ABSTRACT
Patrick Blackett was the beneficiary of a revolutionary scheme of education in which the Royal Navy inspired by yet another of Fisher’s revolutions led the way. Ironically, at the beginning of the twenty-first century Admiral ‘Jacky’ Fisher still represents something of a paradox to naval historians, and an inspirational totem pole figure to the officer corps of the Royal Navy. Historians still praise and curse him. His sparkling naval career and his far-reaching reforms are viewed as being sublime. Yet the abject failure of the amphibious landings at Gallipoli during the First World War hangs over his reputation like a black storm cloud. Few serving officers today fully appreciate his far-reaching impact on their service. Perhaps through half-remembered lectures on naval history given at Dartmouth, the fact that he was responsible for the decommissioning of 154 ships will come to the mind of some. More will remember the launch of HMS Dreadnought in December 1906, and the revolutionary impact that this design of ship had throughout the world. Regretfully, only a handful of officers know of the percussive impact that Jacky Fisher had upon education in the Royal Navy prior to the Great War.
