FISHER 



3172 



FISHER 



books include; Studies in Napo- 

 leonic Statesmanship, 1903; and 

 Napoleon, 1913. He became war- 

 den of New College, Oxford, in 1925. 

 Fisher, JOHN (c. 1459-1535). 

 English prelate. He was educated 

 at Cambridge, becoming master of 

 Michail House 

 in 1497 and 

 chancellor of 

 the university 

 in 1504. In 

 1497 he had 

 beenappointed 

 confessor to 

 Henry VII's 



John Fisher, mother, Mar. 



English prelate garet, countess 



Afterffolbein o f Richmond, 



and in 1503 became the first Lady 

 Margaret professor of divinity. In 

 1504 he was made bishop of 

 Rochester. He was a keen oppo- 

 nent of Henry VIII' s divorce from 

 Catherine of Aragon, was impri- 

 soned in the Tower in 1534 for re- 

 fusing to swear to the Act of Succes- 

 sion, and on June 22, 1535, was 

 beheaded on Tower Hill for refusing 

 to recognize Henry as supreme head 

 of the Church. He had been created 

 a cardinal on May 20. He was a 

 zealous humanist, and was instru- 

 mental in bringing Erasmus to 

 Cambridge. He was beatified on 

 Dec. 9, 1886. 



Fisher of Kilverstone, JOHN 

 ARBUTHNOT FISHER, IST BARON 

 (1841-1920). British sailor. Born 

 Jan. 25, 1841, at Rambodde, in 

 Ceylon, he entered the navy on 

 June 12, 1854, on board the 

 Victory at Portsmouth, " penni- 

 less, friendless, and forlorn," as he 

 wrote himself. He saw active 

 service in the Calcutta with the 

 Baltic fleet during the Crimean 

 War and later in China, when he 

 was present atthe capture of Canton 

 and the attack on the Peiho forts. 



Promoted captain in 1874, he 

 commanded the Inflexible at 

 the bombardment of Alexandria, 

 1882. He landed there with the 

 Naval Brigade, and was the adap- 

 tor of the armoured train, which he 

 commanded in several engage- 

 ments, receiving the C.B. for his 

 services. In Feb., 1892, he was 

 appointed to the board of admiralty 

 as controller of the navy, a post 

 which he held until Aug., 1897, 

 when he took command of the 

 squadron on the N. America 

 station. Fisher returned to Europe 

 in 1899 to represent British naval 

 interests at the Hague peace con- 

 ference. From July, 1899, until 

 May, 1902, he was commander-in- 

 chief in the Mediterranean, and on 

 his return was appointed second 

 sea lord of the admiralty. " 



He was largely responsible for 

 the scheme of entry and training 



for naval officers which abolished 

 the Britannia, substituting the 

 colleges at Osborne and Dart- 

 mouth, and trained executive 

 officers, engineers, and marines 

 together up to the rank of lieu- 

 tenant, after which they specialised 

 into the various branches. From 

 Aug., 1903, to Oct., 1904, he was 

 commander-in-chief atPortsmouth, 

 and served as a member of Lord 

 Esher's committee on national 

 defence. He was appointed first 

 sea lord on Oct. 21, 1904, and re- 

 signed this office in 1910. 



Remarkable changes in naval 

 organization and material were 

 carried out in this period, due 

 mainly to the rapid rise in strength 

 of the German navy and to the 

 development of naval ordnance 

 and the science of gunnery. The 

 British fleets on foreign stations, 

 particularly in the Mediterranean 

 and the Far East, were drastically 

 reduced, and in 1907 a Home Fleet 



was formed which, two years 

 later, absorbed all of the commis- 

 sioned naval forces in home waters. 



Lord Fisher, who was knighted 

 in 1894 and created a baron in 

 1909, was the creator of the Dread- 

 nought and battle-cruiser type, 

 and the introducer of oil fuel and 

 submarines into the British navy. 

 His work in improving the shooting 

 of the navy was of the utmost 

 importance. He was specially 

 promoted to admiral of the fleet, 

 and was appointed in 1912 chair- 

 man of a royal commission on oil 

 fuel in relation to the navy. He 

 was recalled to be first sea lord 

 on the resignation of the marquess 

 of Milf ord Haven, Oct. 29, 1914. , 



He took steps to lay down 612 

 new ships of various types, many 

 of which were designed for special 

 work in the Baltic. He also 



ordered a large number of aircraft, 

 including the small airships often 

 known as " blimps," which proved 

 of great value for reconnaissance 

 in the early stages of the war at 

 sea. He advocated the intro- 

 duction of much heavier guns, and 

 had a battle cruiser planned which 

 would have mounted six or eight 

 20 -in. weapons. 



In one very important matter 

 Fisher's naval leadership was de- 

 fective he attached insufficient 

 importance to tactical training and 

 to the spiritual side of his pro- 

 fession. He provided admirable 

 weapons, but not the staff to use 

 them to the best effect, and he 

 never properly understood the 

 necessity of a staff in modern war. 



He strongly opposed the Dar- 

 danelles expedition, and was with 

 difficulty prevented from resigning 

 when it was ordered, early in 1915, 

 by the Cabinet. He finally resigned 

 on May 15, 1915, on the ground 

 that ships required by the Grand 

 Fleet in the North Sea were being 

 imperilled at the Dardanelles. 

 Though publicly censured by the 

 Dardanelles committee for his con- 

 duct, he refused to defend himself. 



In the general conduct of the 

 war he was successful ; the decisive 

 result of the battle of the Falkland 

 Islands, Dec. 8, 1914, was entirely 

 due to his action in sending two 

 battle cruisers secretly from the 

 North Sea, despite the opposition 

 of the Cabinet and the British com- 

 manders in home waters. In July, 

 1915, he was appointed president 

 of the board of invention and 

 research. He died July 10, 1920, 

 retaining to the last his vigour of 

 mind and speech. His letters to 

 The Times in 1919-20 were memor- 

 able for the refrain " sack the lot," 

 and he always spoke of himself as 

 " ruthless and relentless." Yet he 

 had a warm heart and never bore 

 malice to a fair critic. Beyond 

 question he was one of the great 

 figures of his age, and did much to 

 achieve the British victory. 



H. W. Wilson 



Bibliography. Lord Fisher on the 

 Navy : A Series of Articles reprinted 

 from The Times, Sept., 1919; Re- 

 cords, 1919 ; Memories, 1919. 



Fisher, SIR NORMAN FENWICK 

 WARREN (b. 1879). British civil 

 servant. Born Sept. 22, 1879, he 

 was educated at Winchester and 

 Hertford College, Oxford. He was 

 private secretary to Sir Robert 

 Chalmers, 1908-10, and a special 

 commissioner of income tax, 1910- 

 13. He was on the National Health 

 Insurance Commission, 1912-13, 

 and a commissioner of inland 

 revenue in the latter year. Deputy 

 chairman of the board of inland 

 revenue, 1914-18, he was chairman 



