Steps were taken to start a school for training young wireless operators at Scapa, first on board each ship, and, later, in a specially fitted merchant ship. The want of wireless operators had been most seriously felt since the War began. In addition to the needs of new warships of all classes in this respect, the requirements for merchant ships, trawlers and other patrol craft were immense and could not be met. In this branch of instruction Lieut.-Commander R. L. Nicholson, the Fleet wireless officer on my staff, carried out invaluable work in organising and starting the school. The training of young ratings in visual signal duties was also taken in hand vigorously under Commander A. E. Wood and the signal officers of the Fleet. The Grand Fleet became, in effect, a great school for turning out trained personnel for the Navy as a whole, whilst still keeping watch over the High Sea Fleet, and controlling the North Sea and its northern exit, thus carrying out its rôle as the centre and pivot of the whole naval side of the War. Early in 1915 the subject of the instruction and education of the midshipmen also exercised my attention. On mobilisation all the cadets had been removed from Dartmouth and sent to sea, with their training, of course, very incomplete. During the first months of the War, when the ships were either at sea or, if in harbour, were coaling, it was impossible to give these young officers any regular instruction, and, whilst they were learning much that would be invaluable to them in the future, it was evidently highly desirable that their systematic education should be continued as far as was possible during a war. Steps were accordingly taken in this direction. The first essential was to obtain naval instructors for the ships carrying midshipmen. The policy of the Admiralty, for some years before the War, had been to reduce gradually the number of naval instructors afloat, the idea being that the training at the Colleges and on board the training cruisers rendered the presence of instructors at sea unnecessary. I never held this view personally, but, in any case, it was clear that, as the cadets had gone to sea with less than half their course completed, further instruction at sea was necessary. The specialist officers afloat could not undertake this work under war conditions and strong representations were, therefore, made to the Admiralty on the subject. Eventually a number of gentlemen were entered specially for this instructional work and, after a short course of training in navigation at Greenwich, were sent to the Fleet, where their work proved to be of great value to the rising generation of officers.