'''John Fredrick Thomas Jane''' (All the World's Fighting Ships'') and aircraft (''All the World's Air-ships''). He also once kidnapped Winston Churchill in a political stunt.

Jane was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, but worked most of his life in Portsmouth. His father was a vicar and he attended Exeter School.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,,583845,00.html "A wealth of knowledge"], The Guardian, 31 October 2001</ref> He first began to sketch warships in his teens, and was notable in the 1890s for illustrating scientific romances by George Griffith and other authors, as well as for his own novels such as The Violet Flame and To Venus in Ten Seconds.

An avid miniatures wargamer, Jane first published ''All the World's Fighting Ships'' in 1898, which identified the warships operated by each country, their armaments, and other details, as a supplement to a game he designed. The book, now an annual series, is  a standard reference work. In 1909, he created ''All the World's Aircraft.'' Jane later founded what is now Jane's Information Group.

Jane was also involved in politics, standing as an Independent candidate for Portsmouth in the 1906 general election. He was strongly opposed to the Liberal Party (especially its left-wing) and when a left-wing Liberal candidate Edward Hemmerde was nominated in 1910, he arranged a stunt to disrupt their election campaign. In his sports car, he turned up at the railway station and told Winston Churchill (who had come to speak on behalf of Hemmerde) that he would drive him to the meeting. In fact, Jane headed out into the countryside at great speed, making it impossible for Churchill to get back in time . At another public meeting, Jane arranged for a sailor to ask Hemmerde to insist on the supply of hammock ladders should he be elected: Hemmerde fell for this and gave the pledge.

'''John Fredrick Thomas Jane''', bekannt unter seinem Pseudonym '''Fred T. Jane''' (* Richmond, Surrey, England; † 8. März 1916) war ein britischer Seekriegshistoriker.

== Lebenslauf ==

Bereits als Teenager interessierte sich Jane für die Schifffahrt und skizzierte viele Kriegsschiffe. Im Jahr 1889 erhielt er von einem Magazin den Auftrag, über die Spithead Review of the Royal Navy, eine Flotteninspektion in Spithead zu berichten.

Im Jahr 1898 gründete Jane die Jane's Information Group. Die bis heute in diesem Verlag erscheinenden Nachschlagewerke ''„All the World's Fighting Ships“'' für Kriegsschiffe und ''„All the World's Air-ships“'' für Luftfahrzeuge gelten mittlerweile als Referenzwerke.

Jane war auch politisch aktiv, und ein starker Gegner der Liberalen. Als 1910 der links-liberale Kandidat Edward Hemmerde zur Wahl nominiert wurde, fasste Jane den Entschluss, die Wahlkampagne zu stören. Am Bahnhof empfing er Winston Churchill, der zur Unterstützung Hemmerdes eine Rede halten wollte. Statt Churchill zum vereinbarten Veranstaltungsort zu fahren, brachte er ihn aufs Land, wodurch Churchill am Abhalten seiner Rede gehindert wurde.