The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-01-07
SIR JOHN JELLICOE.
Chief admiral of Englands Great
Fleet.

Tie uSSl SOlSlSlo VI q 'eSS ANN---N
of great ships, few we'll known
names, usually OF those who nave
long ago hauled down their f1ags,
and nothing more. The newspapers
tell us day by day how this battle
cruiser or that submarine has been
added to Britain's first line OF de-
Tense: occasionally the character OF
a momentarily prominent admiral
appears in their columns; naval con-
troversy may perhaps reveal the
names of one or two experts IN some
branch of the service; or the IRE
pressible taste for polemics which
is so strong in some others (who
shall be nameless) may lead them in
to the arena of the press in defense
of their own naval nostrums; but the
work of the feet and its real COM
manders are rarely, if ever. revealed
to the public gaze. although we
have always paid the navy the lip
service of hailing it as our main de-
fense. we have been content to re-
main singularly ignorant of the char
acteristics and qualities of the men
who will use our great weanon Oh
war" Naval officers, in other words,
with the exception of those lrrepress-
ible controversialists limited at above,
are not newspaper heroes.
Thus. with the probable exception
of the great dreadnaught controversy
the revolution in naval affairs since
the opening of the century has come
about almost unknown to the public
at large. Here and there signs OF the
new, alert spirit of the fleet have ap-
peared: but, in the main, the trans
formation of the navy which accom-
panied its transfer from the Medl-
terranean to the North Sea was
known only to itself. The finest
flower of this new era, Admiral Sir
John Jellicoe, has thus escaped the
embarrassing notice of the public and
the press: but today his appointment
to the supreme command Of the
home fleets reveals the sterling merit
which has long been preparing in
silence.
Sir John Jellicoe is strongly built
man. somewhat below middle height,
with dark hair and eyes. and prom
inent nose. His cast of face is nelth-
er typically naval nor typically Brit
ish; for it combines evidence of high
lv trained intellectual qualities with
the freshness and clearness of the
open-air athlete who loves and cher
ishes his muscles more than his brain.
Mems fortis in corpore fortlsslmo
might be the Jellicoe motto; though.
to be sure, in mufti, the admiral in
command of the British fleet in the
greatest war the world has ever
known might be taken by a stranger
to be nothing more impressive than
shrewd and successful barrister with
foreign blood somewhere in his an
cestry. Therein lies the deceit of
appearances. Jellicoe is not law
yer. nor has he alien blood in him;
but his power of command does not
lie in the flashing eye, the imperious
tone, and the overmastering person
ality which have been attributed to
some great commanders in the past.
There is a certain serenity In his
whole temperament, quiet tlrmness
in his voice, and steady. clear look
IN his eye, all betokening that sure
command of self which gives COM
mand other others in every emer-
gency he is ready; when a ship was
wrecked on the rocks near Gibraltar
in 1880 it was Lieut. Jellicoe who
steered the boat that went out to
rescue the crew, and nearly lost his
life in the daring attempt: when the
Victoria was rammed blythe Camper
down in the Mediterranean, Jellicoe,
tying a fever invalid in his bunk on
the Victoria, was pulled out at the
last minute by a brother officer, and
sank with his ship. but rose to the
surface again and was rescued. Other
officers who shared this experience
were content to say that they had
had enough of the sea. but Jellicoe
took it all ''ip the stride" and with
in few years was again in the zone
of danger. In 1900 he was captain
of H. NJ. S. Centurion, and chief of
staff to Vice Admiral Sir Edward
Seymour during the combined opera
tions for the relief of Pekin. He was
severely wounded at Peitsang. recov-
cred, and received the second order
of the Red Eagle from the kaiser for
his services in China. In his 40 years
of service in the fleet he has passed
through a great multitude of eXpe-
riences, and has come through them