FAMOUS ADMIRAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1920, Page 5

FAMOUS ADMIRAL.

DEATH OF LORD FISHER. "KITCHENER OF THE NAVY." By Ttleeraph.—Press Received July 11, 5.5 p.m. London, July 10. Obituary: Admiral Lord Fisher, after an internal operation.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn, Received July 11, 11.5 p.m. London, July 10. Lord Fisher suffered 1 a long illness (luring the winter. He went to the Riveria and returned to London apparently improved, and he resumed correspondence in the Press with great vigor. The fatal illness was brief, but its seriousness was evident from the outset. An operation was performed last night, and Lord Fisher was conscious to the end. A memorial service will be held in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday. The newspapers unanimously acclaim Lord Fisher, as a great national hero. Relatives are receiving enormous numbers of messages of sympathy, Including telegrams from the King and Queen, and Mr. Lloyd George.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

A BRILLIANT CAREER. FATHER OF THE DREADNOUGHT. Once described by Lord Rosebery as "the Kitchener of the Navy," Lord Fisher was.one of the most remarkable figures in tlu modern history of the British Navy. Seventy-nine years of age, Lord Fisher always displayed an intense interest in naval matters, and during the war he waß one of the most severe critics. Lord Fisher will be remembered as a distinguished naval administrator, and he was closely identified with the cause of reform. He possessed both practical and theoretical experience, while his administrative skill was claimed to be unequalled. He was a master of gunnery, and'has, at one time or another, held almost every important position in the Navy, afloat and ashore. It was under Lord Fisherss control of the Navy that the Dreadnought policy was introduced, and he also introduced the plan of scrapping old ships instead of keeping them on the Navy list. Lord Fisher entered the Navy in 1854, and six years later he helu the rank of lieutenant. He took part in the capture of Canton and Peiho forts. He served in the Crimean war, 1855; the China war, 1859-60: and the Egyptian'war, 1882. He rose rapidly, attaining the rank of RearAdmiral in 1890. He was commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean station from 1899 to 1902; Second Sea Lord of the Admiralty, 1902-3; Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, 1903-4; First Sea Lord of the Admiralty from 1004 to 1910, when he retired. This did not close Lord Fisher's career, for he was still to figure prominently in naval administration. During the war he returned to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord, and it was whiU holding this office that his views on naval matteTs placed him as one of the most formidable critics of the day. He did not see eye to eye with others in authority, and in 1915 he resigned. Lord Fisher's contributions to the Press on British naval policy belong to history, where his remarkable reminiscences, published last year, take an important place.