Jellicoe

London: Michael Joseph, 1981. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 320 pages. Illustrations. Maps. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Embossed stamp of previous owner, Alfred J. Reese, Jr. on title page and first index page. This is believed to be Colonel Alfred J. Reese. Jr. who was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class 542, 3 October 1946 and had a distinguished career that include serving as Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander, USA Support, Thailand, U.S. Army Pacific. Reese was the author of The Making of A US Army Logistician. John Pratt, pen name John Winton (3 May 1931 in London - 27 April 2001) was an English author and obituarist, following a career in the Royal Navy in which he rose to Lieutenant-Commander. He was born in London and served in the Korean War and during the Suez Crisis. Whilst still in the Navy, he wrote the comic novel We Joined the Navy, featuring the character of "The Artful Bodger". Several other novels, and a number of non-fiction works on naval subjects, followed, including a biography of Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe. Pratt also served for 14 years as an obituarist for The Daily Telegraph. Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO, DL (5 December 1859 - 20 November 1935) was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 during the First World War. His handling of the fleet at that battle was controversial. Jellicoe made no serious mistakes and the German High Seas Fleet retreated to port, at a time when defeat would have been catastrophic for Britain, but the public was disappointed that the Royal Navy had not won a more dramatic victory given that they outnumbered the enemy. Jellicoe later served as First Sea Lord, overseeing the expansion of the Naval Staff at the Admiralty and the introduction of convoys, but was relieved at the end of 1917. He also served as the Governor-General of New Zealand in the early 1920s. As a protege of Admiral John Fisher, Jellicoe became Director of Naval Ordnance in 1905 and, having been appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on the occasion of launching of HMS Dreadnought on 10 February 1906, he was also made an Aide-de-Camp to the King on 8 March 1906. Promoted to rear admiral on 8 February 1907, he pushed hard for funds to modernize the navy, supporting the construction of new Dreadnought-type battleships and Invincible-class battlecruisers. He supported F. C. Dreyer's improvements in gunnery fire-control systems, and favored the adoption of Dreyer's "Fire Control Table", a form of mechanical computer for calculating firing solutions for warships. Jellicoe arranged for the output of naval ordnance to be transferred from the War Office to the Admiralty. Jellicoe was appointed second-in-command of the Atlantic Fleet in August 1907, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS Albemarle. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on the occasion of the King's Review of the Home Fleet in the Solent on 3 August 1907. He went on to be Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in October 1908 and, having taken part in the funeral of King Edward VII in May 1910, he became Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet in December 1910, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS Prince of Wales. He advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on the Coronation of King George V on 19 June 1911 and confirmed in the rank of vice admiral on 18 September 1911. He went on to be Second-in-Command of the Home Fleet, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS Hercules, in December 1911 and, having also been appointed commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron in May 1912, joined the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines on 1 August 1912. He became Second Sea Lord in December 1912. Jellicoe was promoted to full admiral on 4 August 1914 and assigned command of the renamed Grand Fleet. Jellicoe was appointed First Sea Lord in November 1916. His term of office saw Britain brought within danger of starvation by German unrestricted U-Boat warfare. Jellicoe was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 3 April 1919.