William Wordsworth Fisher

Admiral SIR William Wordsworth Fisher, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., Royal Navy (26 March, 1875 – 24 June, 1937) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War.

Early Life & Career

As Template:LieutGRN in King Edward VII, as enterpising naval persons were fairly required to do, Fisher exploited a gap in the rules of a pre-war prize firing to have all his light gun crews use the same single, slavishly perfected and tweaked gun mount. It sported a super-sized telescope and the results were astounding: crew after crew was hitting 19 of 20 rounds on a 10-foot square target at over a thousand yards. The winning performance inspired rule changes for the coming year's competition.

Fisher was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 July, 1912.

Post-War

Fisher was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 1 November, 1922, vice Green.

Assessment

Marder wrote of Fisher:

But for his death when C.-in-C., Portsmouth, he would probably have succeeded Chatfield and become, no doubt, one of the great First Sea Lords in British naval history.

Bibliography

• "Admiral Sir William Fisher" (Obituaries). The Times. Saturday, 26 June, 1937. Issue 47721, col C, pg. 16.
• "Ecclesiastical News" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 27 September, 1946. Issue 50567, col B, pg. 13.
• "Obituary" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 2 February, 1962. Issue 56235, col E, pg. 14.
• James, Admiral Sir William Milbourne, Royal Navy (1943). Admiral Sir William Fisher. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd.
• Template:BibMarderFDSFII
• Template:BibUsborneBlast

Papers

• Papers in the possession of the National Maritime Museum.
• Papers in the possession of Churchill College, Cambridge.

Service Record

• The National Archives. ADM 196/44.