Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-26
England's Great Maritime Strength
Evidenced at Spithead Review.
A SFUPENDOUS NAVAL DISPLAY
United States Well Represented by
the Brooklyn and New York.
FINE WEATHER PREVAILS


apotheosis of Great Britain has rightly
eliminated on the waters of the Soicnt
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
graced the queens triumph. All of IL put
together however. furnished no such liv-
Ing picture of the might of Britain-ihe
might that has made right over and over
aSain-as was afforded this morning by
the great naval display in these waters.
Nor has there been anything this week I'm
all that has gone before to bring home
so vividly the material changes of the
queens long reign.
When Victoria ascended the throne the
Walls OF England were wooden. There
were no steel battleships, no iron cruisers,
no triple expansion engines, no steam in
use in war vessels, no search lights, no
electricity in the service of man, no great
or quick-firing guns, no torpedoes. The
lights aboard were still lit with flint and
steel and were no more brilliant than
whale oil could make them: the guns were
still fired with a slow match: the three
decker was still the model of all that was
worthy in naval architecture, and tonnage
was reckoned within such modest limits
that vessel of more than 5000 was look
Cd upon as a marine wonder.
Never before has a sovereign seen such
changes in the bulwarks of empire as have
fallen TO the lot of Queen Victoria At Spit
mead tins morning were assembled the lat
est triumphs of the industrial revolution
under Victoria: triumphs of workers in
iron and steel and metals, triumphs of in
ventors, triumrhs of chemists and the XII
ants of the laboratory, triumphs of the
snip builder, the engineer and the artisan,
rlumphs OF the genius of a great nation.
Demonstration by Figures.
This may be considered better by figures
In 1897 the total number of ships in com.
mission was 1876. Omitting steam paddle
tugs. not then considered vessels of war,
and other small craft, such as cutters. re.
ceiving ships, yachts and packet brigs the
navy list comprised l29 ships, whereof the
largest had displacement of 4.ooo tons
The navy list this year-including ships in
and out of commission, but on the list
comprises -43o. vessels, mounting 2.959 guns.
with a tonnage of l,4G3.2l9 and q horse
power OF 1,ssi .593. 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 concentra-
tion of the 1897 broadside of sixty guns
into one monster piece of ordnance.
1t Is perhaps pity that in the seven lines
OF the British fleet at Spithead there
emphasize this startling change. For the
men-cf-war that first salUted the queen IN
the long ago were magnificent sights, with
their high decks and towering masts bear
ing billow en- billow of swelling SAIL rid
ing the waves like great sea birds and real.
izing to the full all the wild witchery OF
the romance of the ocean. Far different
were the great battle ships this morning
with their sulen steel sides and short
masts, great guns, rams and torpedoes-
everything that gave the sense of power.
the brutality of force.
The feet was drawn up In seven lines OF
the south of the Solent, the head of tn,
lines being off Brading, thence stretching
westward almost to Cowes. The outer iin
of all on either side of the Sturbridge shoai
and known as "E" line was composed o
fourteen special merchant vessels. whereo
the American liner New York was one
Next in IA line were the foreign men-of
war.
The Countries Represented.
The following is a list of the countries
represented at the review and their respect
i've ships and commanding officers:
France, by the Pothna, Rear Admiral tn
Marquis de Counthillo.
Italy, by the Lepante, Vice Admira,
NORM.
Germany, by the Koenig Wilhelm Reai
Admiral Prince Henry of Prussia, X. G.
Austria-Hungary by the Wien, Vice Ad.
miral Hermann, Baron Won Spann.
Spain. by the Vizcaya. Rear Admiral
Segismundo Barnejo v Merelo
Portugal, by the Vasco di Gamo, Capt
Barreto de Vasconcelles.
Netherlands. by the Evertson, Rear Ad
miral +. K Engelbrecht.
Denmark, by the Heligoland, Rear Ad
miral H. H. Koch.
Sweden. by the Gotha, Rear Admira
klintberg.
Norway, by the Frithjof. Rear Admiral
Russia, by the Rossia, Rear Admiral
Nicholas Skrydlof.
United States, by the Brooklyn, Rear Ad-
miral j. n. Miller.
The total array of armed vessels was 1G6,
manned by 5000 men and moored in lines
of five miles each. The fourteen foreign
warships formed the sixth line. The ag-
gregate British tonnage was about 6O00OQs
tons.
Two things are to be noted after a tour
of this tremendous aggregation Of sea-
fighting power. The first Is the fact that
il need be, their number and fighting value
can be duplicated, as this fleet was only the
channel squadron and coast defense fleet
slightly augmented by new and larger
ships. The most noteworthy fact vas ths
remarkable testimony to the growth and
Improvement of the feet. or the p battle
ships reviewed by the Prince of Wales This
afternoon, 4 only took part In the Jubilee
display of ten years ago. while of the 43
cruisers at anchor In the Solent, not one ex-
isted in 1887 Needless to say the 30 tor
pedo boat destroyers are Of a class which
five years. Further. the battleships built
before 1887 were armed with muzzle-loading
guns. which, though extremely powerful
and marvels of their day, havf been en-
tirely outclassej by breech loadss and wire
guns Then, too, the latter-built vessels are
armored by Harveyized steel, which can
scarcely be penetrated in actual warfare,
whereas the guns of any of the ships of
the Majestic class could easily send pro-
jectiles through the armor belts of any of
the 1887 squadron.
Nine Types Of Battle Ships.
Among the battleships nine types were
represented. the first Of these being the
Majestic type. the latest and most power
full model of British battleships, carrying
four 12-inch y0-ton guns. Some OF the
others present had heavier armament. not
ably the Benbow and Sans Pareil. each
possessing Hilton gum There were four
Of the Royal Sovereign type. The Renown
was the only one OF her type the distinc-
tive feature Of which Is huge center bat
terry The Admiral class OF vessel was
re presented by the Coilingwood. the un-
fortunate Howe and the Benbow. The
Alexandra class cloee upon twenty
years old. the Devas.ation type. with
their revolving turrets, were also IN
evidence. as were the classes Of which the