"Memories and Records.” By Lord Fisher, Admiral of the Fleet. (Published- by George H. Doran Company.)
These two astonishing volumes reveal one of the most remarkable personalities which the British Navy has ever produced.
Americans, to so many of whom he is known, will take enthusiastic interest in Lord Fisher’s autobiography which was dictated in rapid-fire fashion as the Admiral stalked up and down in order to give his “thoughts elbow-room.” He was apprehensive throughout this process lest the aroma be taken from the spoken word. “Better the fragrance of the fresh- plucked flower, he says “ than trying to get more scent out of it by adding hot water afterwards.”
This document of a most dynamic career is highly scented as the result, and Lord Fisher was often in hot water himself as were others about him. With unbounded humor he delineates many situations involving the official life of the Empire.
There is no doubt that Lord Fisher saw the great war coming. Serving as he did in positions of great and varied responsibility, he was able despite even violent opposition at times to prepare the navy for its inevitable role. In 1907, while First Sea Lord, he wrote King Edward VII that “the only thing in the world that England has to fear is Germany and none else.” It was during this period that the dreadnought building program was initiated and carried out and almost two hundred warships were scrapped as of no fighting value. It was then, too, that the future battle ground of the British Fleet—the North Sea—was made its drill ground.
Again in 1914 when he was called as First Sea Lord by Winston Churchill, he was responsible for the legislation which produced the enormous war program of 612 ships of all classes. From first to last he emphasized the necessity of going after the enemy in his own waters through the Baltic and driving him, as well, from the flat shores of the Belgian Coast with the co-operation of the army. He was unalterably opposed to the Dardanelles project and to those who believed that “cutting off the enemy’s big toe in the East was better than stabbing him to the heart in the West.” The decisive theatre of war was in northern waters: he was not to be deterred from that fact. When Lord Fisher, at that momentous session of the War Council in May, 1915, had it made clear to him that the great projects on these waters were at an end and that a further and grievous drain was to be made on naval resources, he resigned. The recital of the circumstances in his chapter on the Dardanelles is gripping.
For the layman, the narrative of his early years, his reminiscences of kings and princes, his reflections on the Bible, his quotations—above all, his Latin—are wholly absorbing. Broadminded naval officers will revel in his exposition of naval problems and naval education and in his Essentials of Sea Fighting and in many other serious and diverting professional discussions.
Here was a man to whom is accredited may important reforms. For the development of the dreadnought and submarine, the extension of the use of oil as a fuel and of oil engines, to him the British Navy owes much.
Already in popular esteem Lord Fisher takes his place beside Nelson as one of the outstanding figures in English naval history. Certainly he possesses much of the self-reliance, the audacity, and the resourcefulness, of that great commander.
W. T. C.
“Il Potere Maritimo Nella Grande Guerra. (Maritime Power in the Great War.) By Commander Romeo Bernotti, Italian Navy. (Published by Raffaello Giusti, Livorno, Italy.)
This book is an excellent exposition of the experience of various navies, the trials, the problems and the teachings of the World War as well as a masterly analysis of the naval strategy and tactics employed during the war.
Translated into English this work would fill an important place in the “ War College Library ” on board ship.
The book is divided into four parts as follows: 1st—Preparation for the Great War; 2d—Naval Strategy; 3d—Naval Tactics; 4th—Naval Organization.
In discussing the maritime development of the United States the author lays particular stress upon the value of the Panama Canal as a strongly fortified first-class naval base with openings into the two oceans, an attribute of the canal that is generally ignored in our country. Much that he has to say about our navy makes very interesting reading.
To review this book thoroughly would take more space than can be allotted because it is full of interesting and carefully developed ideas that are of great value to all naval officers, whether they agree with the conclusions of the illustrious author or not.
The second part, Naval Strategy, seems to be especially good in its clear statement of the strategy used in the war and criticism of this strategy. His criticisms are straight to the point and leave no doubt of what and of whom he is criticising.
It is to be hoped that this book will be translated into English for our officers to study.
T. W.
“The Triumph of NC’s.’’ By Commander C. C. Westervelt, U. S. N., Commander H. C. Richardson, U. S. N., and Lieut. Commander A. C. Read, U. S. N. $3.00. (Published by Doubleday, Page & Co.)
This book contains an interesting and instructive account, valuable to the professional as well as to the general reader, of the genesis, making and flying of the NC airboats. This account is of particular interest and usefulness because it is written, not by lookers on, but by three men who were a part, and a very large part, of the whole undertaking.
The story “takes off” from the time that the order was first given for the building of airboats that could cross the Atlantic under their own power not as a flying feat, but as a war necessity due to shortage of shipping; it carries on through the building and testing of the vessels to the actual accomplishment of the flight as an after-the-war demonstration of their suitability for the original purpose for which they were built.
Commander G. C. Westervelt tells, at first-hand, how the NC flying boats were originated, designed and built; he also tells of the considerations that entered into the arrangements for the trans-Atlantic flight. Commander A. C. Read, captain of the NC-4, tells the story of the trials and tribulations of the “ lame duck ” from, which evolved, through perseverance and skill, the first successful passage across the Atlantic by the air route. Commander H. C. Richardson gives the “ log of the NC-3” of which he was pilot, in which he details the story of the actual preparations for the flight, the passages from Rockaway to Halifax and Halifax to Trepassy Bay, the start for the Azores, and the remarkable adventures of the NC-3, “ a small craft on a large ocean,” in which circumstances not expected to happen demonstrated how very well the “ boats ” were designed and built and handled.
This book deals with an historical and epoch-making event. The “Triumph of the NC’s’’ was indeed a triumph; a triumph of conception, a triumph of construction and a triumph of accomplishment. It is an inspiring story.
E. J. K.
“Derelicts.” By James Sprunt. 285 pages. (Baltimore: Published by The Lord Baltimore Press.)
A collection of readable and interesting articles, of whose scope and character the best idea is to be gained from a consideration of the titles of the articles, which combine into three general groups:
(a) Marine Wanderers; Lost Liners; To the Rescue: an instructive account of ships lost at sea in general commercial traffic.
(b) Derelict Blockade Runners; a brief and interesting history of blockade runners stranded along the North Carolina coast in the years 1861-1865.
(c) Tales of the Sea: A Confederate Daughter; Intelligent Contrabands; Malingerers; Experiences in Quarantine; Confederate States Signal Corps; Captain John Newland Maffitt; Captain Maffitt and the Consul; Captain John Wilkinson; A Normal Blockading Experience; Captain Joseph Foy; Recapture of the Emily St. Pierre; The Lilian’s Last Successful Run: a collection of stories relating to the men and the ships who were engaged in running the blockade and the incidents that men and ships and danger always combine to create.
The fact that the author can say of most of his stories, “All of which I saw and a part of which I was” contributes in no small degree to the attractiveness of the accounts.
E. J. K.