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ADMIRAL JELLICOE

by

ARTHUR APPLIN


    +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
    |  ADMIRAL JELLICOE                                               |
    |                                                                 |
    |                                                                 |
    |  _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_                                     |
    |                                                                 |
    |                                                                 |
    |  Lord Roberts:                                                  |
    |                                                                 |
    |  THE STORY OF HIS LIFE                                          |
    |                                                                 |
    |  By ROY VICKERS                                                 |
    |                                                                 |
    |      "A thrilling tale of the adventures of the Great           |
    |      Field-Marshal.... Well written and makes a suitable gift   |
    |      book."                                                     |
    |                                                  --DAILY CALL.  |
    |                                                                 |
    |                                                                 |
    |  Also at 1/6 net                                                |
    |                                                                 |
    |  Lord Kitchener:                                                |
    |                                                                 |
    |  THE STORY OF HIS LIFE                                          |
    |                                                                 |
    |  By HORACE G. GROSER                                            |
    |                                                                 |
    |      "An excellent life... giving just the information the     |
    |      general reader requires, and its perusal enables           |
    |      everyone to understand the great part Lord Kitchener       |
    |      has played in recent history."                             |
    |                                                 --THE FIELD.    |
    +-----------------------------------------------------------------+


[Illustration: SIR JOHN JELLICOE AS CAPTAIN]


ADMIRAL JELLICOE

by

ARTHUR APPLIN







London
C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.
Henrietta Street, W.C.
1915




CONTENTS


    CHAPTER
       I. THE BOY AND THE MAN
      II. EARLY DAYS ON THE "BRITANNIA"
     III. CADET--MIDSHIPMAN--LIEUTENANT
      IV. THE SINKING OF THE "VICTORIA"
       V. THE BOXER RISING IN CHINA
      VI. THE SPIRIT OF DRAKE
     VII. AS ORGANISER
    VIII. VICE-ADMIRAL
      IX. 1911-1913
       X. SUPREME ADMIRAL OF THE HOME FLEETS




FOREWORD


In trying to chronicle the events in Admiral Sir John Jellicoe's life
one is faced with many difficulties, the greatest of which is that
hitherto his most important battles have been fought on land, behind
closed doors and, as far as the public is concerned, in the dark.

Although Sir John Jellicoe has seen active service in Egypt and in
China, has sailed his ships on many seas and gone down into the Valley
of the Shadow on no fewer than three occasions, he has nevertheless
managed to give valuable years to the Admiralty on shore; and it was
during the periods when he became successively Assistant Director of
Naval Ordnance, Naval Assistant to the Controller of Navy, Director of
Naval Ordnance and Controller of the Navy that his most valuable work
was done.

Another important position behind the scenes which he filled was that
of Superintendent of the building of ships of war in private as well
as in Royal Dockyards.

The object of this little book is better to acquaint the general
public with the man who stands with his hand at the helm of the Ship
of England's destiny, the ship in which we must all sink or swim.
Never since the days of Nelson has such a responsibility been vested
in one man. Never in the history, not only of our Empire, but of the
world, has the issue of the fight for sea power and supremacy been so
vital, so tremendous.

What our ships and sailors have accomplished in the past gives us hope
for the future, and courage to wait in the silence of the long night
that now hides England and her defenders from one another.

But above all we are confident, because we have faith in the man who
was sent us with the hour; the man on whom the cloak of the Emir of
the Sea--"Emir-al-Bahr"--has fallen.

That this brief sketch of the Sea Lord and his career is altogether
unworthy of him I am quite aware. My apology for offering it to the
public must be that it is the first attempt to give any coherent
account of his life that has been made. A life, as I have already
pointed out, which has been lived behind the scenes, devoted to duty,
careless of opinion, fearful of applause.

For the details of his career and a brief outline of the work he has
done I am indebted to his wife, Lady Jellicoe, who most kindly placed
at my disposal the few chronicles she possessed of his services, and
gave me all the help she could in my task even to the extent of
reading the MSS. of the volume before it was set up in type.
                                                            A. A.




ADMIRAL JELLICOE




CHAPTER I

THE BOY--AND THE MAN


If Admiral Sir John Jellicoe had been born in 1858 instead of a year
later, he would have first opened his eyes on this now sorely troubled
world on the Centenary of Nelson's natal day.

But the gods timed his arrival exactly one hundred and one years
later, and it was on the cold and blustering dawn of December the 5th,
1859, that Captain John H. Jellicoe was informed of the happy event.
How happy for the Empire, as well as for himself and his wife, the
gallant Captain little dreamed at the time.

Southampton was Jellicoe's birthplace, and he came of the race that
the sea breeds. His father, who only died in the autumn of 1914 at the
age of ninety, was Commodore of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
until he retired from active service at the age of seventy
years--still a young man. He then became a director of the Company and
took an active part in its affairs almost until the day of his death.

Though as British as the seas which christened the Admiral of the
Fleet and the Guardian of our Empire, Sir John Jellicoe's name is
derived from the French, and it is probable that the family originally
was of French extraction:--"Admiral Sir John Jellicoe serait, paraite
il d'origine francaise, et descendrait d'une famille protestante
emigree a la Revocation de l'edit de Nantes, et son Nom indiquerait son
origine. Jellicoe serait une sorte de contraction de Angelycois, nom
des habitants de St. Jean d'Angely."

Gentilcorps--anglicized Noblebody--would be the modern French
equivalent. There is an English surname somewhat similar,
"Handsomebody," a name that was found on the Honours List some five or
six years ago. Jellicorse is another form of Sir John's name, and it
is doubtless from this that one of the nicknames has been derived
which is popular among the men of the Fleet--Jellymould.

Admiral Patton, Second Sea Lord at the time of the Battle of
Trafalgar, was Jellicoe's great grandfather; it is something of a
coincidence that at the outbreak of the present World-War Admiral
Jellicoe was also Second Sea Lord. Jellicoe's youngest daughter is
called Prudence Patton, and Prudence Patton served King Charles II.
faithfully in the troubles and wars that filled that unfortunate
monarch's reign.

Like all popular men in the Service--with the sole exception of
Admiral May, who, though loved and respected by everyone, has, like
the Springtime, been always "May"--Sir John can boast a multitude of
nicknames.

"Jacky-Oh!" "Hell Fire Jack!" (owing to the revolution he made in
Naval gunnery), "All-Jelly" (reminiscent of Epsom Race Course on Derby
Day, but again due probably to the deadly effect of his ship's
gunnery), "The Little Admiral" (this in polite society), "Silent Jack"
and "Dreadnought Jack."

Jellicoe, as everyone