In December of 1911 Vice-Admiral Jellicoe was back in Gibraltar, which thanks to the presence of the Fleet and its Commander’s popularity experienced quite the most successful season it had ever known. The American cruiser Chester was in port and did her share in the round of balls, dinners and sports which were held. The Gibraltar Jockey Club held its winter meeting on the picturesque North Front racecourse and attracted a remarkable and cosmopolitan gathering.

It was on December 13th that the Peninsular and Oriental steamer Delhi, conveying the Princess Royal and the Duke of Fife and their family to Egypt, ran ashore on the Moroccan coast off Cape Spartel.

The Delhi left London on December 8th, and just outside the Straits of Gibraltar she encountered a terrific gale.

The Atlantic Fleet should have left the Rock on the thirteenth, but when news was received of the disaster Jellicoe immediately sent battleships and cruisers to the assistance of the Delhi.

Great anxiety had been felt at Gibraltar throughout the previous night at the non-arrival of the Delhi, which was due the previous day, and arrangements had been made by the Governor and Admiral Jellicoe to visit the Princess.

The French cruiser Friant was the first to learn of the wreck, by wireless, and she was immediately sent to the scene: the sea was running very high, but at ten o’clock in the morning a steam launch put out from the Friant and succeeded in taking off twenty women and children and transferring them to the cruiser Duke of Edinburgh, which had arrived.

The gale increased in violence, but once again the Friant’s launch attempted to cross the boiling waters and rescue more of the Delhi’s passengers. The heavy seas, however, put out her fires and drove her ashore; nevertheless her plucky French sailors re-lit the fires and again launched their boat. But the breakers soon capsized her and threw her crew into the water, three of whom were drowned.

Towards the afternoon the seas went down and the British cruisers managed to establish communication between the Delhi and the shore.

Admiral Cradock was able to reach the Delhi in his pinnace and took off the Princess Royal and the Duke of Fife and put them ashore. But in landing they were nearly swept away and only reached the beach after a desperate struggle.

Eventually, all the passengers were safely got off the Delhi, and though part of her cargo was saved—including bullion to the extent of £500,000 which she was bringing back from India—she became a total wreck.

Admiral Jellicoe reached England in time to meet the King and Queen on their return from India, in the New Year; and in command of the Second Division of the Home Fleet he had the honour of escorting their Majesties—in the Medina—up the English Channel.

The ships under Jellicoe’s command which performed this duty were the Agamemnon, Colossus, Hercules, Lord Nelson, Britannia, Dominion, Hindustan and Orion, together with five cruisers.

Early in February Admiral Jellicoe had the honour of being received by His Majesty at Buckingham Palace, when the King invested him with the insignia of a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.

At this time Mr. Arnold White wrote a very interesting appreciation of Jellicoe which appeared in The Throne and which in many respects was almost prophetic. The article was headed “The Man and the Moment,” and in referring to the task which would confront Admiral Jellicoe—if war ever broke out—as Commander of the British forces at sea, he wrote as follows:

“Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe is the Emir upon whom our rulers have thrust the heaviest responsibility that rests on the shoulders of any man born of a woman. He is the man who has been told off to the job of commanding the British forces at sea when war breaks out. …

“Imagine what this means. Nelson’s supreme task, heavy as it was, was child’s play compared to the work that lies ahead of the Admiral who is now Second-in-Command of the Home Fleet. Nelson had hours to make up his mind before attacking his foe at the Nile, at Copenhagen, off the Spanish coast, and at the ‘crowning mercy’ of Trafalgar. Jellicoe will have ten minutes from the time that the best look-out man in his Fleet first sights the enemy’s Fleet through a modern telescope. Nelson could sleep o’ nights, undisturbed by wireless messages, torpedo attack, submarines, floating mines or aeroplanes. …

“The night before the great sea fight that will settle the future of Europe and the British Empire for two centuries, it is improbable that Jellicoe will lie down to sleep. Therefore it is obvious that he must be a man of great vitality, physical fitness, and tranquil mind, or the Government would never have placed eleven vice-admirals on the shelf—or ‘on the beach,’ as they say in the Navy—in order that a mere Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet should be lifted over the heads of all the senior officers who stood between Jellicoe and the command of England’s Home Fleet.” …

On May 8th, the King visited Portsmouth to inspect his Fleet and witness certain technical exercises and manoeuvres carried out. By far the most interesting event was Commander Samson’s flight in a hydro-aeroplane.

It was a wonderful performance, Commander Samson making his machine perform the most astounding evolutions. Other members of the Air Squadron gave superb exhibitions. The following day further remarkable evolutions were performed on, under and above water.

There followed a mimic naval battle between the “Red” Fleet under Admiral Sir George Callaghan and the “Blue” under Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, in which the “Blue” distinguished itself and “sank” and captured a great number of “Reds.”

In July a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate and report on the supply of oil fuel for the Navy, and Jellicoe was chosen as one of the members of the Commission. Lord Fisher was Chairman.

The significance of the appointment of this Commission was very great. It meant that the Navy was again faced with a revolution. The result of the investigations and the reports that were made we are now able to learn and appreciate.

In the fall of the year there were further changes made by the Admiralty. Prince Louis of Battenberg succeeded Sir Francis Bridgeman as First Sea Lord and Jellicoe was appointed as Second Sea Lord, which practically put him in complete control at Whitehall. The greatest satisfaction was caused in Naval circles by these changes.

When Jellicoe gave up his command of the Second Squadron of the Home Fleet he was given a great send-off by the ships assembled there and the following signal was flown from the flagship:

“The Rear-Admiral, Captains, Officers, and Ships’ Companies of the Second-Squadron express regret at the departure of the Vice-Admiral and wish him every success in his new appointment.”

Jellicoe replied by signalling his thanks and wishing the Squadron all prosperity.

One of the first important steps taken by the new Sea Lord in 1913 was to adopt the “Director” firing apparatus invented by Sir Percy Scott. It was decided to supply all ships of the Dreadnought type with this apparatus.

It was with the Thunderer and Orion that trials were first of all carried out, in the presence of Admiral Jellicoe and other naval experts.

The Thunderer was built at the Thames Ironworks and fitted with the “Director”; the Orion, a sister ship, was equipped with the “fire-control” apparatus.

The Thunderer and Orion are both of the same design and both cost the same amount to build.

The Thunderer, fitted with the “Director,” at a target 10,000 yards distant made eighty per cent. of hits. Such shooting as this was a revelation; nothing like it had ever been dreamed of. It was four or five times better practice than the Orion could make fitted with the “fire-control” system. It was better than any record made at 2,000 yards in the gunlayer’s tests.

In simple language Sir Percy Scott’s invention increased the hitting power of a ship, at long range and in a heavy sea, by four hundred per cent.

With its aid a tremendous broadside can be fired from a Dreadnought. The officer in charge of the “Director” has a special “cabin” or “room” in the fore of the ship, from which he can control and fire every gun. He can discover the exact range of the enemy, and the precise elevation for the guns. Every operation is controlled by the “Director”—excepting, of course, loading and cleaning the guns.

The Thunderer in 1913 could fire ten shells, each weighing 1,250 lbs., in one broadside. Each shell has a penetrating power of 1 foot at 10,000 yards.

The Iron Duke, Admiral Jellicoe’s flagship in 1914, can do even better than this.