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Naval Commanders
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John 'Jacky' Fisher
John
Arbuthnot Fisher was born on January 25,
1841, in Ramboda, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In
July 1854, John Fisher entered the Royal
Navy aboard HMS Victory at Portsmouth.
Fisher joined HMS Warrior as Gunnery
Lieutenant in March 1863, and served as a
gunnery instructor at HMS Excellent from
1864 to 1869. More promotions and commands
followed with Fisher becoming Aide-de-Camp
to
Queen Victoria in 1887 and Rear Admiral
in August 1890. His rise in the ranks
continued as he became Third Sea Lord, then
Second Sea Lord and finally, on October 20,
1904, First Sea Lord. In December 1905, John
Fisher gained the Royal Navy’s Highest Rank,
Admiral of the Fleet. During his career,
Fisher streamlined naval ship building at
Portsmouth, increasing the speed of ship
builds and cutting costs. He also oversaw
development of torpedo boat destroyers and,
as First Sea Lord, he reduced naval budgets
by selling off outdated ships. As Chairman
of the Committee on Designs, Fisher was
instrumental in the development of the
Dreadnought battleships, and battle cruisers
such as HMS Invincible. He also championed
the use of submarines in the Royal Navy.
John Fisher Died from cancer on July 10,
1920. |
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Gunther Lutjens
Gunther Lutjens was born on May 25, 1889, in
Wiesbaden, Prussia. Lutjens began his
service in the Kaiserliche Marine (German
Imperial Navy) in 1907, becoming an officer
by the beginning of WW1. Serving during WW1
in the torpedo boat squadron, Lutjens ended
the war as Kapitanleutnant and had earned
the 1st and 2nd class Iron Cross. He stayed
with the torpedo boat squadron after the war
and, in 1925, became a Commanding Officer.
By October 1937, Lutjens had become Rear
Admiral (Konteradmiral) in the Kriegsmarine.
Following the outbreak of WW2, Lutjens
commanded destroyer operations in the North
Sea and gained promotion to Vice Admiral. He
became fleet commander after his
contribution to Operation Weserubung and, on
September 1, 1940, he was promoted to
Admiral. Gunther Lutjens arranged and
carried out Operation Berlin In January
1941. The operation, which involved
assisting U-boats in raids on Atlantic
convoys, led to the launch of Operation
Rheinubung. In this operation, Lutjens
commanded the battleship
Bismarck and heavy
cruiser Prinz Eugen in another attempt to
attack Atlantic convoys. After sinking HMS
Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait,
Bismarck was caught by the British and sunk.
Gunther Lutjens died aboard Bismarck during
it’s sinking on May 27, 1941. |
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