When I reported myself to the Commander-in-Chief, the knowledge of the event which was apparently impending made the interview both embarrassing and painful, as I could see that he had no knowledge of the possibility of his leaving the Fleet, and obviously I could not tell him. We discussed various arrangements, including the question of the defence of Scapa Flow, for which temporary but naturally inadequate measures were being energetically taken with the limited resources at the disposal of the Fleet. At about 4 A.M. on August 4th, I received Admiralty orders to open a secret envelope which had been handed to me in the train as I was leaving London, by an officer from the Admiralty. This envelope contained my appointment as “Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet”--a new designation which must be explained later. On this order I was obliged to act, and I proceeded on board the _Iron Duke_ and found that the Commander-in-Chief had received orders to turn over the command to me. Sir George Callaghan had been my Commander-in-Chief during my command of the 2nd Battle Squadron. He was, in addition, a personal friend, and I, like all those with whom he had been in contact, had the most profound respect and admiration for him. The idea of taking over his command at _the_ moment of his life naturally caused me feelings of the greatest pain, and, moreover, it was impossible to dismiss the fear that the Fleet might conclude that I had been in some measure responsible for the change. This possibility had, of course, been present in my mind from the moment I left London, and it appeared to add to the objections to a change of command at such a juncture, since any idea of this nature prevalent in the Fleet must affect the feeling of loyalty to me as the new Commander-in-Chief. It is unnecessary to dwell on the matter, but I cannot close this portion of my narrative without paying a warm tribute to the manner in which Sir George accepted the Admiralty decision, which obviously came as a great shock to him. He behaved, as always, as a most gallant officer and gentleman, and his one desire was to make the position easy for me, in entire disregard of his own feelings. It was decided that I should take over the Command on the following day, but a telegram having been received from the Admiralty ordering the Fleet to proceed to sea at once, I returned to the _Iron Duke_, and Sir George Callaghan arranged to leave the Fleet in the _Sappho_ before its departure at 8.30 in the morning. At that hour I took over the Command from Sir George Callaghan, who then struck his flag.