Arthur Knyvet Wilson, Third Baronet

Admiral of the Fleet SIR Arthur Knyvet Wilson, Third Baronet, V.C., O.M., G.C.B., G.C.V.O. (4 March, 1842 – 25 May, 1921) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life and Career

Wilson was born in Swaffham, Norfolk, on 4 March, 1842. He was the third son of Commander (later Rear-Admiral) George Knyvet Wilson RN (1798–1866), and his wife, Agnes Mary, daughter of the Revd William Yonge (d. 2 December, 1845), aged ninety-two, vicar of Swaffham, 1799–1845. Wilson attended Eton College from 1852 to 1855; he entered the navy in 1855, and was immediately employed on active service in the Black Sea during the later stages of the Crimean War. Subsequently he joined his relative Captain Henry Keppel on board the Raleigh, destined for the China station. After the Raleigh was wrecked Wilson transferred to the flagship Calcutta and served with distinction through the Second Opium War, notably at the capture of Canton (Guangzhou) in 1858. After service in the Pacific, Wilson passed his examinations for Lieutenant in 1863, but with seniority back-dated to December, 1861, for his outstanding results. In 1867 he joined a naval mission to Japan, under Commander Richard Tracey, and helped to lay the foundations of the Imperial Japanese Navy. On his return he spent a year on the cadet training ship Britannia, before serving as the junior member of a committee appointed to examine the capabilities of the Whitehead, or locomotive, torpedo in 1870. He then served afloat for six years, his professional skill, enthusiasm, and resource coming to the attention of several senior officers, notably Sir Astley Cooper Key (First Sea Lord, 1879–85). Having been promoted commander in September, 1873, Wilson joined a new Raleigh (Captain George Tryon), in the detached squadron from 1874 to 1876. In 1876 he was appointed commander of the Vernon, a hulk in Portsmouth harbour recently established as a torpedo school. For the next three years Wilson devoted his great talent and energy to the use of torpedoes and mines, particularly mine counter-measures, a vital task for a sea-control navy that expected to operate in hostile coastal waters. He was promoted Captain in April, 1880.

After Wilson had revised the torpedo manual Admiral Key appointed him to the pioneer torpedo depot ship Hecla in 1881. He was present at the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882 and, with John Fisher, played a major part in operations on shore. Two years later he landed with a machine gun detachment at Trinkitat in the Sudan, during the campaign against Mahdists, and won the Victoria Cross (21 May 1884) for his gallantry at the battle of al-Teb on 29 February 1884. When one corner of the infantry square broke Wilson held off the Mahdists with his sword and, when that broke, his fists, until relieved. After a spell commanding the Raleigh on the Cape station, and serving under John Fisher as assistant director of torpedoes, Wilson was appointed to the Vernon in 1889, which had now become a separate command. He developed the submerged torpedo tube, the twin torpedo launcher for torpedo boats, and net-cutters to deal with the protective nets then deployed against torpedoes.

Wilson commanded the battleship Sans Pareil in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1892 to 1895, being present on 22 June, 1893, when the Victoria was rammed and sunk with the loss of his old captain, Sir George Tryon. Wilson had not approved of Tryon's radical ideas on tactics, and had been annoyed when Tryon poached his commander, John Jellicoe, for the flagship. After serving as temporary flag captain to Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, Wilson, as senior captain, worked on cruiser scouting systems and exercised independent command. He was promoted rear-admiral in June 1895, and after conducting important exercises with the new destroyers, served at the Admiralty from 1897 to 1901 as controller of the navy and third sea lord.

Controller of the Navy & Third Sea Lord

Arthur Marder described him as a "very able controller".

At the end of 1900, Wilson wrote:

The attempt to produce great results on a small displacement has in the past been the cause of many of our failure. Ample power and strength of all parts in every machine and ample space for work of every kind are the conditions of real efficiency, and cannot be encroached upon without risk of breakdown or loss of time in carrying out some important operation. The breakdown of one auxiliary machine at a critical moment, the straining of a bulkhead under pressure, a few seconds lost in the time in the loading of the guns, or the difficulty of carrying out some repair owing to a cramped space may do infinitely more harm than the increase of size necessary to give an ample margin of strength and space.

In 1901, entirely opposed to the first lord's policy on the contentious issue of boilers, he was offered command of the channel squadron, and was promoted vice-admiral.

Home Fleet

Wilson hoisted his flag in H.M.S. Revenge on 21 May, 1903, with Rear-Admiral Poë as his second-in-command.

A young officer later recorded of Wilson's time as Commander-in-Chief:

In matters of duty he was as hard as granite, and under his command the Home Fleet became virtually a 'School for Battle'. At sea his ships were kept on a war footing by day, and were often darkened and manœuvred without lights at night. He was also a tactician who studied tactics by practical use of the Fleet he commanded. The lessons, however, he kept to himself, so, unfortunately, there was no record of them for the education of the younger officers.

Channel Fleet

Wilson laid the foundations of the fleet handling systems used in both world wars; his success in the 1901 annual manoeuvres established the system of cruising in columns and deploying into line just before battle that was used by his disciple Jellicoe at Jutland. In 1903 he conducted the world's first anti-submarine exercises, developing many of the counter-measures used in the world wars, including those involving depth charges and nets. His refusal to come into harbour for Christmas earned him the sobriquet Old 'ard 'eart from the lower deck. Regarded by many, including John Fisher, as the pre-eminent fleet commander of the era, Wilson was an arch centralizer, who allowed his subordinates no latitude. He imposed the highest standards of seamanship, but expected his captains and junior flag officers to obey without question. Even as first sea lord he could not resist using the new wireless telegraph to control the movements of a fleet from Whitehall during the 1910 manœuvres. Before he hauled down his flag in March 1907 Wilson received the GCVO (1906), the GCB (1906), and promotion to admiral of the fleet. In November 1907, building on experiments he had conducted in 1906 with his gunnery lieutenant, Frederic Dreyer, he directed the trials of Arthur Pollen's innovative computerized fire control system, which he rejected as imperfect, too complicated, and too expensive. Although it came at a time when he had retired, his promotion to admiral of the fleet kept him on the active list until 1912.

First Sea Lord

In January 1910 Wilson was appointed First Sea Lord in an attempt to heal the divisions within the service created by John Fisher's controversial regime. He took the post with reluctance. The complex political demands of the Admiralty were not congenial to a man bred for the quarter-deck, and long used to having the final word. He found Whitehall a severe trial, lacking the interpersonal skills, political sensitivity, and sheer pleasure in strife that marked his predecessor. While he pushed through important work on the war orders, minesweeping, and other technical issues he lacked the breadth of vision to stamp his personality and opinions on the service. Never happy in his new position, Wilson was exposed as unsuitable by his disastrous performance at a meeting of the committee of imperial defence on 23 August 1911. The global blue-water strategic ideas that Wilson expressed at the meeting were based on long experience, and offered the only programme whereby Britain could hope to exert any influence on European politics at a time when the other powers all possessed million-man armies. However, his poor performance in debate gave the upper hand to a more articulate, if devious, Henry Wilson and the army general staff. This led to the effective adoption of a ‘continental’ military strategy by the Asquith ministry, in defiance of experience, logic, and the national interest. After this failure the first lord (Reginald McKenna) and Sir Arthur Wilson had to be removed. McKenna was replaced by Churchill, who was sent to the Admiralty to introduce a naval staff, push through other reforms, and ensure co-operation with the army. Wilson's position had become impossible, and Churchill dismissed him in December 1911. Although he had the support of several naval officers on the board, Wilson had to go. He left office with little regret; having taken it up without enthusiasm he saw his early retirement as a blessing. Once again he retired to his sister's house in Swaffham. He was awarded the OM in 1912, but declined a peerage. He remained involved with the service, for he had had no other interest in his life, being unmarried and strikingly austere in his personal habits. In late October 1914 Churchill summoned him back to the Admiralty to assist his old colleague, Fisher, who was once again first sea lord. Despite the antagonism of 1911 he accepted the offer, on condition he should have no official position, or salary. Despite his disinterested gesture he inevitably became enmeshed in the vicious political struggle between Churchill and Fisher, being placed on the list of people to be removed from the Admiralty if Fisher was to continue. Wilson's urging of offensive schemes in the North Sea, notably the capture of Heligoland, have been derided by many commentators, but the principles were correct, and with attention to the operational details they were worthwhile measures. When Fisher resigned in late May 1915 Wilson agreed to replace him, but only if Churchill continued in office; in the interval he acted as first sea lord, until Sir Henry Jackson took office. Thereafter Wilson devoted his time to staff duties, notably technical developments concerning submarines and anti-submarine warfare, areas in which he made an important contribution. He remained active until August 1918, when he went back to Beech Cottage, Swaffham, Norfolk. Having declined a baronetcy in 1912, in October 1919 he succeeded his brother as third baronet, a title his uncle had earned in 1857 at the capture of Delhi. After the war Wilson devoted himself to local work for returning former servicemen and other worthy causes, remaining active until a few days before his death from pneumonia at Beech Cottage, Swaffham, on 25 May 1921, still unmarried. He was buried in Swaffham church.

Wealth at death; £26,876 16s. 10d.: Administration, 26 July, 1921.

Bibliography

• Bradford, Admiral Sir Edward Eden (1923). Life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson. London: John Murray.
• Lambert, Nicholas A. (1995). Murfett, Malcolm H.. ed. The First Sea Lords: From Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-94231-7.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/37.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/14.

Naval Office
Preceded by The Lord Fisher	First Sea Lord 1910 – 1911	Succeeded by Sir Francis Bridgeman