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arly in 1914, whilst serving at the Admiralty as Second Sea Lord, I had been offered and had accepted the command of the Home Fleets, which in the ordinary course would have become vacant in the following December on the expiration of Admiral Sir George Callaghan's term of command, and public announcement was made of the intended appointment.

Sir George Callaghan was my senior by seven years, and he and I had served together in China fourteen years before, when I was Flag Captain to Admiral—afterwards Admiral of the Fleet—Sir Edward Seymour. He had since had what is probably a unique period of sea service, passing from one appointment to another without an interval of half pay. Soon after his promotion to flag rank he had become Rear-Admiral in the old Channel Fleet; thence he had gone on to the 5th Cruiser Squadron in 1907; two years later he became second in command in the Mediterranean, and on the expiration of his term there, in 1910, he returned to take up the appointment of Vice-Admiral commanding the Second Division of the Home Fleets, succeeding to the position of Commander-in-Chief in 1910. The usual period for which the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet was supposed to fly his flag was two years, but in 1913 the Admiralty, accurately interpreting the sentiment of the whole Service, extended Sir George Callaghan's appointment. And it was the approaching termination of this further period of command—to the regret of the Admiralty, for which I can speak from personal knowledge, and to the regret also of the officers and men of the Home Fleets—which led to my nomination in the spring of that year.