The Washington herald., 1909-04-04
RELATIVE ORDER OF WAR SHIP TONNAGE


penseble TO Grea; Britain in any war that
she undertook 10 wage with any nation
widely separated from her BY sea. Equally
indispensable would be fast and very
powerful armOred cruisers Thus the
Dreadnought and the Invincible type:
seem exactly designed to meet such needs
and FOR long runs across the ocean But
IN the case OF Germany would they be OF
the same service2 The difficulties that
would encompass the thsater OF conflict n
that event would. indeed. be serious for
such vessels; the shallow coastal waters
og the North Sea, the difficult Straits o.
Denmark. and many other drawbacks
which hardly require enumersting show
ar once that IN a war with this nation the
conditions would be totally diHereh1-
Among other possibilities that may arise
there is the one that must not be over
looked-thst is. that the world might see
two repetiIions Of Port Arthur. one with
in and the other beyond the Danish Straits
And such blOekades might pTOuaet the
war for months and months without any
definite results 10 either side. except FOR
the effect on their commerce.
Leaving aside all the fancles OF the Na-
poieonic days. the imaginary surpriss
landings and all those other romantic
IDEAS that so interest one IN ones young
days, and which are now so much dis
turbing England, let Us consider the mat.
ter IN It's most natural and simple aspect
The most probable situation would be
that the land armies would be vigilan-
and ready, that the German ships OF wal
would be IN their ample and WeIl-prOrecr
Cd harbors OF refuge OF comparatively Ill
tie depth. and that the British ships would
be keeping watch outside so that no hos
tile cruiser could get away unmOIested tC
pay havoc with the commerce OF Britain
and disturb her food supply.
There is no reason whatever why suCt
state OF things should not 20 on foi
month after month. and especially so !,
the Togo Of the day. instead Of being out
side. is IN this case within. and has ths
intention OF keeping his few ships intac
a. all costs
Outcome OF the Blockade.
The blockader VIII then find himself II
this dilemma, either he maintains a real,
strict blockade. and then there IS serlou,
risk that his ships go the way OF the Hat
suse. PetropavlOvsk. and others. or h'
keeps them well out Of danger. and ther
the blockade Is but a fictitious one. and II
such a case British commerce has every
thing 20 lose. OF course. Il is understood
that the German OCean-b0rne cOmmerc'
IS completely stranded for the time being
but the effect OF such suspension on n,
large extent OF German territory viii b
nCEhlng n comparison With The results o.
such a suspension IN the case o. Britain
which would bring with Il absolute peri
% that country. while in the case OF Ger
many there would be no such danger
What possible use would be those bil
guns Of the DreadOnughts and the Irwin
cibles2 Certainly they would be useleS
for the purposes for which they werl
originally designed. a fight in the open, Il
the Atlantic. for example. in full daylight
with a final strenuous effort OF the Tsu
shima type
II the history OF the armored ship ers
teaches anything, II teaches that ever,
change IS always preceded by e universe
conviction that something akin 10 fnalir-
has been reached. Italy has so frequent
IL anticipated events that her prOgrsmm
is always OF special interest And Il wa
quite very Few years ago that Col Cuni
berti's Ideal British Battle Ship" excite,
something very ike derision from Jhos
who characterized the idea OF A BATH
ship armed with nothing but Finch gun
as altogether too fanciful an idea FOR
serious work Yet now every battle shil
is a ~Cuniberti,' - more or less
Mystery OF New Battle Ships.
To date. the mystery OF the new Gar
man battle ships has been well maintain
ed. but none apparently are quite so pow
erful IS was once supposed The thre