The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-27

display began, and it may be said rightly
that the apotheosis of Great Britain right
" eliminated on the waters of the Solent
London witnessed the sumptuous outpour-
ing of loyalty, the love of a proud people
for their sovereign, an exhibition of ma
tional growth and domination, in the long
train of princes and potentates which
eraced the Queens triumph All of 1t put
together. however. furnished no such liv-
ing picture of the might of Britain-the
might that has made right over and over
agaia-as was afforded this morning by the
great naval display in these waters. Nor
has there been anything this week in all
that has gone before to bring home so WV
idly the material changes of the Queen
long reign.
When Victoria assembled the throne the
walls of England were wooden. There
were no steel battle ships, no iron cruisers,
no tripie-expansion engines, no steam in
use in war vessels, no search lights. no
electricity in the service OF man, no great
or quicS-tiring guns no torpedoes. The
lights aboard were still lit with flint and
steel and were no more brilliant thap whale
oil could be; the guns were still fired with
a slow match; the three-decker was still
the model of all that worthy in naval
architecture and tonnage was reckoned
within such modest limits that a vessel of
more than 5000 was looked upon a ma
rine wonder. Never before, therefore, has
a sovereign seen such changes in the bull
warks Of empire as has fallen to the lot
of Queen Victoria At Spithead this morn
ing was assembled the latest triumphs OF
the industrial revolution under Victoria:
triumphs of workers in iron and steel and
metals triumphs of inventors, triunlphs of
chemists and the giants Of the laboratory,
triumphs of the ship builder, the engineer
and the artisan, triumphs of the genius
of a great nation.
This may be demonstrated better by fig
ures. In 1887 the total number of slips in
commission was 1856 Omitting steam-paddle
tugs not then considered vessels of war,
and other small craft, such as cutters, re-
ranFrr chi oh nd hriC no
navy list comprised 129 ships whereof the
largest had displacement of 1900 tons.
The navy list this year-including ships in
and out of commission, but on the list
comprises 439 vessels, mounting 1859 guns,
with tonnage of 1463,219, and a horse
power of .SSI 591. This growth has syn
chronized with the change from wooden
walls to armor of proof from propulsion
by sails TO propulsion by steam; from arma-
ments of many guns to ornaments of few
guns of tremendous power; the cohcentra-
ton of the 1897 brOadside of sixty guns into
one monster piece OF ordnance 1t Is per
haps a pity that in the seven lines of the
British fleet at Spithead there was not an
chored an old three-decker to emphasize
this startling change. For the men-of-war
that first saluted the Queen in the long
ago were magnificent sights with their high
decks and towering masts bearing billow
on billow of swelling sail riding the waves
like great seabirds and realizing to the full
all the wild witchery of the romance Of
the ocean. Far different were the great
battle ships this morning with their Sullen
steel sides and short masts, great guns,
rams and torpedoes-eVerything that gave
the sense of power, the brutality of force.
IN SEVEN LINES.
The fleet was drawn up in seven lines on
the south of the Solent, the head of the
lines being off Braling, thence stretching
westward almost to COwes. The outer
line of all on either side of tie Sturbridge
shoal, and known as e line, was composed
of fourteen special merchant vessels,
whereof the American liner New York was
one. Next, in A line, were the foreign
men-of-war. the following being list of
the countries represented and their re-
spective ships and commanding officers:
France, by the Fothna, Rear Admiral the
Marquis De Counthillo; Italy, by the Lee
pante, Vice Admiral Norm; Germany, by
the Koenig Wilhelm, Rear Admiral Prince
Henry Of Prussia 3 X < G.; , Austria r Hun
Baron Won Spann; Spain. by the Vizcaya,
Rear Admiral Segismundo Barnejo Mere
low; Portugal, by the VaScO Di Gamo, Cap
tain Barreto de Vasconcelles; Netherlands,
by the Evertson, Rear Admiral F.. K. En-
gelbrecht; Denmark, by the Heligoland,
Rear Admiral II. H. Koch; Sweden, by the
Gotha Rear Admiral Klintberg Norway
by the Frthjof, Rear Admiral Won Krogh;
Russia, by the Russia, Rear Admiral Mich
Brooklyn, Rear Admiral ]. N Miller.
B, c, d, f, G lines consisted entirely of
British men-of-war, from the Majestic and
Renown, the latest type of battle ships.
down to the smallest torpedo boat-in all
eighteen craft. B and c lines were made
up exclusively of battle ships and cruisers
of the first and second class, d of third
class cruisers. gun vessels and torpedo
gunboats, F OF destroyers gunboats and
sailing training briggs, while G line was of
torpedo boats. All the lines, except G,
were approximately five miles in length.
Two things are to be noted after a tour
of this tremendous aggregation of sea-
fighting power. The first is the fact that
value can be duplicated, as this feet was was
only the channel squadron and coast de-
Tense fleet slightly augmented by new and
larger ships. The most noteworthy fact
was the remarkable testimony to the
growth and Improvement of the fleet. OF
the twenty-one battle ships reviewed by the
Prince of Wales this afternoon, only four
took part in the jubilee display of ten
years ago, while of the forty-three cruisers
at anchor in the Solent not one existed in
1851. Needless to say the thirty torpedo
boat destroyers are of class which has
only been introduced during the past five
years. Further, the battle ships built be-
fore 1887 were armed with notwithstanding
guns, which, though extremely powerful,
and marvels OF their day, have been entire
~ outclassed by breech-loaders and wire
guns, which, though extremely powerful
armored by HarveyiZed steel, which can
whereas the guns of any of the ships of the
Majestic class could easily send projectileS
through the armor belts of any of the 1887
THE BATTLE SHIPS.
Among the battle ships nine types were
represented the first of these being the
Majestic type the latest and most power
full model of British battle ships, carrying
four tweIve-inch ffty-ton guns. Some of
the others present had heavier armament
notably the Benbow and Sans Pareil, each
possessing Hilton gun. There were four
of the Royal Sovereign type. The Renown
was the only one of her type the distinc-
tive feature Of which is a huge center bat
terry The Admiral class of vessel was rep
resented by the Collingwood the unfortu-
nate Howe and the Benbow. The AleXan-
dria class, close upon twenty years old,
the Devastation type, with their revolving
turretS, were also in evidence, as were the
classes of which the IntieXible Thunderer
and Sans Pariel are specimens. Two types
were shown in the cruiser class, of which
the Powerful and Terrible, the two fastest
British cruisers 3tloat, were the most in
tereSting and there were thirty-five of the
old torpedo boats All the ships had their
fulltomplements.
The naval craft present flew about two
hundred pennantS-a number which but for
the size and Importance of the vessels
would have seemed lost in the crush of
every possible description in every possible
condition from the great atlantic and Aus
1raItan liners, croSs-channel packets, Nor
way excursion steamers, Mediterranean
cruisers, cid paddle boats, dirty tugs and
smart yachts, dainty electric launches and
1shermen dinghYs. VenturesOme canoes
and many Il rowhoat filled with wharf
rats The decorations of this shipping
hotch-pOtch were as Variegated as the
We're trimmed with near approach to
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