This volume of essays is designed to fill an existing gap in the literature devoted to modern British naval history by providing a scholarly analysis of the First Sea Lords from the time of Admiral Fisher to that of Earl Mountbatten. Apart from assessing the role and performance in office of the individual First Sea Lords from the time of the "Entente Cordiale" in 1904 to the heyday of the Macmillan premiership in 1959, this book also reveals the extent of the influence each of these experienced sailor-administrators exerted upon British naval policy-making in the 20th century. Strongly rooted in primary as distinct from purely secondary source material, these essays are informative, fair and balanced portrayals of the individual First Sea Lords and the impact they have had upon both the Admiralty's administrative and strategic domains. Written by a range of established and emerging naval historians from around the world, this book gives praise where it is due, but it is also sharply critical of the shortcomings of those who, once installed in office, did precious little.
This volume of essays is designed to fill an existing gap in the literature devoted to modern British naval history by providing a scholarly analysis of the First Sea Lords from the time of Admiral Fisher to that of Earl Mountbatten. Apart from assessing the role and performance in office of the individual First Sea Lords from the time of the "Entente Cordiale" in 1904 to the heyday of the Macmillan premiership in 1959, this book also reveals the extent of the influence each of these experienced sailor-administrators exerted upon British naval policy-making in the 20th century. Strongly rooted in primary as distinct from purely secondary source material, these essays are informative, fair and balanced portrayals of the individual First Sea Lords and the impact they have had upon both the Admiralty's administrative and strategic domains. Written by a range of established and emerging naval historians from around the world, this book gives praise where it is due, but it is also sharply critical of the shortcomings of those who, once installed in office, did precious little.
Preface
Acknowledgements
The First Sea Lords (1904-1959): An Overview by Malcolm H.
Murfett
Admiral Sir John (later Baron) Fisher (1904-1910; 1914-1915) by
Barry M. Gough
Admiral Sir Arthur Knyvett-Wilson, V.C. (1910-1911) by Nicholas A.
Lambert
Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman-Bridgeman (1911-1912) by Nicholas A.
Lambert
Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg (1912-1914) by John B.
Hattendorf
Admiral Sir Henry Bradwardine Jackson (1915-1916) by Malcolm H.
Murfett
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe (1916-1917) by Donald M. Schurman
Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss (1917-1919) by James Goldrick
Admiral David Earl Beatty (1919-1927) by Brian Mc.L. Ranft
Admiral Sir Charles E. Madden (1927-1930) and Admiral Sir Frederick
L. Field (1930-1933) by Nicholas Tracy
Admiral Sir Ernle (later Baron) Chatfield (1933-1938) by Eric J.
Grove
Admiral Sir Roger R.C. Backhouse (1938-1939) by Malcolm H.
Murfett
Admiral Sir Dudley Pound (1939-1943) by Robin Brodhurst
Admiral Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (1943-1946) by Michael
Simpson
Admiral Sir John H.D. Cunningham (1946-1948) by Malcolm H.
Murfett
Admiral Lord Fraser of North Cape (1948-1951) by Tom Frame
Admiral Sir Rhoderick McGrigor (1951-1955) by Eric J. Grove
Admiral Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1955-1959) by Geoffrey Till
Select Bibliography
Index
Filling an important gap in the literature, this book analyzes the role and performance of the First Sea Lords.
MALCOLM H. MURFETT completed his undergraduate program at Leeds University and won a scholarship to New College, Oxford, in 1974. While working on his doctorate in Modern History, he was chosen to become the Principal Research Assistant to the Earl of Birkenhead. After spending five years on the officially commissioned, single-volume biography of Sir Winston Churchill, he was appointed Lecturer in Modern History at the National University of Singapore and was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1986. Mr. Murfett has also been a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford, a Visiting Professor in Modern British History at York University, Toronto, and a Visiting Fellow at University College, University of New South Wales in Canberra. He became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1990.
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