Percy Scott - Later Career

Later Career

Scott was promoted to rear-admiral in 1905 and was appointed inspector of target practice, a role created for him by his mentor Jackie Fisher. In 1907 Scott took command of the 1st Cruiser squadron of the Channel Fleet, under the command of Lord Charles Beresford. Because of a forthcoming fleet inspection by Kaiser Wilhelm II Beresford signalled all ships to abandon any exercises they were currently engaged in, to enable them to be painted and tidied. Scott's ships were in the middle of a gunnery exercise; he lost his temper and sent an insubordinate signal which resulted in a public reprimand. The Kaiser arrived two hours late and did not have time to inspect the fleet.

In July 1908 came what is referred to as the second signalling incident. Beresford signalled to the two columns of the third division of the fleet, which was under Scott's command, to turn inwards together. As the two columns were steaming on a parallel course with a separation of 1,200 yards (six cables distance) this would have caused the leading ships, the HMS Good Hope and HMS Argyll to collide. Scott ordered the Captain of the Good Hope to disobey the order, thus avoiding a repetition of the Victoria - Camperdown disaster. Beresford attempted to have Scott court-martialled, but the Admiralty refused. Scott was moved to a command outside Beresford's orbit and promoted to vice-admiral in December 1908. His new command involved commanding a squadron of four ships on a flag-waving cruise to South Africa departing in September 1908. This allowed him to fly his flag until February 1909, when he hauled it down and came ashore. During his final sea duty he had developed a gunnery routine based around simultaneous parallel firing of his ship's main armament centrally directed using the director-firing apparatus he had developed.

When he came ashore the Admiralty indicated he would receive no further sea postings and that he would render greater service to his country by continuing his work on director-firing than going to sea. In his autobiography he made the comment "this assurance appealed to my sense of humour, for I well knew that the Admiralty, as a body, were moving heaven and earth to prevent director firing being adopted." This was born out by the fact that shortly after his departure from the Good Hope the director firing system Scott had installed was stripped out. Nevertheless, he set to in order to try to change this. He gained support from Sir John Jellicoe, at that time serving as a member of the Navy Board, who authorised that one ship, HMS Neptune, should be fitted with the director system and work started in December 1910. Successful firing trials were conducted in March 1911 on the basis of which Jellicoe, by that time Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, proposed that all ships should be fitted. However, opposition came from the Admiralty and the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet (who ironically flew his flag on HMS Neptune, the only ship in the Navy fitted with the apparatus). In late 1911 orders were given for a second ship, HMS Thunderer, to be fitted out.

When Winston Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty he directed that a head to head trial should be arranged between Thunderer and another similar ship not fitted with the director apparatus. After delays and obfuscation the trials eventually took place in November 1912. The result was that at a range of 9,000 yards Thunderer was found to have scored six times as many hits as HMS Orion, considered to be the best shooting ship in the navy. In consequence Churchill ordered that 29 Dreadnought ships should be fitted with director-firing. However, on the outbreak of war in August 1914 work ceased after only eight ships had been completed. Work resumed three months later when Scott returned to take up a post in the Admiralty to expedite the programme.

The dragging of feet by the Admiralty although partly to do with many senior admirals' conservativeness, was also heavily influenced by Scott's unpopularity. Since 1905 he had outspokenly challenged the Navy's orthodoxy in gunnery culminating in late 1911 in a letter to the Admiralty which in effect accused them of endangering the nation. He had also involved himself from 1907 in further controversy criticising the Admiralty's decision to authorise the construction of new ships with their main mast behind the foremost funnel thus compromising the effectiveness of the gunfire observation position on the main mast. Although his view was later vindicated and the error put right at considerable expense, he was "..much disliked for his pains" when he pointed out "...the ships would be of no use for fighting purposes, unless they went stern first into action." Furthermore, his habit of appealing direct to the First Lord, the Admiralty's political master, made him no friends. Scott himself put their Lordships' resistance down to "...professional jealousy". He was, notwithstanding this, promoted to full admiral and created a baronet in 1913.