The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-08-17
One Hundred War Vessels AS
sembled Off Spithead Made
Brilliant Spectacle.
HUNDREDS OF PLEASURE CRAFT
Observers were Impressed by Lack
of Fighting Strength Shown by
Ships of the Line Only
Home Vessels Exhibited.

Portsmouth. Aug. licking Edward COM
pletsd the programme of the coronation
festivities to-day by reviewing the feet for
the first time since his accession.
Frcm Il spectacular point Of view the as
semblage OF the fleet of 100 war vessels off
Spithead was a magnificent show, but to
those looking beneath the brilliant veneer
of paint and polish it was evident that the
fighting strength Of the fleet was by no
means formidable.
The lines of ships were thickly dotted
with ineffectiveness- Among these may be
mentioned the third-class cruiser Calliope,
OF Apia fame. while others include such
relics as the battleships Devastation,
Dreadnaught, Camperdown and Edinburgh,
which are classed by some experts as alb
soiutely dangerous to their crews. wsile
some of the nominally effective fighters are
still armed with muzzIe-loaders
1t must be pointed out, however, that
the display represented merely the home
feet. not a single vessel having been with
drawn from a foreign station to participate
in the pageant.
The day opened fine. There was an i'm
mense influx Of visitors. The waters Of the
Solent were covered with pleasure craft
of every variety, from the tiny canoe to
the big excursion steamer, and every van
tage HQint on shore was covered with spec
tators.
At 5 n. M. in response TO a signal. the
fleet broke out flags. and. in the space of
a minute. the lines of black hulIs were
transformed into parti-colored lanes Of hut-
tering bunting.
simultaneously the pennant OF Admiral
Sir Charles Hotham. the COMMANDMENT
Chief of Portsmouth, was flung out from
the peak Of the Royal Sovereign, which
to-day acted as flagship of the fleet.
Five other Admirals' flags were also in
view in different sections of the parade.
The five lines in which the fleet was moored
were midway between the Isle of Wight
and the mainland.
RousinE Cheers for the King.
At 1880 p. m, the lines of the feet closed.
the guardboats drove all unauthorized
craft out of the forbidden area and prompt
~ at 2 o'clock the royal yacht Victoria and
Albert, with King Edward, Queen Alex
andra and other royal personages on board,
slowly got under way. This movement
was signaled by a gunshot from the Royal
Sovereign and thousands of jackies
swaTmed over the decks, superstructures
and fighting tops and manned ship in honor
of their approaching Majesties.
Then came the firing of the royal salute.
Amid the crash of naval ordnance, the
Kings yacht moved slowly, accompanied
by the royal yachts, Osborne and Alberta,
and three others and escorted by a fotilia
Of torDedo-boat destroyers.
Tn King, who wore the uniform of an
admiral Of the feet, was surrounded by a
brilliant staff. AS his Majesty passed
each ship, the officers and men cheered
and when the Victoria and Albert, after
traversing the lines, took up fresh moorings
ABREAST of the Royal Sovereign. the whole
meet Joined in a final roar OF cheers for
the King, who then personally s~tgnalled the
invitation TO all flag officers. Including
those OF the foreign ships, to Join him on
the royal yacht.