THE FIRST SEA LORD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1286, 18 August 1914, Page 4

THE FIRST SEA LORD.

The man upon whose shoulders the whole weight of the last war scare fell—when two squadrons of the Home Fleet were actually lying off the Scottish coast cleared for action with the gun crews sleeping in their turrets, and orders given to take no chances, but fire cn any foreign torpedo vessel that approached within dangerous range—the F'irst Sea Lord in the crisis was Sir Arthur Wilson. It is now realised that Sir Arthur Wilson was handicapped in that hour by the defects of his virtues. He was a wonderful tactician — the admiral who, more than any commander afloat in recent years, was enthusiastically trusted by his fleets. But he gained that trust by knowing every detail of bis work himself. He was a portentous worker, and refused to be helped by more than one-third of the number of assistants whom other admirals thought necessary. But when it comes to a crisis’ the work of a fleet of 500 ships is more than any human being can accomplish. In Admiral Wilson’s time the office of First Sea Lord practically involved the responsibility for every department of the navy—intelligence, war plans, mobilisation, and supervision of all other departments as well. Mr Churchill realised that this was an impossible system, as Lord Charles Beresford had long contended. He swept It away in one act. To-day, Prince Louis of Battenberg has not one-third of the work to do that Admiral Wilson had ; and he has three great divisions of the war staff, which Mr Churchill instituted to help him. The work that fell on the lobes of Admiral Wilson’s brain is now performed by the Intelligence Division, the Operations Division, and the Mobilisation Division of the great war staff at Whitehall. The fact that the organisation exists to day makes all the difference between the crisis of 191 r and that of 1914.