(c) crown copyright
Catalogue Reference:CAB/23/2
Image Reference:0048
Printed
for the War Cabinet.
May 1917.
SECRET.
W A R CABINET, 130.
Minutes
of a Meeting of the War Cabinet held at 1 0 , Downing
on Wednesday,
May 2 , 1 9 1 7 , at 1 1 " 3 0 A.M.
Street,
S.W.,
Present:
The P R I M E MINISTER (in the
The Right Hon. the E A R L CURZON OF
KEDLESTON, K G . , G . C . S . I . , G . C . I . E .
Chair).
The R i g h t Hon. the VISCOUNT M I L N E R
G.C.B., G.C.M.G.
The R i g h t Hon. A. HENDERSON, M.P.
The foRowing were also p r e s e n t : —
The R i g h t Hon. LORD ROBERT CECIL, K G ,
M . P . , Acting Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs.
The Right Hon. S I R E. CARSON, K C . ,
M . P . , First Lord of the Admiralty.
The Right Hon. the E A R L OF D E R B Y , K.G.,
G.C.V.O., C.B., Secretary of State for
W a r (for Minutes 1 to 1 2 ) .
Admiral S I R J . R . JELLICOE,. G . C . B . , O.M.,
G.C.V.O.,
First Sea Lord of the
Admiralty. General S I R W . R. ROBERTSON, G . C . B . , K.C.V.O., D.S.O., Chief of the Imperial The R i g h t Hon. S I R J . MACLAY, Bt., M.P.,
General Staff (for Minutes 1 to 1 2 ) .
ControRer of Shipping (for Minutes 14
Major-General S I R E. C. GEDDES (for
to 1 8 ) .
^
'
Minutes 1 3 to 1 4 ) .
Lieutenant-Colonel S I R M. P. A. HANKEY, K G B . ,
Fleet Paymaster P. H . R o w , R.N., Assistant
Captain CLEMENT JONES, Assistant
Secretary.
Secretary.
Secretary.
German Corpse
Destructor.
1 . T H E Chief of the I m p e r i a l General Staff stated that he
had obtained a copy of the German Order for their Sixth A r m y ,
giving details relative to the despatch of corpses, which indicated
clearly that the corpses in question referred to h u m a n beings.
German Strength.
2 . The Chief of the Imperial General Staff stated t h a t a
further German Order had been discovered indicating a net
reduction in the German battalions of 2 0 0 men, which w a s
equivalent to a total reduction in t h e whole of the German A r m y
of half a million men.
Goal for Italy.
3. W i t h reference to Imperial W a r Cabinet 1 1 , Minute 3, the
Chief of the I m p e r i a l General Staff informed the W a r Cabinet t h a t
he had had a further communication from General Cadorna relative
to the coal situation, which he stated would be very serious at t h e
end of this month.
[1365-130]
...
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Russia.
4. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff stated that he had
received a telegram from Lieutenant-General H a n b u r y - W i l l i a m s to
the effect that a Pete Day was celebrated yesterday at P e t r o g r a d ;
that processions with red flags had been f o r m e d ; and that civilians,
soldiers, German and Austrian prisoners were marching together
in the processions ; the officers were all wearing red ribbons.
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The Wool Clip.
5. The Secretary of S t a t e for W a r requested the authority of
the W a r Cabinet to enable the W^ar Office to purchase the whole of
the wool clip of next y e a r in Australia, New Zealand, and South
Africa, the purchases being negotiated through t h e Agents-General
of the several Dominions.
The W a r Cabinet approved this request, and pointed out that
arrangements must be made as requisite for the provision
of supplies, from the stock so obtained, to meet the
r e q u i r e m e n t s of our Allies.
Submarines.
6. The Eirst Sea Lord reported t h a t the " Q " ship " Tulip "
had been sunk by a submarine, and that one officer and
six m e n were missing. H e thought that the officer, in a n y case,
had been t a k e n prisoner.
Naval Losses.
7. The Pirst Sea Lord reported t h a t the steamship " Gen a " had
been attacked off the East Coast by two seaplanes carrying torpedoes,
had destroyed one of them, hut had been s u n k herself by the other
seaplane by the discharge of a torpedo carried by it. H e proceeded
to state that the destroyer " D e r w e n t " had been mined, and sank this
morning off "Havre ; the majority of the men had been picked up.
Air Raids.
8. The Eirst Sea Lord stated t h a t bombing attacks had been
carried out on Zeebrugge and Ostend, that the seaplane sheds had
been hit at both places, and that a l l our aircraft had returned
safely.
They reported t h e presence of twenty-six destroyers at
B r u g e s , Zeebrugge, and Ostend.
The United States
of America.
9. The Eirst Sea Lord reported that he had received
information from A d m i r a l de Chair t h a t t h i r t y - s i x destroyers were
being sent by the A m e r i c a n Government. Eighteen of these were
referred to i n W a r Cabinet 128, M i n u t e 7 ; the r e m a i n i n g eighteen
were now being collected, and m i g h t be expected i n the near
future. H e asked that especial secrecy should be observed as to
this assistance from the United States of America.
The W a r Cabinet decided that—
Destroyers.
Lord Bohert Cecil should be requested to send a t e l e g r a m to
the United States Government expressing the keen
appreciation of the W a r Cabinet at the assistance so
r e n d e r e d ; and also requested him to t a k e the necessary
steps to ensure that no information as to the arrival or
movements of these vessels should appear i n the press.
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10. The Eirst Sea Lord informed the W a r Cabinet t h a t he
proposed t h a t the second batch of six U n i t e d States destroyers
should convoy some Of our merchant ships across the Atlantic, and
was a r r a n g i n g a convoy of some of our merchant ships from
Gibraltar i n t h e n e a r f u t u r e .
Eeprisals.
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- ­
K
a m e r u n s
-
1 1 . The Secretary of State for W a r brought to the notice of
the W a r Cabinet a case in which a German prisoner had been
captured in the K a m e r u n s with explosive bullets i n his possession,
and informed them that the m a n had been tried by court-martial
and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Since that date the
Germans had taken reprisals by placing two of our officers, who had
been on a sporting expedition, had sOft-nosed bullets in their
possession, and were taken from the " Appam," in solitary coufine­
ment.
The question of further reprisals was touched upon, and the
Secretary of State for W a r stated that h e had received information
from the Netherlands Government to t h e effect that the Germans
want us to reconsider the rinding of our court-martial on the
German arrested in the Kameruns, and would be q u i t e satisfied to
abide by the conclusion arrived at by our L a w Officers of the Crown
if we were prepared to bring all the evidence in t h e case before
them. The Dutch Minister had pointed out that if we acceded to
this request it would strengthen his Governments hand with regard
to further negotiations on this or other subjects.
The War Cabinet decided that—
The Secretary of State for W a r should take the necessary steps
to give effect to this request, and in due course report the
result of the further investigation.
Hospital Ships.
12. W i t h reference to W a r Cabinet 123, Minute 9, the W a r
Cabinet had a further discussion on the question of the reprisal for
the sinking of the hospital ship " Gloucester Castle." I t was pointed
out that it was not clear that the raid on Freiburg had not achieved
the object of stopping further sinking of hospital ships, as it would
hardly have been practicable for a n y revised German instructions
to have reached the a t t a c k i n g submarine in the case of the
" L a n f r a n c " on the 17th April, the only hospital ship which had
been attacked since the Freiburg raid on the l i t h April.
The W a r Cabinet decided that—The Admiralty should ask the French Government to suspend
the approved raid as a reprisal for the s i n k i n g of the
" Gloucester Castle " until it is seen if the F r e i b u r g raid
has achieved its purpose.
The Prime
Ministers Visit to
the Admiralty.
Business Man as
Civil Lord of
Admiralty.
13. The W a r Cabinet had under consideration the Prime
M i n i s t e r s report of his Conference at the Admiralty on the 30th
April, 1917 (G.T.-601). In regard to a recommendation that a
business man should be appointed as a member of t h e Board of
A d m i r a l t y to superintend the whole of the shipbuilding and the
supply of material for Naval purposes, the First Lord pointed out
that such functions were already provided for in the duties assig-ned
by M r . Churchill to the Additional Civil Lord, although i n fact those
duties appear to have remained dormant. H e stated t h a t the First
Ssea Lord and himself were in complete agreement with regard to
this recommendation, and were prepared to amplify, if necessary,
the scope of the duties as assigned by Mr. Churchill to such an
appointment. They laid stress, however, on the importance of the
appointment of someone who had the complete confidence of the
W a r Cabinet.
The W a r Cabinet considered that the best available man would
have to be appointed to this post, and that, in view of the paramount
importance of the shipping situation, nothing should stand in the
w a y of this appointment.
There was a general agreement that,
having regard to his record in this W a r , Major-General Sir Eric
Geddes would be the most suitable person if he were willing to
undertake the duties. The W a r Cabinet saw Major-General Geddes
and invited h i m to accept the appointment.
H e undertook to
consider the matter and to reply as soon as possible.
Charge of all
Shipbuilding.
14. The W a r Cabinet" also felt that, having regard to the
intimate connection between shipbuilding for the purposes of the
B o y a l Navy, the mercantile marine, and the W a r Office I n l a n d
W a t e r w a y s , there should be a very close association between the
holder of the new office and the shipbuilding side of the Shipping
Controllers Committee, and a proposal was made t h a t the new
A d m i r a l t y Civil Lord should exercise a measure of control over all
three Departments, as far as they were engaged in shipping
construction, after the general policy had been laid down by the
W a r Cabinet.
A decision as to this extension of duties was postponed until
the reply of Sir E. Geddes was received.
Reorganisation of
the Admiralty
War Staff!
15. W i t h regard to the proposals of the P r i m e Minister for the
reorganisation of the W a r Staff, the F i r s t Lord, whilst a g r e e i n g to
these proposals, said t h a t he was not entirely satisfied t h a t the new
arrangements would relieve the First Sea Lord of detail to the
extent t h a t he considered necessary for the production of the best
results.
The F i r s t Sea Lord insisted strongly that, i n order to bring
about this result, a considerable alteration of method of dealing
with papers at the A d m i r a l t y was required, and that decentralisation
was necessary in the work of the Civil Branches of the A d m i r a l t y ,
which the W a r Cabinet were given to understand was the subject
of investigation by the First Lord.
Wireless Telegraphy Operators.
16. I n connection with the proposal (Appendix, Section (/))
for increasing the n u m b e r of wireless telegraphy operators, the W a r
Cabinet recommended the A d m i r a l t y to obtain assistance, if possible,
from the U n i t e d S t a t e s of America and from the Dominions,
Approved
Recommendations.
17. The recommendations as finally
Cabinet are printed in the Appendix.
Mammoth Ships.
18. In continuation of W a r Cabinet 126, M i n u t e 6 (c) (iv),
the W a r Cabinet had a further discussion with r e g a r d to t h e
building of additional mammoth ships, and accepted the report of
Lord Curzon proposing t h a t one such ship be taken in hand forth­
with. The question of building additional ships of this n a t u r e u p
to the number of ten was deferred pending a decision as to the
appointment or otherwise of Major-General Sir E. Geddes.
Mines.
19. The First Sea Lord brought to the notice of t h e W a r
Cabinet the question of the lack of mines, and stated that the W a r
Staff had recommended to his predecessor last spring that the
pattern of a new m i n e should he manufactured, to be a n e x a c t
copy of the German mine, and t h a t the then First Sea Lord had
given orders for this to be done. Admiral Jellicoe regretted to say,
however, that the orders of Sir H e n r y J a c k s o n were not carried out,
but that attempts were made to improve on the German type, with,
the result that great delay was incurred in its introduction.
2, Whitehall
Gardens,
May 2, 1917. S.W.,
approved by the W a r
APPENDIX. &' -
Reorganisation
of
Admiralty.
(a.) The appointment, as a M e m b e r of the Board, of a business man to
superintend the whole of the shipbuilding a n d supply of materiel for n a v a l purposes.
(6.) The reorganisation of the W a r Staff on the following lines :—
First Sea Lord to be Chief of the W a r Staff, and to have under h i m : — ­
1. A D e p u t y Chief of the W a r Staff, whose functions will be to carry on
the day-to-day movements of ships, squadrons, & c , and generally
the relations between the W a r Staff and the administrative side
of the A d m i r a l t y ;
2. An Assistant Chief of the W a r Staff, whose duties will mainly be
connected with measures against submarines and the organisation
to protect trade against submarine attack.
He w i l l direct the
movements of patrol craft and other vessels, aircraft, & c ,
engaged i n offensive measures against submarines.
Also the following co-equal Directors :—
A Director of Operations, wdiose special task will be to work out, under the
Eirst Sea Lord, the measures of policy required to meet every development;
A Director of Intelligence, whose functions will be to supply the data, or a
part of the data, on which the other Directors,will w o r k ;
The Director of the Trade Division, who is already responsible to the Eirst
Sea Lord for the control of the movements of merchant ships ;
A Director of Anti-Submarine Division, with functions similar to those now
exercised by Admiral Duff;
The above Directors to include several officers with actual sea experience
during the present W a r .
(c.) The Branch of the Director of Operations to prepare, for the First Sea Lord,
a weekly appreciation of t h e n a v a l situation g e n e r a l l y , and in the present phase of
the W a r of the developments of the submarine campaign in particular.
This
appreciation to be circulated for the information of the W a r Cabinet, and to deal, not
only with the events which have t a k e n place during the previous week and with the
intelligence received during the week, but also to include comments and deductions as
to the policy required to meet expected developments.
(d.) The formation of a r e g u l a r Statistical Department at the Admiralty for the
compilation and analysis of statistics on a i l naval questions, and particularly in regard
to the submarine losses in the different areas. The results of the new Departments'
work to be communicated to the W a r Cabinet, First Lord, First Sea Lord, the
Directors under the Eirst Sea Lord, Shipping Controller, and other persons as
necessary.
(e.) The Shipping Controller to nominate one or more representatives to attend
once or twice a day as convenient a t the Trade Division for the purpose of ascertaining
t h e latest details of the movements of merchant ships, and to confer in regard to the
alteration and, when necessary, the deviation of routes.
(/.) Steps to be taken immediately by the A d m i r a l t y in concert with the General
Post Office and the W a r Office (provided these Departments can offer any assistance)
to train the largest possible n u m b e r of wireless, telegraph operators with a view to the
provision of a t least two efficient operators d u r i n g the W a r in every merchant ship.
(g.) The Admiralty and the Shipping Controller carefully to investigate the
question of t h e relative safety of the western and eastern ports, and after consultation
with Lord M i l n e r ( W a r Cabinet 126, M i n u t e 6 (6)), and also t h e Board of Trade, if
necessary, to t a k e such measures as may be desirable as the result of their enquiries
for the diversion of traffic from the East to the W e s t Coast, and report their action to ,
the W a r Cabinet.
(h.) The W a r Cabinet to authorise the Prime Minister to t a k e the opportunity at
the n e x t Conference with the F r e n c h Government to insist on a withdrawal, or at
least a considerable diminution, of our A r m y in the B a l k a n s .
(i.) The A d m i r a l t y to be authorised by the W a r Cabinet to l a y down at once fifty additional mine-sweepers, and, further, that the mine-sweepers at present being built were to be given first priority.