Sir Arthur Wilson, 3rd Baronet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Order of the Medjidie (Ottoman Empire)
Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark)
Order of the Netherlands Lion

First Sea Lord but in that role he "was abrasive, inarticulate, and autocratic" and was really only selected as Admiral Fisher's successor because he was a supporter of Fisher's reforms. Wilson survived for even less time than was intended by the stop-gap nature of his appointment because of his opposition to the establishment of a Naval Staff. Appointed an advisor at the start of World War I, he advocated offensive schemes in the North Sea including the capture of Heligoland
and was an early proponent of the development and use of submarines in the Royal Navy.

Early career

Born the son of

lieutenant on 11 December 1861.[1] After a tour in the steam frigate HMS Gladiator, he joined the gunnery school HMS Excellent at Portsmouth in April 1865.[1] He became an instructor at the new Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Yokohama in Japan in May 1867 and then at the new training ship HMS Britannia in January 1869.[1]

Wilson became a member of the committee investigating the effectiveness of the

first lieutenant in the steam frigate HMS Narcissus in October 1872.[1] Promoted to commander on 18 September 1873,[2] he became second-in-command in the new steam frigate HMS Raleigh in January 1874.[3]

Wilson (second from right) at a party given for holders of the Victoria Cross by King George V at Wellington Barracks

In 1876 Wilson became commander and chief of staff at the new torpedo school HMS Vernon, where his duties included rewriting torpedo manuals, inventing aiming apparatus and developing mine warfare.[3]

El Teb

Promoted to

Anglo-Egyptian War; on arrival, working with Captain John Fisher, he installed a heavy gun on a railway carriage and created an improvised armoured train.[3] He was awarded the Ottoman Empire Order of the Medjidie, 3rd Class on 12 January 1883.[4]

Early in 1884 the Hecla was sent to Trinkitat on the Red Sea coast of Sudan to support British troops defending Suakin during the Mahdist War.[3] Wilson attached himself to the Naval Brigade and the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

On 29 February 1884, at the

1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, came to his assistance.[5]

Admiralty and Fleet command

The battleship HMS Exmouth, Wilson's flagship as Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet

Wilson became Flag Captain to the

coronation. Wilson took part in the review with the Majestic.[15]

He went on to be Commander-in-Chief,

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 9 November 1906.[19]

First Sea Lord

Wilson was promoted to

First Sea Lord in January 1910.[21] In this role he was, according to Hew Strachan, "abrasive, inarticulate, and autocratic"[22] and was really only selected as Admiral Fisher's successor because he was a supporter of Fisher's reforms.[22] He took part in the funeral of King Edward VII in May 1910.[23]

Wilson gave a poor account of himself at the Committee of Imperial Defence meeting after the Agadir Crisis, at which he said that in the event of war the Navy planned to land the Army on the Baltic Coast, an old plan of the recently retired Admiral Fisher, apparently derived from the Seven Years' War of the mid eighteenth century. According to the memoirs of Lord Haldane, Field Marshal Nicholson (Chief of the Imperial General Staff), asked Admiral Wilson whether the Admiralty had maps of German strategic railways (to show how the Germans could rush reinforcements to invasion spots), and when Wilson said it was not the Admiralty's business to have such maps, Nicholson openly rebuked him and said that if the Navy "meddled" in military matters they needed not just to have such maps but to have studied them.[a] The meeting was carried by a lucid presentation by Brigadier-General Henry Wilson, and Prime Minister H. H. Asquith (who thought the Royal Navy plan "puerile and wholly impracticable"[25]) ordered the Navy to fall in with the Army's plans to deploy an Expeditionary Force to France. After the meeting Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and began setting up a Naval Staff (Admiral Fisher having been opposed to setting one up), whilst Hankey began to draw up the War Book detailing mobilisation plans.[26]

Wilson survived for even less time than was intended by the stop-gap nature of his appointment because of his opposition to the establishment of a Naval Staff.[27] In the opinion of historian Hew Strachan: "the combination of frequent change and weak appointees (Wilson, Bridgeman and Battenberg) ensured that the professional leadership of the Royal Navy lost its direction in the four years preceding the war".[22] Wilson left the Admiralty in December 1911 and received the Order of Merit on 8 March 1912.[28] He was recalled by Winston Churchill in 1914 at the start of World War I to provide advice on strategy.[27] He advocated offensive schemes in the North Sea including the capture of Heligoland[27] and was an early proponent of the development and use of submarines in the Royal Navy.[29][30] He ceased his role as an advisor in November 1918 and inherited a baronetcy from his brother in October 1919.[31]

He died, unmarried, in

Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth.[33]

Nicknames

Wilson's nickname of 'Tug' is thought to come from a reference to the boxer "Tug" Wilson, who had come to prominence shortly before Wilson received his Victoria Cross, and was noted for his tenacity.[34] It has since become a common nickname, especially in the Navy, for men called Wilson.[35] He was also known as 'Old 'Ard 'Art' for his refusal to consider the cares and comforts of officers and men.[36]

Notes

  1. ^ This exchange is not reflected in the official minutes of the meeting.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Heathcote, p. 265
  2. ^ "No. 24018". The London Gazette. 19 September 1873. p. 4255.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Heathcote, p. 266
  4. ^ "No. 25189". The London Gazette. 16 January 1883. p. 280.
  5. ^ "No. 25356". The London Gazette. 21 May 1884. p. 2277.
  6. ^ "No. 25773". The London Gazette. 5 January 1888. p. 213.
  7. ^ a b c d e Heathcote, p. 267
  8. ^ "No. 26264". The London Gazette. 4 March 1892. p. 1275.
  9. ^ "No. 26637". The London Gazette. 25 June 1895. p. 3592.
  10. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36432. London. 18 April 1901. p. 10.
  11. ^ "No. 27318". The London Gazette. 28 May 1901. p. 3637.
  12. ^ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  13. ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. p. 4189.
  14. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36848. London. 16 August 1902. p. 8.
  15. ^ "The Coronation – Naval Review". The Times. No. 36845. London. 13 August 1902. p. 4.
  16. ^ "No. 27586". The London Gazette. 11 August 1903. p. 5057.
  17. ^ "No. 27769". The London Gazette. 28 February 1905. p. 1503.
  18. ^ "No. 27826". The London Gazette. 11 August 1905. p. 5532.
  19. ^ "No. 27965". The London Gazette. 9 November 1906. p. 7551.
  20. ^ "No. 28001". The London Gazette. 5 March 1907. p. 1574.
  21. ^ Heathcote, p. 268
  22. ^ a b c Strachan, p. 380
  23. ^ "No. 28401". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1910. p. 5481.
  24. ^ Harley, Simon. "114th Meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence". The Dreadnought Project. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  25. ^ Jeffery 2006, p 96–7
  26. ^ Reid, p. 167–70
  27. ^ a b c Heathcote, p. 269
  28. ^ "No. 28588". The London Gazette. 8 March 1912. p. 1743.
  29. ^ Hore, pp. 312–313
  30. ^ Lambert, N., p. x
  31. ^ Heathcote, p. 270
  32. ^ "Burial location of Arthur Wilson". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  33. ^ "Location of Arthur Wilson's Victoria Cross". Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  34. ^ Bradford, Edward Eden (1923). Life of Admiral of the fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, bart. London: John Murray. p. 224.
  35. ^ Partridge, Eric (1949). A Dictionary Of Slang And Unconventional English (3rd ed.). p. 560.
  36. ^ Lambert, A., p. 343

Sources

Further reading

External links

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Military offices
Preceded by
Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy

1897–1901 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Senior Officer in Command, Channel Squadron
1901–1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet
1903–1904 		Succeeded by
Renamed the Channel Fleet
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet
1905–1907 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
First Sea Lord

1910–1911 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Delhi)
1919–1921 		Extinct
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