... once more into the fray ....
... you just never know ... might get it closer to right this time ...
Prologue
The Great War had begun for Great Britain on August 3rd, 1914, as with most previous wars, the development of new technologies and tactics would be needed if the foe would be vanquished, and this war would prove no different. In fact, it was the development of new technologies, along with new thought on their application, which would set the Great War apart from the countless conflicts that had preceded it. These technologies were myriad and very diverse in their nature. They began with measured advancements in thinking and manufacturing in existing products and design, such as ship design and armour placement. This process continued through new ideas and formats, which would hopefully counter new threats that had come to the fore in recent years. This development was further enhanced by the imaginative use of new ideas, ideas that would set up completely new areas of military usage and hopefully advantage as well.
The advancement of these new technologies would have major impacts on not only the structure of the Royal Navy, but on the minds of its strategic thinkers and tacticians alike. The Royal Navy would go to war in 1914 with the theory that the great battleships would be the dominant weapon in naval strategy. When the conflict would end in 1917, the battleship would still be a substantial threat to foes of the RN; it would now be seen more in a position of one among many, than the realized commander of the seas as it once was just a few years earlier.
While these new technological advances, as well as the proven production from previous advances, would be important to the coming victory, one must not forget that even with these in place, they would be of little use without the spirited and strong willed men who would put them to use in defence of King and Country. While there were indeed countless good and great men who would stand to face down the foe, it would be remiss to mention one who in the early days of the war dutifully filled his position against long odds. By his stance and actions in the trying early days of the war, he allowed for not only stability and pride of place in the Royal Navy, but set in motion much of the development of the amazing new technologies and processes. These would keep the Royal Navy on the cusp of new development for the duration of the conflict and into the future.
That man was Admiral of the Fleet Prince Louis Alexander of Battenburg.
Introduction
November 10th, 1914
The halls of the Admiralty were echoing with the footsteps of its staff as The First Sea Lord settled at his desk to begin his daily rote. At 58, Admiral of the Fleet Prince Louis Alexander of Battenburg was certainly feeling the strain of command after the tumultuous first months of The Great War. However, on this date it was more likely that he was feeling the vindication of one who had been delivered up from the unjust treatment of the righteous at the hands of those of a more base temperament and ideology.
Up until the start of the Great War, Admiral Battenburg had managed a long and illustrious career in the Royal Navy. While his family ties with the Royal Navy were indeed a factor in his rise through the ranks, it was not an unusual fact for a higher-ranking officer in the navy to attain his rank through royal or political patronage and connection. In fact, Admiral Battenburg had several times in his rise to his position as First Sea Lord, refrained from seeking out or accepting such assistance. He was in many ways a self-made man, under the conditions of the day.
However, with the war clouds gathering, it was the fact that he was not only foreign born, but of German descent as well, which was to draw him into the biggest challenge he had ever faced as a career officer. For there were those who would use his lineage against him as they in turn sought out their own rise to power. One at the forefront of such machinations was Lord Beresford.
Beresford had retired from the navy in 1911 after being denied the chance to rise to fill the position of First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, which he felt should be his. A longstanding feud between himself and Admiral John Fisher had put paid to any hopes of such a position being made available to him. Being that as it may, Beresford had not shrank from the opportunity to oppose anyone who he perceived as being in Fisher’s camp, and would use any means at his disposal to see his plans through to fruition. This legacy wad been borne out in previous years with his treatment of the likes of Percy Scott and others, as well as forcing Fisher himself to make an early retirement from his position as First Sea Lord.
Due to his position as a Member of Parliament, his connections with the elite of the nation, as well as a link to the King, Beresford fostered a growing condemnation of Battenburg holding the highest rank in the Royal Navy in many influential circles of power. His efforts would not be stifled and dealt with until weeks later.
Added to the issues regarding his heritage being pushed by Beresford, was the political head of the Royal Navy, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. Churchill, A young and dynamic man, had set out to bring more of the control of the day-to-day operation of the navy under his control. This became readily apparent in the period from the weeks just prior to Great Britain’s entry into the war, until his final resignation. The culmination of this effort actually happened quite early in that period when he ordered HMS Indomitable and HMS Indefatigable to engage the German battle cruiser Goeben after the loss of the SS Isle of Hastings on August the 3rd at Phillipville. The result of this would light the fires of scandals and accusations that were the backbone of those first three months of the war, in what came to be known as ‘The Long Ninety’.
If not all the politics, intrigue and infighting at the Admiralty had been enough; there had been the opening stages of a war to fight as well, a war that had been brought upon Great Britain by Churchill’s retaliatory response to the sinking of a British steamer at Phillipville on the 3rd of August. His poorly thought out and unilateral actions and series of confusing and complex signals to Admiral Milne, commander of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, would forever paint him as the man who brought Great Britain into the Great War.
There are many sides to this, as it has been felt by many historians that in all likelihood, Great Britain and her empire would have joined the fight by mid August at the latest, and as early as the next day. However, as with most historical debate, the potential of Great Britain’s entry into the conflict would be academic, and for all Churchill’s great political achievements in his long and sometimes brilliant career, that dark day of August 3rd, 1914 would always be his signature date.
The result of his orders set off numerous eddies in both the near and longer terms. The manoeuvring and actions from the 3rd of August, through the 6th, would be paramount in leading to the Admiralty Crisis of the fall of 1914. When HMS Indomitable, along with her compatriot HMS Indefatigable had intercepted the German battle cruiser Goeben and her consort, the light cruiser Breslau, on the afternoon of 3rd, there was an air of electric excitement through the Admiralty, as Churchill’s actions were thought to be justified. However, after the passage of four long hours, that mood became much more sombre, following the dramatic loss of HMS Indomitable after a heavy exchange of gunfire between the antagonists.
Not even the fact that the heavily damaged light cruiser Breslau was finished off by HMS Weymouth early the next morning would lighten the mood. Even as people would begin to look to the reasons behind the loss of one of the Royal Navy’s mighty battle cruisers, Churchill was already beginning to look for those who the blame might be shifted.
The final act, the Battle of The Straits of Messina, was when Admiral Troubridge and his command, the 1st Cruiser Squadron, caught the damaged Goeben, and brought the great German vessel to task. The battle, in which Troubrige's ships sank Goeben after a bloody action in which a good portion of the British cruisers were to sustain damage and numerous casualties, would be the final step, which would start what would come to be known as the Beresford Scandal.
After questions were asked as to why Troubridge had engaged the German battle cruiser without waiting for the arrival of Admiral Milne with the battle cruiser Inflexible, Churchill had laid the blame squarely with Troubridge, at a time when Admiral Troubridge, who was seriously injured in the battle, could not properly defend himself. This had initially covered the fact that Milne, a Churchill favourite and appointee, had bungled the arrival time of HMS Inflexible by his own orders. Stories would quickly spread questioning Milne’s lack of courage, as well as skill in command, which led to be attention once more focusing on Churchill, for Milne was one of Churchill’s appointees. Seeing an opportunity to further his anti-Battenburg crusade, it was at this point that Lord Beresford would weigh in with further very public statements supporting Churchill, while at the same time denigrating Battenburg.
Further troubles arose when it became common knowledge that the German Asiatic Squadron under Spee had been allowed to escape to the open seas due to Admiral Jerram’s' supposed failure to keep a proper blockade of the German port at Tsingtao on the Chinese coast. When it became apparent that the reason for the failure of the blockade and containment was more than likely due less to Jerram and more with Churchill’s attempts at managing fleet deployments across the globe, Beresford and his supporters increased their diatribes against the First Sea Lord and his supporters in an effort to deflect attention from Churchill. Almost by default, these two politicians would fall into lockstep, as Churchill strove to finalize his dominance of the Admiralty, While Beresford wanted to play out his vendetta against Admiral Fisher, which in his eyes was manifested in Admiral Battenburg.
However, while Churchill and Beresford would continue to up the ante as they strove to not only solidify their political positions, but also remove those who had stood up to them, there would be many who would see the development of this unholy alliance developing, and begin to take steps to impede its success. While these people were not well organized at first, as the days stretched into weeks, their front would solidify. With each passing day, Churchill and Beresford would find more of their agendas being challenged, as their threats, accusations and rhetoric would begin to lose credibility. As the challenges and counter accusations rose, both of these men failed to realize a more balanced approach might have netted better result. While some aspects of the final fall would last until the end, and after the first bits of information came out regarding Churchill’s attempts to manage the tactical movements of the fleet and the impact of his decisions, bits of their defences began crumbling almost immediately. This would be seen when Prime Minister Asquith’s cabinet moved shortly after the battles in the Mediterranean and the deployments of the China Squadron, to limit Churchill’s day to day control of the Royal Navy, much to Churchill’s ire. As Churchill lost his control, He would lose not only the ability to stand firmly of the backs of his underlings, but maybe possibly even more important in his own eyes, He lost status among his peers.
If Churchill had possessed a cooler temperament, and settled back at that point, He might well have weathered the storm and managed to maintain and even possibly build up his stature. However, with Admiral Beresford essentially goading him on, there could realistically be no other outcome for Churchill than what would be delivered up in Late October.
Further actions of the fleet would continue to sully the waters of the political sea, starting with the Empress of Britain incident off New York on the 9th of August, and then after a series of short sharp scraps between light forces in the North Sea, came the Battle of Helgoland Bight on the 28th of August.
At the Battle of Helgoland Bight, warships under the command of Beatty, Tyrwhitt, Keyes and Goodenough badly mauled German light forces. They sank seven light cruisers and five torpedo boats in the early stages of the battle, as well as several patrol craft and minesweepers in the early part of the battle. The High Seas Fleet eventually managed to sail a portion of their vessels in time to engage the retiring British forces.
In the ensuing later action, the three German battle cruisers and their lighter consorts gave a good account of themselves. Sinking the battle cruiser Inflexible as well as heavily damaging two more of the British battle cruisers and three of the light cruisers, as well as sinking a pair of destroyers. While they did not know it for some days, a shell hit on HMS Lion from SMS Moltke had killed many on the battle cruisers bridge, including Rear Admiral David Beatty. It was only the quick action of the ship’s badly wounded commander, Captain Ernle Chatfield, which saved the day and allowed the damaged British vessels to make good their withdrawal.
Before making good their escape, the British pummelled all three of the German battle cruisers, as well as sinking three more torpedo boats. The finale for the RN was the torpedoing of SMS Seydlitz by a Royal Navy submarine as the ship returned to port. The battle cruiser would survive, however it would be in dockyard hands until mid January, 1915.
Farther afield, in the vast expanses of the Pacific, Admiral Patey, with support from Jerram’s cruiser from China Station, would encounter the German Asiatic Squadron under Admiral Spee off Easter Island. The battle came by chance, as both forces chose the location to gather in scattered ships. In the ensuing action, von Spee’s force was routed, and only one light cruiser would escape. However, for the loss of two cruisers and a collier, the German threat to the Pacific was reduced to a nuisance level.
While most of these actions had been victorious for the Royal Navy, the losses had been substantial, and Beresford wasted no time in further deriding Battenburg’s efforts as a result of that, and playing down Churchill’s part in the battles. Churchill in turn would attempt to build himself up by shifting blame for problems in the battle to Patey and Jerram. Stiff responses from Battenburg, as well as other senior admirals in the fleet, who were themselves displeased by Churchill and Beresford, met these attempts.
While all this had been going on, many of the highest-ranking RN officers had been keeping close tabs on the situation. While there were a few that were solidly in the Beresford/Churchill camp, the bulk of the admirals were behind Battenburg, particularly after it was announced that the seriously wounded Admiral Troubridge would indeed face court marshal proceedings for engaging the Goeben.
At this point, none other than the redoubtable Admiral Fisher weighed in to the fight, lambasting not only Churchill’s antics, but the machinations of Beresford as well. Never happy with Churchill appointing Milne to command the Mediterranean Fleet, He stood firm for Troubridge and swore that he would stand for the maligned Admiral if the threatened court martial was to take place. Beresford’s response to Fisher’s entry into the fray was to retaliate by saying that as Battenburg was a favourite of Fisher, he would have expected no other response from Admiral Fisher.
Realizing that events were fast getting beyond his ability to control them, Churchill, seeking an easy egress, asked Battenburg to resign, citing his German borne heritage, explaining he would replace him with Fisher, which he felt would be better for the war effort. Luck would have it that Fisher would arrive to see Battenburg just as Churchill was leaving. Sensing something amiss, Fisher demanded and received the details and flew into a rage like few others seen within the walls of the Admiralty. In no uncertain terms, Fisher told a rather subdued Churchill that he would not replace Battenburg under such auspices. To further drive home the point, he wondered aloud as to if the whole exercise then underway was to simply allow Churchill to clear the First Sea Lord’s position for his associate Beresford, or one of his lackies.
On that note, Churchill himself lost his patience with the situation and after a loud and blistering attempt at a rebuttal; he turned to Battenburg and demanded his resignation the following day, before leaving. As Churchill left, Fisher informed Battenburg that it was time to ‘stop this rot’, and that Battenburg should not resign until further efforts were undertaken. When Battenburg asked just what those further efforts might be, Fisher simply told him to ‘Stay the course’ as he had a course of action about to start, before himself storming out of the office.
Probably more interesting than the fight at the political level, was what was taking place among the upper echelons of the Royal Navy. For while there were developing divisions among the RN’s admirals, for right or wrong, both sides were well connected with the Royal Family, whether though patronage, connection or friendship. With many British Admirals having connections to The Royal family, the King was able to stay well informed of the situation.
Therefore, it was that when Admiral Fisher was making preparations to ask for an audience, the King himself summoned him to the palace. For little to Fisher’s knowledge, Churchill had already been talking to Beresford, Beresford in turn had made a statement regarding ‘Our German King’s favourite German Admiral’. The statement found its way to the palace shortly thereafter, and with that, all holy hell broke loose.
In a rare moment, King George V asked to address the House of Parliament and the House of Lords regarding the issue at hand. After addressing the British parliamentarians, the King issued a statement to the press, stating his unflinching belief in not only the Royal Navy, but also Admiral Battenburg. He went on to state that any further slanderous attacks on the First Sea Lord would not be kindly looked upon by the Royal Family. Any further attacks on Battenburg would be considered an attack on the Royal Family itself.
At that point, Beresford’s misadventure quickly came unravelled. It started with Churchill, who refused to back Beresford further, and followed with an apology from Churchill to the King, Battenburg, and the British people, before resigning from the Admiralty. Admiral Milne would be retired immediately on his return to Britain, while several other flag officers would go quietly into retirement or be relegated to obscure postings.
Beresford himself managed one last bit of his now infamous stubborn streak when on the evening before he was to be censured by the House of Parliament, He was found dead in his private chambers, apparently dying from a possible stroke. It would be felt by many that knew him that the stroke that killed him was the last of possibly several smaller ones. In addition, that it was this series of strokes that may have caused noticeable personality changes in him in the preceding months.
During the period of time that the Scandal had ran out, the Royal Navy had stood to its duties and performed admirably, if not always completely successfully, as it went about the business at hand, and honourably maintained the British moat.
While the Germans still maintained a presence on the great oceans of the world, it had been reduced to a level that would allow the Royal Navy to concentrate their heavy units in home waters. While Admiral Battenburg was indeed a strained and battered old salt after the previous months, He had come through vindicated and unbroken. And under his leadership Britannia once more ruled the seas, and would do so for the foreseeable future.
It has been agreed upon by many historical scholars that this period was indeed Battenburg’s greatest achievement in his long and distinguished naval career. He is remembered for many great deeds in his time in the navy, his ability to keep the Royal Navy in best form through this formative period of the war set a shining example as to what could be done in trying times. As Well, He also set a pattern whereby those in command should operate when holding positions of great power, and take responsibility for their actions. For through all that he had faced in those gray early days of the Great War, Admiral Battenburg retained his cool quiet professional manner, which in turn earned him the deserved respect of all who came in contact with him.
While some still challenge this portrayal of Admiral Battenburg, they tend to overlook the fact that in this time period, His greatest threat-and of the RN as well- was not so much the activities of Central Powers as it was the Beresford-Churchill Axis. It is beyond the scope of this history to delve any further into these matters, but suffices to say that it would be questionable to imagine any other Admiral who might have managed so well operating under the threat of two such powerful foes as Beresford and Churchill.
Battenburg’s vindication at the end of the ‘Beresford Scandal’ should be probably being recognized as one of the Royal Navy’s greatest victories of the Great War as well. For through his victory in this dark struggle, the Royal Navy – and indeed the whole of the British Empire would be allowed to not only keep a core of the command structure in place in the naval side of the Admiralty, but to begin the process of a properly comprehensive command and control structure for the Royal Navy.
A side effect of this would be to foster the beginning of a new era in the appreciation of talent in all levels of the navy, as the case of Milne’s appointment and its aftermath, had allowed all to see the dangers of the continuation of such policies. Not only would the effort being made to promote more on talent help with the workings of the fleet in general, it would also aid and abet the promotion of needed steps in technological development, which would lead to victory. More importantly, it allowed the British government and military to see the benefit of working together for the common good, as well as to be wary of those who would seek positions of advantage, power and influence during those troubling times.
Some have made this change in promotion as having a sudden and direct impact on the Royal Navy. While it would have been near miraculous if indeed it had of happened that way, in fact it would be a labour stretched over many years in some cases. Where it did indeed have its best early impact was more than likely in the research, development and application of new technologies. The reason for this was that those who had in the past, used their influence and seniority to stand in the way of new ideas now found it was not in their own best interests to impede the introduction of new equipment and tactics. More and more, as the war would drag on, it was those officers that were delivering up new tactical thought, while at the same time integrating new tools into the fleet, that were on the fast track to the higher levels of command.
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With the Beresford Scandal behind him, and the Great War now well into its fourth month, Admiral Battenburg could at this point begin to better concentrate on the tasks at hand. A new First Lord had been appointed, or rather an old one had been re-appointed, Reginald McKenna. This was done at first as an interim measure with the removal of Winston Churchill, however after feeling each other out, Battenburg and McKenna would find that they might work together well and in the best interest of not only the Royal Navy, but the nation as well.
This discovery of common thought and ground was not so much a point of chance; rather it was more due to directive. There had been several private meetings and orders from Prime Minister Asquith and his cabinet on these matters. As well, it has been strongly rumoured that the King himself was involves as well, although this has never been proven. Being that as it may, Battenburg would get on well with his civilian superior, while McKenna in turn would give the respect and understanding needed for a proper working relationship between himself and Battenburg. As their time together increased, a strong understanding and friendship developed between them, a friendship that would last long after their professional parting of ways in 1916.
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