Henry Jackson's wireless and fire-control opportunity

Jackson demonstrated ship-to-ship wireless over three miles in 1896 and extended the range to roughly 140 miles within about eighteen months, working with Marconi and shipyards. In an 1899 exercise, wireless-equipped ships let their admiral manoeuvre his force and outmatch an opponent without the same communications. His election to the Royal Society in 1901 also gave him connections among people pursuing scientific and engineering work. His friendship with Percy Scott could link discretionary communications funding to director fire-control trials. Once a device could be built, that funding could support nine or twelve examples instead of three, speeding testing before the system was fully proven. Better radio and director fire control reaching service around 1910 would leave four years for the fleet to adapt before war. Smaller radio sets could also reach torpedo boats and aircraft. Early radar remains a possibility under discussion, but radar-directed gunnery in the First World War is explicitly judged very unlikely.