The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-25
Greatest Fleet of War Yes sels Ever Assembled
 Greets George V
U. S. s. DELAWARE IS
 LARGEST PRESENT
Spithead Naval Review By England's Sailor King Is One of the Most Gorgeous Pageants of Cor
 onation Programme

Portsmouth, June. 24.-The warships or | the world boomed out royal salute to- day in honor of Englands sailor-King. Bright sunshine came at last to lend it's brilliancy to one of the most impressive | scenes of all the gorgeous pageantry at l tending the coronation of George V. In l double line six miles in lengh f1oated the nightiest of Britain's warships. These lines were joined at either end by two- mile stretch of smaller craft, while off the Isle of Wight IS foreign vessels lay
 dressed in glittering colors.
 1 It was an ideal day when the King sailed out from Portsmouth harbor to
 review his fleet and the foreign vessels
 which had come to do him honor. The narrow waters of the Colent never
 held as large a fleet and it was the most effective ever brought together. Every class was represented and every one of the 1S5 ships anchored there was ready for immediate service. All the British
 ships in the long lines were on the ac- tive list, and of the visitors four were of
 the most modern construction-the Amer
 ican battleship Delaware, the Von Der dnH, repTeSeiillnB lnc DdnlOl,
 France. and the Radetzky, Austria.
 This mighty fleet presented an appear
 ance at once magnificent and awe-in- spring. Its vastness could not be seen
 nor it's powers told. Flags of all na-
 tions were whipped, aloft by the breeze,
 while myriads of tiny streamers stretched
 across every ship from stem to stern. The mosquito fleet had position along
 the shore and behind the little craft in were drawn up. Surrounding the fleet
 were scores of big liners, including the Atlantic liners La Savoie and George Washington, on which were hundreds of American visitors.
 As the royal yacht Victoria and Albert entered the line the men manned the ships side, the guns thundered and the bands played the national anthem. On
 the bridge the King stood in an admirars
 uniform. acknowledging the cheers of the sailors and visitors. Captain Cove
 and the men of the Delaware and the
 guests aboard, gave the King a cheer
 which was truly Americans to which his
 majesty replied with salute. Delaware Is Magnificent
 The Delaware looked magnificent. From
 the tops of her fighting masts she flew immense American and British flags which topped all the rest. Bunting and fleet flags were entwined between the
 masts and along the rigging, while astern another monster Stars and Stripes foated. ba
 the senior officer of all the ships went
 aboard. As Captain Cove stepped aboard
 he was warmly welcomed. For several
 minutes the King chatted with the of ficers and thanked them warmly for their
 presence. As the royal yacht turned her
 head toward Portsmouth the salutes
 were repeated and the sailors cheered again and again.
 The King spent the night at Ports mouth and witnessed the illumination or the ships from the signal tower
 Never before has such an armada been
 brought together for review by mon- arch.
 The sun was shining brightly when
 King George and Queen Mary with their suites left the naval port aboard the royal yacht Victoria and Albert. The Trinity yacht Irine led the way and the
 Victoria and Albert was followed in line by his majestys yacht Alexandra, and
 admiralty yacht Enchantress and the Commander in the yacht Fire Queen
 The guns of the warshps thundered
 welcome to the sailor King. The
 King and Queen and Princes were on
 the bridge as the Victoria and Albert
 entered the water highway between the lines of foreign warships and British dreadnaughts.
 The American battleship Delaware, the fourth in the line and the biggest battleship in the huge fleet, soon fo- cused the attention. The vessel was dressed all over with great arches of
 bunting which proclaimed the .Ameri- can nationality The sides of the proud
 craft wert manned with cheering blue Jackets and her band played the ma tional anthem common both to America and Great Britain. The big visitor gave their majesties a rousing wei come.
 Greet With Cheers | Throughout the length of the 20-mile waterway each successive ship took up their cheering and the national anthem was heard rom end to end of the long | lines.
 Their majesties, accompanied by the official envoys of other countries. came from London in special train. The King wore an admral's unifoum. The Queen, Princess Mary and nearly all of the royal ladies were dressed in navy blue. With their majestics were
 all the other members of the imperial family.
 Many special trains were running from London carrying Indian princes. i'pecrs and peeresses members of parlia-
 ment. lords of. admiralty and diploma ts. The regular trains and excursion trains , arriving during the morning added great numbers to tf thousands already gathered here from all parts of the world. Seventeen nations were repre- sented in the vessels moored in Spit | head roadstead in the English channe, , between the mainland and the Isle Of Wight ~ Of the number 10 were lips of the Dreadnought class ftom the British
 navy and one visiting Dreadnought, the German Von Der Tam First. however, l in size and armament was the Amer ican battleship Delaware.
 | Various types of warships added to l the British Dreadnoughts and invin- cibles made the total British contingent i ITO ships.
 | All the vessels i-i the roadstead in-
 cluding the foreign warships and ex- cursion stemaers with spectators were moored in lines supplemented by short l -~--~----------------~---- | fC,nKTVNVTVcn nN