Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty
Churchill's two stints running the Royal Navy -- modernizing the fleet before World War I and leading the naval war against Hitler.
First Stint: Preparing the Fleet (1911-1915)
Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in October 1911 at the age of 36. He inherited a Royal Navy that was the world's most powerful but faced a mounting challenge from Kaiser Wilhelm II's rapidly expanding German High Seas Fleet. The naval arms race between Britain and Germany was one of the primary drivers of pre-war tension in Europe.
Churchill threw himself into naval affairs with extraordinary energy. His most consequential decision was converting the fleet from coal to oil propulsion. Coal-fired ships required vast stoking crews and lengthy refueling stops. Oil-fired ships were faster, could refuel at sea, and needed fewer sailors. But Britain had abundant coal and virtually no domestic oil. The switch made the Royal Navy dependent on Persian oil, leading Churchill to push the government into acquiring a controlling stake in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (the forerunner of BP) in 1914.
He also championed the development of the 15-inch gun for the new Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, overriding cautious admirals who preferred the proven 13.5-inch weapon. He created the Royal Naval Air Service, recognizing before most military leaders that aircraft would transform warfare. And he established a Naval War Staff to professionalize strategic planning, overcoming resistance from admirals who saw it as bureaucratic interference.
