CHAPTER LII

THE MEDITERRANEAN STATION

Forty-four years had elapsed since I was a midshipman in H.M.S.

_Marlborough_, flagship in the Mediterranean, when I hoisted my flag in

H.M.S. _Bulwark_ as commander-in-chief upon that station, in June 1905.

Those changeful years had seen the Old Navy out and the New Navy in;

their revolutions had transformed the whole material aspect of the

Navy; and the essential spirit of the Navy, adapting itself to new

conditions remained unaltered. One result, perhaps inevitable, of the

swift progress of scientific invention, was that the public attention

was concentrated upon purely material matters regarding the Navy as a

fighting machine automatically operated; and conceiving of officers and

men as workers in a factory, who had nothing to do but to press buttons

and to manipulate levers. This unfortunate delusion was fostered by

the politicians, who were quick to use it for their own ends.

The Mediterranean Fleet consisted of _Bulwark_ (flag), _Formidable_,

_Implacable_, _Irresistible_, _London_, _Prince of Wales_, _Queen_,

_Venerable_ (flag of second in command, Vice-Admiral Sir Harry T.

Grenfell, K.C.B., C.M.G., and afterwards of Rear-Admiral Francis C. B.

Bridgeman, M.V.O.); three attached cruisers, three special service

vessels; the Third Cruiser Squadron, _Leviathan_, (flag of Rear-Admiral

the Hon. Hedworth Lambton, C.V.O., C.B.), _Carnarvon_, _Lancaster_,

_Suffolk_, two attached ships, and 22 destroyers.

The Staff consisted of: chief of staff, Captain Frederick {509} C. D.

Sturdee, C.M.G, M.V.O.; flag-commander, Fawcet Wray; flag-lieutenant,

Charles D. Roper (signal officer); flag-lieutenant, Herbert T. C.

Gibbs; secretary, Fleet Paymaster John A. Keys; engineer-captain, Edwin

Little; intelligence officer, Major John M. Rose, R.M.A. The

flag-captain was Osmond de B. Brock; the commander Hugh P. E. T.

Williams.

The Mediterranean is the finest training station in the world; and it

is the more to be regretted that the Mediterranean Fleet is always so

deficient in numbers, that Fleet training must be conducted at a

disadvantage. Eight battleships represent the smallest practicable

unit for tactical purposes, nor does that number allow sufficient

margin for the necessary deductions due to the absence of ships under

repair or refitting. Upon one occasion, six out of the eight were

absent under repair at one time, and in all cases the absence was

unavoidable.

The eight battleships required twenty attached cruisers, as compared

with the three allocated. Although improvements had been effected, the

Fleet in 1905 was still deficient in auxiliaries, such as fleet

colliers, repair ships, depot ships.

The popular and political delusion that under modern conditions the

duties of the naval officer have become mechanical is so far from the

reality, that, in truth, they have never been more complex and onerous;

nor is it possible that they should be rightly performed in war, in

default of the most assiduous practice in peace. It is thus the

business of an admiral constantly to exercise the Fleet both

collectively and individually; and as the discharge of that duty tasks

his energies to the utmost, there is little to record during a sea

command except the cruises, exercises and manoeuvres which constantly

occupy a Fleet.

In June, 1905, for instance, the Mediterranean Fleet left Malta and

proceeded upon a cruise; met the Atlantic Fleet at the end of July;

exercised combined manoeuvres with the Atlantic Fleet; proceeded upon

another cruise, and so {510} on; never going to sea without practising

some exercise or manoeuvre. All exercises and manoeuvres of importance

were treated in a memorandum, in which was explained the lessons to be

learned from them, and which was circulated to the officers of the

Fleet.

Every morning when the Fleet was at sea, except on Sundays and in very

bad weather, small tactical and turning movements were executed from

7.30 to 8 a.m., the movements of each individual ship being carried out

by the officer of the watch, all lieutenants taking it in turn to

relieve the deck, and being put in charge of the ship for this period

of time. The captains did not interfere in the handling of the ship,

unless the officer of the watch placed the ship, or a consort, in a

position of danger. The lieutenants themselves made out the

commander-in-chief's signals and their purport without the assistance

of the captain or of the yeoman of signals. Officers of the watch were

informed that they need not be afraid of making a mistake; for,

everyone was liable to make a mistake; and the rest of the Fleet

learned more when an error occurred than when all went smoothly and

correctly.

During the forenoons, there was usually practised some short manoeuvre

in which an admiral or a captain took charge of the Fleet, and

manoeuvred it as he pleased, the commander-in-chief reserving to

himself the right to negative any signal which he might consider

dangerous or useless. After the admirals and captains had manoeuvred

the Fleet as a whole, it was divided into opposing Fleets, officers,

selected by the commander-in-chief, taking charge of these Fleets.

Each squadron endeavoured to gain the initial position or advantage.

Once that position was obtained, the Fleets were ordered to separate,

and two other officers respectively took charge of the opposing

squadrons.

Great care was observed that orders relative to speed, and to the

distance within which opposing fleets were not to trespass, were

rigidly observed. Officers were informed that all peace manoeuvres

must be regarded as a game, and that {511} no game should be played

unless the rules were implicitly obeyed. The principle was that no

manoeuvre should last very long, being much more instructive if it were

short, and were frequently practised.

The practice of taking the soldiers for short voyages was instituted.

About twenty men of the Royal Garrison Artillery at Malta, with an

officer, a sergeant and a corporal, were embarked in each vessel, the

non-commissioned officers and men messing and working with the Royal

Marines.

The periodical delivery of lectures by officers of all branches upon

Service subjects was instituted, the lectures taking place under the

presidency of the commander-in-chief at the Royal Naval Canteen, Malta.

Discussions were encouraged, and a great deal of interest and

enthusiasm was aroused.

My old friend and distinguished countryman, Sir George White, who was

then Governor of Gibraltar, asked me to deliver a lecture to the

soldiers of the garrison upon the advantages of temperance. In dealing

with this subject, I always tell men to box, run, ride, row, and by all

means to get physically fit, when they would be in a condition they

would not forfeit for the sake of indulgence. On this occasion, I said

that, although I was over sixty years of age, I could outlast a

youngster in endurance, adding that "I never took any liquor now." The

address must have been reported in the English papers; for I received a

letter from a dear old lady (quite unknown to me) telling me how

thankful she was that I, as a public man, had given up the dreadful

vice of intoxication.

After I had consulted the head of every department in every ship

collectively, two detailed plans of war organisation were drawn up:

one, a plan of preparation for war; two, a plan for immediate action.

The first contained the procedure to be followed if war was expected;

the second, the procedure to be followed on the eve of an engagement.

Both covered every detail of the internal organisation of every ship in

the Fleet, and specified the duties of every officer, man and {512}

boy. These plans were circulated to the officers of the Fleet.

Another important element of preparation for war is the rapid and

efficient repair of defects. Under the old system, a defect which

could not be repaired by the ship's artificers--as for instance, a

piece of work involving a heavy casting or forging--was left until the

ship visited the dockyard, when the dockyard officials came on board,

took measurements, executed the work and fitted it to the ship. The

result was that there were many complaints of defective fitting.

Under the new system, introduced in the Mediterranean Fleet, all

repairs which could not be effected in the ship, were specified by the

ship's artificers, who also made measured drawings of the new work

required. The specifications and drawings were forwarded by the senior

officer to the dockyard, with directions that the work should be

executed as soon as possible, so that upon the arrival of the ship at

the dockyard, the required fitting would be at once supplied to the

ship. It would then be fixed by the ship's artificers who had

furnished the working drawings to the dockyard, and who, provided that

the work was rightly executed, would thus be responsible both for

accuracy of manufacture and of fitting. By this means, delay was

avoided and the work was efficiently and promptly executed.

Before I left England to take up my appointment, I resolved to do my

best to eradicate that curse of the Service, Malta fever. The

authorities were naturally sceptical of my success; for, although many

attempts had been made to solve the problem, no one had hitherto

succeeded in abating the scourge.

Certain obvious precautions were at once enforced. Junior officers

were not allowed to remain on shore after sunset, without overcoats;

all milk received on board was boiled; the Fleet was kept away from

Malta as much as possible during the dangerous months of June, July,

August and September; and the officers and men of those ships which

were at Malta during the summer, were sent upon long {513} route

marches and were afforded plenty of exercise to keep them fit. These

measures reduced the number of cases of Malta fever from 197 of the

previous year (1905) to 137.

But the main evil remained. A large number of cases contracted fever

in the Royal Naval Hospital, to which they had been sent to be treated

for other maladies, often requiring surgical treatment only. Great

credit is due to Deputy-Inspector-General Robert Bentham for the

improvements effected by his care and foresight. In order to prevent

infection, every cot was furnished with mosquito curtains; the traps of

all drains were kept clean and disinfected; and all milk supplied to

the hospital was boiled. The patients disliked boiled milk; and as

infected milk was smuggled in, the use of milk was forbidden

altogether. An isolation ward for fever cases was provided. All

openings were fitted with wire gauze and double doors.

The result was that in May, June and July, 1906, there were no cases of

fever contracted in the hospital.

Finding that fever patients recovered so soon as they were to the

westward of Gibraltar, the practice of sending all such cases away in

the _Maine_ hospital ship was instituted with excellent results. For

example, of sixty-two cases sent away, all but fourteen had recovered

by the time the ship reached England.

Deputy-Inspector-General Bentham was recommended by me for his services

to the Admiralty; but his services did not meet with the recognition

they deserved.

Shortly afterwards, the Malta Fever Commission completed the work, by

discovering the bacillus of the disease, and by abolishing the goats,

whose milk was the chief source of infection.

In October, 1905, the Prince and Princess of Wales, on their way to

India in the _Renown_, were met at the Straits of Messina by the

Mediterranean Fleet.

The centenary of the battle of Trafalgar, 21st October, 1905, was

celebrated by the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta. A naval review was

held on shore in the forenoon, three {514} thousand officers and men

taking part in it. Those captains of guns, including the Royal

Marines, who had made five hits or more in the gunlayers' competition,

117 in number, were formed into a company on the right of the line and

marched past first. At four o'clock in the afternoon, flags were

half-masted. At half-past four o'clock, guards and bands being paraded

facing aft, officers and men fallen in on the quarter-deck facing aft

and uncovered, the colours of His Majesty's ships were dipped slowly

and reverently; the bands played the Dead March, and at its conclusion

the colours were slowly rehoisted.

His Majesty King Edward VII honoured the flagship with a visit on 14th

April, 1906. About an hour before the King came on board, the awning

over the quarter-deck caught fire, owing to a short circuit of the

electric light. Lieutenant Gibbs, with great pluck and presence of

mind, instantly climbed upon the awning and extinguished the flames

with his hands, which were severely burned.

In March, 1906, the historic International Conference summoned to deal

with Moroccan affairs, was assembled at Algeçiras. Conversing with

some of the delegates, it seemed to me that an informal and a convivial

meeting might cheer them up and perhaps help to cement a friendly

understanding; and I invited them all to dine on board the flagship.

In order to avoid the bristling difficulties connected with

arrangements of precedence, the delegates were all embarked at the same

time in the s.s. _Margherita_, lent to me for the occasion; and were

all disembarked at the same time upon a platform erected at the level

of the upper deck, being received by the full guard and saluted. For

the same reason, no national anthems were performed. The President of

the Conference the Duke of Almodovar, was given the place of honour at

the dinner, the rest of the delegates sitting in the order of their

seniority. The single toast of the evening was to "all Sovereignties

and Republics," which needed no reply. After dinner, during which the

massed bands of the Fleet played {515} on the upper deck, the company

adjourned to the quarterdeck. I was informed by one of the

distinguished guests that the meeting had done much good, as the

delegates had not hitherto had an opportunity of meeting informally

together.

Upon the return of the delegates, magnesium lights arranged upon the

ends of the breakwater were lighted as the _Margherita_ passed between

them, and a searchlight display of 140 lights was given by the Fleet.

Vice-Admiral Sir Harry Grenfell, second in command, was a most

distinguished officer, a great sportsman, an accomplished athlete, and

a charming friend. His premature death was a sad loss to the Service.

Grenfell was so powerful a man that he could take a small pony under

one arm and walk about with it. I saw him perform this feat at a

luncheon party given by the Governor of Algeria, to whom the pony

belonged.

Grenfell told me the story of his extraordinary adventure in Albania.

The country is infested with wild and savage dogs, which are apt to

attack the traveller. The Albanians do not resent the dogs being

killed, if they are slain with a knife in self-defence; but to shoot

them the Albanians consider a mortal offence. Being aware of their

sentiments, I used to take with me a couple of Marines armed with

boarding pikes when I went shooting in Albania.

But when Grenfell went, he was accompanied by another naval officer,

named Selby, who, upon being attacked by a native dog, shot it. A

party of Albanians thereupon closed in upon Grenfell and Selby and

attacked them. There was a fierce struggle, in the course of which one

of the guns went off, the charge killing an Albanian. The accident so

infuriated the rest that they beat Selby, as they thought, to death.

They smashed in his skull, so that the brains protruded, and left him

for dead. Then they took Grenfell, lashed his hands behind his back,

set him on a three-legged stool, put the bight of a rope round his

neck, {516} and secured the other end to the branch of a tree, hauling

it taut. There they left him, in the hope that the stool would slip

and that he would be strangled. He remained in that position for three

hours.

In the meantime the interpreter who had come with Grenfell had run to

fetch an official of the country. The official arriving, released

Grenfell. Selby, dreadfully wounded as he was, actually walked back to

the ship, and lived until the next day.

But strong as Grenfell was, his terrible experience left him with an

extraordinary optical affliction. He was constantly haunted by the

illusion of an enormous ape, which he plainly saw both by day and by

night. He used to behold the phantom enter the room and sit on a

chair; and if a visitor came to see him, he would ask the visitor to

take the chair upon which the ape was sitting; whereupon the spectre

would move to another place. I am glad to say that he was eventually

cured of this distressing affection.

An Irish lieutenant of a regiment at Malta told me the following

pathetic story in a broad Irish brogue, his natural way of speaking:

"Me little brother and meself were very fond of rhabitting. The

loikely place was the family cemetery. There were lashings of holes

within it. One day by-and-by the ferret himself laid up, and with that

we dug him (bad cess to the work). We out wid a shkull. Me little

brother he says, 'That's profanation; it will be the shkull of an

ancestor,' says he. 'Niver moind that,' says I, 'we'll have a joke wid

it.' I ensconced it in me pockut. On getting within, I passed through

the kitcher and dhropped me ancestor's shkull (God forgive me!) into

the stock-pot. All went very well till dinner and we through wid it,

when the cook burst in in great qualms, and sheloodering at haste to me

poor mother, says she,

"'Glory be to God and save us, Milady, we are all desthroyed intirely,

for there's a man in the soup,' she says."

{517}

The same lieutenant went out shooting quail at Malta with a revolver,

and hit a Maltese in the wrong place, for which error he was heavily

fined.

When children's picnic parties were given on board the _Bulwark_, a

quantity of sand was heaped in a well upon the quarter-deck; spades and

buckets were provided; and the children dug in the sand to find

presents. When that entertainment failed, the bluejackets, ensconced

in barrels, performed Aunt Sally, bobbing up their heads, at which the

children threw light sticks, and which they invariably missed. I

noticed a small boy of about seven years old, a Spaniard, who stood a

little way off, contemplating this performance with his large dark

eyes, his hands behind his back. Presently, with air of abstraction,

he strolled quietly to the back of a barrel, where the deck was

littered with thrown sticks. Suddenly he picked up a stick, dodged

swiftly to the front of the barrel, and as the seaman's head shot up,

hit the poor fellow right on the nose, making it bleed. Then the

little wretch roared with laughter and capered in his joy.

On the 19th January, 1907, I took leave of the Fleet with very great

regret, and left Malta in the _Bulwark_, homeward bound.

{518}