Hugh Evan-Thomas - Service at The Admiralty

Service At The Admiralty

In 1905 Evan-Thomas became captain of the yacht HMS Enchantress, which was reserved for the use of the first lord of the admiralty (the government minister in charge of the navy). Shortly afterwards he became Naval Secretary to the First Lord and continued in that post under Lord Cawdor, Lord Tweedsmouth and Reginald McKenna. This was the period when John Fisher was first Sea Lord, and considerable changes were taking place in the composition of the navy. Although on good terms with his former commander Beresford, he also maintained a good working relationship with Fisher, despite the growing public feud between the two admirals.

In 1908 he returned to sea in command of the new dreadnought battleship HMS Bellerophon, the second of the new class of ships being created by Fisher. Bellerophon joined the Home Fleet commanded by Admiral Sir William May, who had once been Evan-Thomas' commander when onboard Ramillies. During fleet exercise in 1909, Bellerophon was given the task of 'fast scout', for the red fleet. On one day, she detected a group of four cruisers from the opposing red fleet, and was duly deemed to have sunk them, to the congratulations of all, including newspapers reporting the events. However, the next day trying to repeat the coup, Bellerophon instead emerged from mist to find six opposing battleships. This was the end of the exercise for Evan-Thomas. In April 1910, Bellerophon played host to trials of a new 'director firing system' devised by Percy Scott. The intention of the system was to control all main guns on the ship together, from a vantage point high on the ship, where an enemy could best be seen. Firing all guns simultaneously meant that the shells would fall at the same time, and the position of the splashes compared to an enemy vessel would give a good idea of how to correct the aim for the next shot. Evan Thomas was not impressed by the system, which ultimately proved essential in extending the range at which effective attacks on an enemy could be made. At the time, conventional wisdom in the fleet suggested a range of 8,000 yards was a reasonable distance to open fire, but in the forthcoming war, successful actions took place at more than twice this range, with the advantage going to the side who could fire accurately first.

In 1909 Evan-Thomas was offered the job of captain of the fleet, in effect a promotion. Instead, in July 1910 he accepted command of the Royal Naval college at Dartmouth (still known as HMS Britannia). It was intended that the two princes, Edward and Albert would attend the college, as their father (now King George V) had done. Fisher observed that the service would benefit from Evan-Thomas' time at the college, and it would be a favour to the king, but would not otherwise help his career. In February 1911 the college was struck by measles, causing the princes to be moved to Evan-Thomas own home until the outbreak was over. Both caught the illness, but happily survived, unlike one cadet who died. The Evan-Thomas household received various cures sent by anxious members of the public following news of the events. Edward, now Prince of Wales, left the college in March to go on to a posting at sea.

A second incident occurred when the king was expected to visit to unveil a statue of himself. A rumour spread about the school that someone intended to deface the statue just before the visit. Evan-Thomas attempted to prevent this by setting the staff on guard over the statue all night. The staff, being civilians, refused, and Evan-Thomas sacked them. Matters got into the press and the visit was cancelled, although this coincided with the national strike and the matter disappeared from public attention. In July 1912 Evan-Thomas was promoted to Rear-Admiral, not for any particular service but because it was his turn as the next most senior officer. He served on a committee, went on a training course, and then awaited a new command on half pay. In December 1913 he was appointed second in command of the first battle squadron of the Home fleet. Whether this appointment was encouraged by the king is uncertain, although royal intervention was certainly used to assist other naval officers at this time. Evan-Thomas record of achievement was sufficient in its own right to merit the appointment.