton Beamish and Ernest Taylor (like Beamish, later also an MP). The second year of the course was at Whale Island and the third and final year on a gunnery school staff, which for Fisher was to be Whale Island. His joined the modern pre-dreadnought battleship
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...
, as a gunnery lieutenant in Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
in November 1901. In mid-1903 he was again ashore, on the senior staff of the gunnery school ''Cambridge'' at Devonport and this was followed, on 1 January 1904, by an appointment as a senior staff officer at Whale Island. This appointment would normally have led to his becoming first lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...
of Whale Island but Fisher fell out with Captain Percy Scott
Admiral Sir Percy Moreton Scott, 1st Baronet, (10 July 1853 – 18 October 1924) was a British Royal Navy officer and a pioneer in modern naval gunnery. During his career he proved to be an engineer and problem solver of some considerable f ...
, the famous gunnery expert then commanding 'The Island'.
Nevertheless, his reputation could weather minor storms, and he was selected by Captain Arthur Leveson, flag captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...
to Admiral Sir William May, as first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and gunnery lieutenant of the new Atlantic Fleet flagship, , joining her in January 1905. He struck up a firm and lasting friendship with Dudley Pound
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound, (29 August 1877 – 21 October 1943) was a British senior officer of the Royal Navy. He served in the First World War as a battleship commander, taking part in the Battle of Jutland ...
in a busy eighteen months on board, leaving the ship early after selection for early promotion to Commander, donning his 'brass hat' on 30 June 1906, aged 31.
His first appointment with three stripes, in September 1906, was as commander of the pre-dreadnought battleship , flagship of Rear-Admiral Atlantic Fleet, soon to be commanded by Captain Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...
and flying the flag of Rear-Admiral John Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, (5 December 1859 – 20 November 1935) was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutlan ...
. His success in her led to his joining, in the same role, in June 1908, the new battlecruiser , fitting out to take the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
to Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
for a seven-day visit. This was soon followed by his becoming flag commander – gunnery adviser – to the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet, his old chief Admiral Sir William May, flying his flag in the new battleship , where he developed gunnery tactics. When Admiral May was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offic ...
, in the spring of 1911, Fisher followed as his flag commander, a post that allowed him to live at home with his new wife, cycling the four miles to work, for some nine months. Then he joined the new battlecruiser , fitting out at Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...
, Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...
, but, before she was commissioned, he had left her, being promoted, at the age of 37, to captain on 1 July 1912.[
"W W", as he was known, joined the battleship , wearing the flag of Rear-Admiral ]Somerset Gough-Calthorpe
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe (23 December 1865 – 27 July 1937), sometimes known as Sir Somerset Calthorpe, was a Royal Navy officer and a member of the Gough-Calthorpe family. After serving as a junior officer durin ...
, on 10 December 1912. By 1916 she was a 'private ship' (flying no admiral's flag) and, for the early part of his service in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he was still captain of the ''St Vincent'' and with her at the Battle of Jutland.[ He commanded that battleship for three years and five months and became Director of the Anti-Submarine Division at the ]Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
in May 1917, where he stayed until January 1919, having overseen a host of new inventions to defeat the enemy submarine menace.[
He was appointed captain of the battleship on 2 January 1919, the ship soon to join the Mediterranean Fleet. There, his initiative was put to good use in difficult diplomatic and political situations in ]Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. In August 1919, ''Iron Duke'' became the flagship of the new Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Sir John de Robeck
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet, (10 June 1862 – 20 January 1928) was an officer in the Royal Navy. In the early years of the 20th century he served as Admiral of Patrols, commanding four flotillas of destroyers.
...
and he asked Fisher to be his Chief of Staff, in the rank of Commodore 2nd Class; he went with de Robeck in the same position to the Atlantic Fleet in 1922, first as Commodore 1st Class and then as rear-admiral.
He went on to be Rear-Admiral in the 1st Battle Squadron
The 1st Battle Squadron was a naval squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 1st Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted to its original name, ...
of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1924 for a year and then spent ten months unemployed, on half pay, before taking over as Director of Naval Intelligence for eight months, during Rear-Admiral Alan Hotham
Admiral Sir Alan Geoffrey Hotham, (3 October 1876 – 10 July 1965) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He also played first-class cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club, Hampshire in 1901.
Naval career
Born the son of Admiral of the Fleet Cha ...
's illness. He was appointed Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport in 1927 and promoted vice-admiral in January 1928.[ He was made Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff in 1928, overseeing a period of naval economy. He became commander of the 1st Battle Squadron and second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet, hoisting his flag in the battleship , at Marseilles, in October 1930.][
After a six-month respite in England, from April 1932, he was promoted to full admiral and became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, hoisting his flag in the battleship , on 31 October 1932.][ During more than a decade as a ]flag officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command.
The term is used differently in different countries:
*In many countries ...
with the Mediterranean Fleet, he developed a great affection for Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, and his love for the children of the village of Mġarr
Mġarr ( mt, L-Imġarr), formerly known as ''Mgiarro'', is a village in the Northern Region of Malta. Mġarr is a typical rural village situated in an isolated region, west of Mosta. It is surrounded with rich farmland and vineyards. Many of it ...
is marked by the name of Fisher Road. He handed over command at the end of March 1936 and went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...
, hoisting his flag in on 7 July 1936. After the Coronation Naval Review and the King's Birthday Review, on Southsea Common, he died in office, while on leave in the country, after just under a year in post, in late June 1937.[
]
Family
Fisher married Cecilia Warre-Cornish (1 May 1886 – 30 January 1965), daughter of Francis Warre-Cornish, on 21 December 1907.["Marriages." Times ondon, England25 December 1907: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 May 2012] Their daughter Cecilia Rosamund Fisher (22 November 1909 – 1991) married Captain Richard Coleridge, 4th Baron Coleridge
Richard Duke Coleridge, 4th Baron Coleridge (24 September 1905 – 20 May 1984) was a captain in the Royal Navy and served as the first Executive Secretary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 1952 to 1970. (1905–1984), of the Royal Navy on 28 August 1936; they had issue, two sons, including the present peer. Another daughter, Horatia Mary Fisher, married Group Captain Geoffrey Mungo Buxton (1906–1979), a grandson maternally of the 3rd Earl of Verulam, and had three surviving daughters.
Fisher was the brother of H. A. L. Fisher, Edmund Fisher, Charles Fisher, Florence Henrietta Darwin
Florence Henrietta Darwin, Lady Darwin (''née'' Fisher, previously Maitland; 31 January 18645 March 1920), was an English playwright.
Early life
Florence Henrietta Fisher was born in Kensington, London, to Herbert William Fisher and his wife Ma ...
and Adeline Vaughan Williams. His sister Cordelia Fisher married the author, critic and journalist Richard Curle
Richard Curle (1883–1968) was a Scottish author, critic, and journalist. He was a friend of the novelist Joseph Conrad, who was also the subject of several of his critical works.
Conrad and Curle became friends in the 1910s, becoming especial ...
and was the mother of the academic Adam Curle.
He was related to the Stephen family, and in 1910 his then command was targeted in the ''Dreadnought'' hoax by Adrian Stephen
Adrian Leslie Stephen (27 October 1883 – 3 May 1948) was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, an author and psychoanalyst, and the younger brother of Thoby Stephen, Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. He and his wife Karin Stephen became interest ...
, his sister Virginia Stephen (later Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Woolf was born i ...
) and others.
References
Bibliography
* ''Admiral Sir William Fisher'' by Admiral Sir William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
(biography – published by Macmillan, 1943)
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, William Wordsworth
1875 births
1937 deaths
Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Lords of the Admiralty
Royal Navy admirals
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Royal Navy officers of World War I
Directors of Naval Intelligence
Dreadnought hoax