Introduction

Long before the outbreak of war in 1914 the defensive preparations of the Supreme Command had devolved upon the Committee of Imperial Defence; historically, however, the preparations may be said to have begun before its foundation. In the case of an Empire whose existence depends upon sea-power it was natural that the Navy should have been the first to realize the new orientation of world politics that was developing in the early years of the twentieth century and to adjust its arrangements thereto. There were some who regretted that Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher of Kilverstone had passed his prime when war broke out. Within nine months of joining the Mediterranean Fleet he was promoted to the rank of captain at the early age of twenty-two years and less than four years after entering the Royal Naval College.