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Letter from Admiral of the Fleet 1st Lord Fisher (Grand Hotel National, Lucerne [Switzerland]), to WSC, on naval gunnery and warship design, advocating "size and subdivision" against the "torpedo bogey". [Typescript copy at CHAR 13/2/112-113].

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Letter from Sir Marcus Samuel [later 1st Lord Bearsted] to Admiral of the Fleet 1st Lord Fisher on the use of the internal combustion engine by the Royal Navy, with press cutting from the Evening Standard on the German plans for a 14,000 ton liner propelled by motor engines.

Scope and Contents Letter from Admiral of the Fleet 1st Lord Fisher (Grand Hotel National, Lucerne, [Switzerland]) to WSC, on the new Board of Admiralty; also on warship design, criticising the Controller of the Navy [Rear-Admiral Charles Briggs] and the Director of Naval Ordnance for wanting to perpetuate battleships of the "Tortoise" type: "all armour no speed, inadequate armament and d--d costly"; advocating building 30 knot oil fired battleships as the United States was planning to do. [Typescript copy at...

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Letter from Admiral of the Fleet 1st Lord Fisher (Grand Hotel National, Lucerne, [Switzerland]) to WSC, advocating the need for speed in warships, suggesting that he order a 30 knot battleship with eight 13.5 inch guns for 1.995 million pounds, to be delivered in two years ready for fighting. [Typescript copy at CHAR 13/2/124-126].

Scope and Contents Letter from Admiral Sir John Fisher, Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth (Admiralty House, Portsmouth [Hampshire]), to Rear-Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg [Director of Naval Intelligence, later 1st Lord Milford Haven], on submarine warfare, stating that the submarine would displace the gun and revolutionise naval tactics, and suggesting that the output of submarines should be doubled at any cost. [Hand-written copy, with annotations by Fisher, written in 1911; typescript copy at CHAR...

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Letter from Admiral Sir John Fisher [Commander-in- Chief, Portsmouth] (Admiralty House, Portsmouth [Hampshire]) to Arthur Balfour [Prime Minister] on submarine warfare, stating that the submarine would displace the gun and revolutionise naval tactics, suggesting that the output of submarines should be doubled at any cost. [Hand-written copy, with annotations by Fisher, written in 1911; typescript copy at CHAR 13/2/132-134].

Scope and Contents Letter from Admiral of the Fleet 1st Lord Fisher (the Excelsior, Naples [Italy]) to WSC, with congratulations on the appointment of Sir Francis Hopwood [as additional Civil Lord of the Admiralty, later 1st Lord Southborough], citing examples of waste in the Admiralty; also deeply regretting WSC's "halting steps about submarines", stating that they were the one "strategical and tactical requirement both in a war with Germany and to attract the United States to us"; also hoping that he had met...

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Minute by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on the Naval Estimates [2 typescript copies, one annotated by WSC].

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Statement by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on the naval estimates for 1914-15, particularly the 16.996 million pounds for new construction and armament. [Carbon copy, with manuscript annotations by WSC and others].

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], to the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven], on the executive list of War Requirements for 1920, detailing the composition of the 1920 War Fleet. [Carbon; final folio of minute at CHAR 13/6B/452].

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the 1st Sea Lord [Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman], 2nd Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] and 3rd Sea Lord [Vice- Admiral Charles Briggs], on destroyer design. [Carbon copy].

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, March 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: Major-General Leslie Hollis [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet]; the Chiefs of Staff; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chief Whip [James Stuart].Subjects covered by the minutes include: matters concerning the command structure, including...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, April 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff.Subjects covered by the minutes include: the Japanese threat to the Falkland Islands; discussion of operation "Ironclad" [code name for British occupation of Diego Suarez, Madagascar]; the British naval...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, May 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence].Subjects covered by the minutes include: aircraft production; bombing policy; operation "Ironclad" in Madagascar; the availability of ammunition for the Home Guard; naval operations in the Indian Ocean;...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, June 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; the Chiefs of Staff; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet].Subjects covered by the minutes include: discussion of proposed operations against Germany in northern Norway ("Jupiter"), Spitsbergen ("Jackpot") and France...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, July and August 1942. Some written by WSC when in the Middle East.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; Major-General Leslie Hollis [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet]; Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet].Subjects covered by the...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, December 1942.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; Director of Movements [War Office, General Noel Holmes]; General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; Colonel Ian Jacob [Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet]; Chief Whip [James Stuart].Subjects covered by the minutes include:...

Scope and Contents Letters from 1st Lord Beaverbrook [former Minister for Aircraft Production and Minister of Supply, earlier Max Aitken] to WSC, Lord Cranborne [Lord Privy Seal, later 5th Lord Salisbury] and Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the Cabinet] on the aircraft and shipbuilding programme, including the lack of dive-bombers, asking for minutes of the Defence Committee of Supply and on his speech in the House of Lords on anti-tank gun development; also includes a letter from A V Alexander [First Lord of...

Scope and Contents Correspondence between Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, A V Alexander [First Lord of the Admiralty] and Herbert Morrison [Home Secretary] on Keyes's allegations of corruption in dockyards and delayed ship repairs; with memorandum by Alexander on Keyes's allegations, extracts from the Sunday Times and the Times, notes between Leslie Rowan, John Martin and Edith Watson [Private Secretaries to WSC] and Clifford Jarrett [Principal Private Secretary to Alexander], Alan Ker, Admiralty and...

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Minute by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on submarine provision, stating that he felt that it should be substantially increased. [Carbon].

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Letter from King George V (Buckingham Palace [London]), to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], expressing delight at the victory of Vice-Admiral Sir (Frederick) Doveton Sturdee [over Admiral von Spee in the Battle of the Falkland Islands].

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Admiralty memorandum on the warship construction programme, 1914-16. [Typescript copy on Colonial Office notepaper].

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Admiralty statement on the cost of new programmes and expenditure on new construction (Votes 8 and 9) in the nine years of the Dreadnought era and of the Liberal Administration, 1905-14. [Printed for circulation to the Cabinet].

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, June 1940.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; the Chiefs of Staff; F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell] and Desmond Morton [Prime Minister's Personal Assistants].Subjects covered by the minutes include: the evacuation and reconstitution of the British Expeditionary Force;...

Scope and Contents Prime Minister's printed personal minutes, July 1940.Includes texts of minutes from WSC (annotated with additional printed information) to: General Sir Hastings Ismay [Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence]; the Chiefs of Staff; members of the Cabinet and other government ministers; Sir Edward Bridges [Secretary to the War Cabinet]; F A Lindemann [later 1st Lord Cherwell] and Desmond Morton [Prime Minister's Personal Assistants]; Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces [General Alan Brooke,...