DEATH OF LORD FISHER.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3527, 14 July 1920, Page 6

DEATH OF LORD FISHER.

The deutil of Lcird Fisher has robb'c(l the British Naxvy of its greatest ;(:rcative mind. More than any other _.man he was responsible for the grim monsters of the British battle fleet /which letziined sea power in Britaiu’s ‘hands during the grout war. Other —'_ln‘inds contributed the ‘modelling "of these engines of <]ostl-uction‘, o»thm' Jhands steered them to battle. but ‘the :conceptioll of the Dl'~’.“a4il'loUg}'H’. flew ( was Lord Fi.sher’s, 'a‘n‘L! ‘dlxl'iu«;; ‘six (months of the most: critical perioai of the war il{"}lQ],<l the‘ position of First Sea I.ol'(l,—whiCh is pr3ct.iea]l_y the . chief command see his way to continue ‘in oiiicc he might have held it ,t_olvth,e euji, because _ theft‘ \\'ils..l,l£J >';,l_ilQ_l' in wlltiiii the sex‘- . x -' .' "U." ‘(alt vice and _the_ puh!l<_: had _mo_r,e c(>i3lplel'<- ( confidence. His 11;pi(1111‘§;,:' ‘fr ligisjl_ti()ll among British aciniiruls i.<'_s]m\x;il‘ iiy I the fort that at the age -()i'',T'37i:'ifi’‘7‘\l\:?lS 7‘ ‘3.31.19(i‘:t0 dil'€<ft naval ,rwp<=.r:i_t'ioiis ,f.'!1:'(;IT1 . ‘3:h<3‘:’\J<Wzli_r§llt§'. ‘His »qu;lii§ic:~.‘f;ions, tor : spite of his age were beyond chzilleiige.. ' He had filled almost every post irithe ' navy. He had revolutionised naxgal ' Ival‘fill‘e ‘by evolVin__n: the Dreadnouglit. " His name had‘ if-.<:ome a synonym for ' efficieney in every task he,dischm'ged. His talent. was e:<c.ep_tional and his pio- : fessiorial skill 'uniq’ue. He hf!.('l_V€I1111l- ‘ ciated the fighting spirit of the B_ritish i " Navy in one of his chgxrcteristic mot-i ’ toes: “Hit. first, hit hard, a_n<l'}lit anywhere!” The country expected A much from his adniinistration, but 1111-‘ fortunately friction with the politignl head of the Admiralty led to his e3.f;'ly 7 resigtnzition. ‘With typical lack of vanity Ijoid Fisher has never explained or -defended that re.'sigua.tion, but be-' ' fore’ long his genius was again brought

{to bear on naval problems, this time as iprcsidcnt. of the Inventions Board, which placed so niany valuable illStl'll~ intents in the hand.» of the iuwy for ‘fighting submarines. In such a role ‘ Lord Fisher was at his best. He made poetry of science. He possessed not only technical gifts of $1 rare” order, but a lively imagination which con--stantly out-2':=.n his science and fond the goal wihch a less vivacious mind would have missed. It was Ihe poet in Lord Fisher which first conceived the Dreadnought: it w.'is the poet in him which led him in the last months of his life to pronounce the doom of the very ships‘ he had designed and award the t’utm'e comniantl of the sea to the subiiicrsible. Such men as Lord Fisher make mistakes—timc alone can show whether his last prophecies are justificd—-—but they also make history and as the creator of the Dreadnought, the clzampion of the oil-burning ship; and the constzmt. critic of inefficiency. Lord Fisher -placed his countrymen 3 heavily in his debt. As 21 :na.n hr-it

commzmds no loss honmge. Elm‘ring_,' the navy without ixifluence he rose to be the adviser of Governments anél the friend of kings, yet he never Jost

his simpTe virtues. Rugged and impafient, he was never unjust. He was :1 diséil)lil:al'iall but not a mal'tine‘f. masterful but kindly, an enemy of inefficiency, but :1 friend to aH.who did their best,