author
John Rushworth Jellicoe
1859–1935
A leading British admiral at the center of the First World War at sea, he is best remembered for commanding the Grand Fleet at Jutland and for the debate that followed. His career stretched from the age of empire to the modern battleship era, giving his story both scale and tension.
2 Audiobooks
The Crisis of the Naval War
by John Rushworth Jellicoe
The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916 : its creation, development and work
by John Rushworth Jellicoe
About the author
Born in Southampton in 1859, Jellicoe entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in the early 1870s and built a reputation as a skilled officer and gunnery specialist. Before the First World War, he served in conflicts including the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion, and he was closely involved in the navy's modernization during the age of the dreadnought.
He became commander of the Grand Fleet in 1914 and led Britain’s main battle fleet through the opening years of World War I. He is most closely linked with the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, the war’s biggest naval clash, where his cautious and heavily scrutinized decisions have been argued over ever since.
Later, he served as First Sea Lord, the Royal Navy’s professional head. Remembered as a serious, methodical commander rather than a flamboyant one, Jellicoe remains an important figure in naval history because so much rested on his judgment at a moment when control of the sea mattered enormously.