---
title: John Jellicoe
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/john-jellicoe/
description: 4 verified quotes from John Jellicoe, Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet (1914 to 1916); later First Sea Lord and Earl Jellicoe, with sources.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: a First World War field-intelligence collage of trench maps, wireless transmission logs and aerial reconnaissance photographs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-wwi.jpg)

[Quotes](https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/) · United Kingdom

# John Jellicoe

![Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, 1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/images/asquith-government/john-jellicoe.jpg)

[Photo](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Admiral_Jellicoe_LCCN2014697061.jpg): Bain News Service, Public domain (PD-Bain; no known restrictions, Library of Congress)

Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet (1914 to 1916); later First Sea Lord and Earl Jellicoe · United Kingdom

On the regime page: [Asquith government](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/asquith-government/#john-jellicoe)

4 quotes, oldest first. [Filter with other speakers](https://propagandaarchive.org/quotes/#speaker=john-jellicoe).

1. > “Weather conditions of a highly unfavourable nature robbed the Fleet of that complete victory which I know was expected by all ranks, which is necessary for the safety of the Empire and which will yet be ours.” — June 4, 1916 · Statement · HMS Iron Duke — Issued to the Grand Fleet four days after the Battle of Jutland, when, in Jellicoe's own words in the memorandum, full information was not available. — Memorandum by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe to the Grand Fleet, HMS Iron Duke, 4 June 1916, para. 3, as printed in The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916 (London: Cassell, 1919), pp. 412-413 [Source](https://archive.org/details/grandfleet19141900jell)
2. > “Our losses were heavy and we miss many most gallant comrades, but, although it is very difficult to obtain accurate information as to the enemy losses, I have no doubt that we shall find that they are certainly not less than our own.” — June 4, 1916 · Statement · HMS Iron Duke — In the same memorandum Jellicoe gave the Fleet his estimate of German losses at Jutland, stating that accurate information was very difficult to obtain. — Memorandum by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe to the Grand Fleet, HMS Iron Duke, 4 June 1916, para. 4, as printed in The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916 (London: Cassell, 1919), p. 413 [Source](https://archive.org/details/grandfleet19141900jell)
3. > “I wired to the Admiralty suggesting that the loss of the Audacious should be kept secret for as long as possible, so that the enemy should not learn of it, as the fact would afford him encouragement at a time when the military situation was extremely critical for the Allies, and also because, as a general policy, it was desirable to conceal from the enemy any serious losses of which he could otherwise have no immediate knowledge.” — 1919 · Book — Jellicoe's account of the loss of the battleship Audacious to a mine off the north coast of Ireland on 27 October 1914. The liner Olympic, carrying American passengers who photographed the sinking ship, had been held at Lough Swilly. — Admiral Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa, The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916: Its Creation, Development and Work (London: Cassell, 1919), p. 150 [Source](https://archive.org/details/grandfleet19141900jell)
4. > “One other factor exercised a cramping effect upon our naval strategy throughout the War, namely, the bombardment of our undefended towns on the East Coast. Such bombardments were of no immediate military value to the enemy, but, in spite of the fact that the majority of the Press, and the public, realised that the Navy should not be led into false strategy because of these bombardments, it was difficult for the Fleet to ignore them, and I have no doubt that the Germans relied upon this fact.” — 1919 · Book — In a chapter on the strategic position of the Grand Fleet, Jellicoe lists factors that limited the Fleet's freedom of action, including the German naval bombardments of the east coast of England in 1914 and 1916. — Admiral Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa, The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916: Its Creation, Development and Work (London: Cassell, 1919), p. 25 (chapter 'Strategy in Home Waters') [Source](https://archive.org/details/grandfleet19141900jell)