The Washington times., 1901-12-01
THE WAR FLEET
OF BRITAIN,
Some Lessons Taught by the Re
cent Maneuvres.
FAST CRUISERS ARE NEEDED
British Writer Calls Attention to
the Necessity for Improvement in
the style of EnGInnd's WaFships-
Supremacy of the Seas Endangered

SUPREMACY
writer in the London Chronicle. 4"
Arnold White. calls attention to the pres
ent condition of Englands boasted war
fleet as developed by the recent ma
neuvres The two chief lessons Of the
nlaneuvres," he says, are first, the ne
cessity for a larger supply Of fast and
efficient cruisers If our commerce is 10
be safeguarded in time Of war; and sec
ondly, the comparative worthlessness of
obsolete or obsolescent ships of war
Continuing, Mr.. White says:
when the British taxpayer reads of the
House Of Commons las on Thursday
night voting a56, 900, ,0GO without discus
sion mainly for ;he lighting services of
the country he may fairly assume that
any more money wanted for the navy must
either come from the economics on the
War Office vote for six army corps, or
from dropping improbable outlay on use
less ships by the lords commissioner of
the admiralty Including the new sup
Elementary vote, the admiralty dispose
of about 6 sS2, Geo, coo during the current
year for the purposes of the royal navy.
What does not appear on the surface,
however, is the large outlay on bricks
and Observation-Disclosures, harbors and
marine barracks The modern doctrine is
that the British feet is no longer able
TO fight unless it preserves an IDEAL har-
Dor guarded by breakwaters. torpedo
booms and other modern luxuries. The
old-fashioned ide;, that the proper place
Tor a fighting feet is al sea is out OF
vor"
The Admiralty Criticised.
"a modern feet under existing admiral
ty management seems to be looked on as
if it were baby in a perambuiator, and
that the maternal anxiety OF the ad-
miraIty required it 10 be safely enclosed
by a stone cradle. This doctrine of the
ideal harbor' has diverted enormous
sums of money-nearly G26, 100000 ster-
ling-from fighting ships and fighting men
to bricks and mortar. The obvious result
is triumph for the French torpedo boat
policy Our French rivals by moderate
expenditure in mobile craft and their sup
porting stations have succeeded in induc-
ing John Bull to plunge violently into in
vestments in stone walls. If, however, a
French torpedo boat is intended to fight
on the sea it can be met and fought on
the sea One would have thought that the
admiralty would have recognized this fact.
They have done nothing of the kind, and,
as Mr.. Fred T. Jane in a brilliant article
in the current number of the 'Fortnightly
81, q
the admiralty have all but ceased to build
destroyers.'
The driving home Of the lesson of this
enormous expenditure in bricks and NOR
tar. while stinting the construction Of de-
stroyers cannot be accomplished better
than by pointing out that the number Of
French torfedo boat stations in the Medi-
terranean actually exceeds the number of
English torpedo boat destroyers. The ef
ficient destroyers of the Mediterranean
amount to only thirteen, although the ad-
miralty were about 10 re-enforce that sta
tton tc the extent of their powers. On the
south coast of France there are nine tor
pedo boat stations. In Algiers there are
six. including Marsa- -el-Kebir, secondary
base now under construction, and intend
ed TO dominate the English line OF COM
tnunication between Gibraltar and Malta.
In Corsica there are five torpedo boat sta
tions, while another shelter station is TO
be established at Cavli. In Tunts there
are two. visit to Toulon and study OF
the French professional journals enable
anyone to discover where these stations
are situated. There is no secret about
them, and here is the broad fact that
while the French have at least score of
stations in the Mediterranean devoted to
torpedo attack, the British admiralty have
made and can make no reply until torpedo
destroyers, that do not exist, can be
bought or built. So great is the necessity
for destroyers that they should De OBJ
tanned Wherever they can be got The
German yard sctichau or Italian builders
might be utilized for the purpose
Ships Useless in War.
Assuming that the social influence OF
the army is TOO great TO enable the ad-
mirahy to obtain the required money by
economies on the military vote for the
six useless army corps, there is an alter
native source from which It can be OBJ
tained. There at least 1l3 ships, some
authorities say 115. others III, either in
commission OF in reserve. which are cost
ly to maintain in peace and are absolute
ly useless in war. The following ten
ships, for instance, devoted to coast de-
fence. are themselves indefensible- -Glat-
ton. GOrgon. Hecate, Cyclops. Magdala,
Abyssinia, Wivern, Rupert Hotsprr,
Orion. Seven OF them are armed with
muzzle-loading guns All the torpedo
gunboats OF the Halcyon, Harrier, Hussar,
and Hazard class are useless. The gun
vessels Swift and Linnet are armed with
muzzle-loading guns and are obsolete and
useless while the secOnd-class gunboats
Raven and Cockchafer are also armed
with muzzle-loading guns. The sloops
Beagle, Basilisk, Daphne, Nymphe, Icarus,
and Melita are expensive in peace and
useless in war. The same thing may be
said Of the Niger, Onyx. Renard. Speedy
Circe, Hebe. Lcda, and Alarm. The whole
OF the Lapwing. RiHgdove. Widgeon, Spar
row, Goldfinch, Redbreast. Pigeon, Plov-
er, and Partridge class are obsolete. cost
ly, and useless. The whole covey OF them
might be destroyed tomorrow without any
injury 10 national interests. The crews
employed on board these 113 vessels are
urgently required on board efficient ships.
II war broke out every one of these 113
useless vessels would either have 10 seek
the shelter of the stone walls which the
admiralty has go sedulously provided or
be abandoned TO their fate. What is the
use of a ship behind q wall? Other ma
tions have carefully modernized their old
ships. The late board of admiralty were
60 occupied with the construction of stone
walls and IN the wholesale purchase of
inefficient boilers that ships by the score
were allowed TO become inefficient when
e little foresight and determination would
have brought them up 20 date.
Tho Naa.g of