Life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson #226969

Having had the good fortune to serve under Sir Arthur Wilson for six years as his Flag Captain and Chief of the Staff, in the Majestic, Revenge, and Exmouth, and being therefore well acquainted with many of the facts and events of an important period of his career, I was asked by his relatives to write or compile his biography. I felt that this task was worthy of a more competent hand than mine and I hesitated, but urged by their wishes, and by the fact that my long association with him officially had ripened into a warm feeling of friendship and regard which called for an effort to perpetuate his memory, I agreed to make the attempt. The kind sympathy and help that I received from Miss Wilson and others encouraged me to persevere, and I now present the results in the following pages.<br><br>Sir Arthur Wilson's naval career began in a sailing ship of the line and ended as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, after the Dreadnought had become the accepted type of capital ship. In the course of the revolution in ideas and practice which was involved in this far-reaching change in ships and in their motive power and weapons, he contributed very largely to the development of the mine, to the invention of the submerged torpedo-tube for use on board ships, and at the same time to the corresponding measures of defence for the protection of ships from attack by these weapons.