“Without a dedicated naval staff to define requirements and shape policy in technical matters, and, where appropriate, tap civilian expertise, the Navy was bound for trouble in the twentieth century. It is no doubt easier to see this now than… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“The sudden disproof of the reassuring, structured assumptions about the formula for naval mastery, which had accumulated during the untesting age of Victoria, was real enough for the RN’s senior officer corps.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“steam-tactics saga illustrates that (4) Rationalism, unlike empiricism, tends to assume an accretion of vested interests.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“The one lesson to be learned is the necessity for every officer to cultivate belief in his own judgment, so as not to be… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“Many of the more ghastly and idiotic aspects of the Great War were made possible by the coincidence of mass-production and the social religion… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“The literal meaning of ‘doctrine’ is “what is taught within a group as its corporate beliefs, principles or faith”52 – although “what is learnt… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“(20) There is an inverse law between robust doctrine and the need for signalling.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“that (11) Purveyors of technical systems will seek to define performance criteria and trials conditions.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“By the close of the Victorian age Britain’s officer classes were increasingly the inheritors, rather than the winners, of empire.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“can therefore attribute the many reporting failures at Jutland to a cocktail of factors, including: (a) lack of initiative, and ‘seniority knows best’; (b)… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“Some of them are blinding glimpses of the obvious (BGOs), several overlap, and I make no claims of discovery. The fundamental proposition – and… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“My comments are directed at the system which was responsible for their poor performance, not at the officers concerned. I do not recall ever… — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“(19) Signalling promotes the centralisation of authority.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
“Signals’ prioritising mechanisms become dislocated in times of overload.” — Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon Copy Share Image
![“My comments are directed at the system which was responsible for their poor performance, not at the officers concerned. I do not recall ever having taken part [before the war] in an exercise that was other than a set ritual, which, while not without value, certainly did little to prepare us for…” quote by Gilbert Andrew Hugh Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/12c/gilbert-andrew-hugh-gordon-156_poor-performance_my-comments-are-directed-at-the-system-w_497405.jpg)
