Arthur Wilson was an experienced gunnery and torpedo officer whose weaknesses as First Sea Lord were amplified by the absence of a supporting staff. He served in the Anglo-Egyptian and Mahdist wars and won the Victoria Cross at El Teb in 1884. He later commanded the torpedo school HMS Vernon and an experimental torpedo squadron, giving him a practical basis for choosing projects. As Third Sea Lord with discretionary money, he could plausibly fund Elswick's emerging 14-inch, 45-calibre gun, Vickers triple-turret work, the Mark I 21-inch torpedo, and the Mark V and Mark VI 18-inch torpedoes. Funding several test weapons rather than a single prototype could bring a gun into trials by about 1901 and make service installation possible a few years later. Funding work already under way in private firms would attract less attention than opening a new government research establishment.
Notable Point · 1:03:15-1:09:50
Arthur Wilson backs guns, triple turrets, and torpedoes
Wilson's gunnery and torpedo background makes early support for Elswick's 14-inch gun, triple turrets, and improved torpedoes a plausible opening portfolio.