The Washington herald., 1911-07-07

cruisers, and more than 20 destroyers
And lastly, there were squadrons In the
Mediterranean, East Indies, China, Aus
tralia, and at the Cape-96 ships alto
lgether-which have been untouched.
i The first division of the home fleet pro-
vides II Dreadnaughts, battle ships,
and cruisers-a number equal to the
completed Dreadnougnt strength of Ger
| many, the United States, Japan. and
| France combined.
The second division of the home fleet
consists of rather older ships-the battle
ships Lord Nelson and Agamemnon
(equal to many foreign Dreadnoughts),
and six ships of the King Edward class.
The arrnored cruisers are the Shannon
and four warriors, and the division is
completed by one protected and two un-
protected cruisers, two scouts, a depot
| ship, and twenty-four destroyers.
The Atlantic fleet completes the per-
manently commissioned ships, with its
six l5,O00-ton Formidable class battle
ships, two protected cruisers. and three
armored cruisers.
The remaining ships present were
drawn from the third Creserve) division
| of the home fleet. They comprise ten
battle ships, eight armored cruisers.
three protected cruisers, two mine layers,
two scouts, twenty torpedo boat destroy
ers, twelve torpedo boats, and eight
submarines.
The largest and newest British ar
mored ship present was the battle ship
Neptune, which displaces 1890 tons, and
was launched in 1909. The smallest battle
ship was the 14.OOO-ton Albemarle. and
the oldest the Prince George and Vic
| torious which were launched in 1895.
The largest, fastest. and most powerful
armored cruiser is the Indefatigabie, 49,
| $50 tons, launched in 1909. The smallest
armored cruisers are the 9,SO0-ton Done
gal,, Berwick, and Essex, and the oldest
| the Hogue, launched in 1900.
A noteworthy feature OF the fleet is the
number OF ships that are driven by tur-
bine machinery. Equipped in this fash
ion there were eight battle ships, four
armoned cruisers. three protected cruis-
ers, four unprotected cruisers, forty
seven destroyers, and twelve torpedo
boats.
Altogether there were in attendance two
admirals, three vice admirals, twelve rear
admirals. and two commodores. The to-
tai number Of officers and men was about
So $50, of which the battle ships account
for 42,771. The vessels with the largest
compliments are the armored cruisers
King Alfred, Leviathan. and Good Hope,
with 900 men apiece. and those with the
smallest, submarines AS and A6, which
require only eleven men for their ham
ding.
Nor were British ships the only OBJ
jects OF interest at Spithead. First and
foremost of all there was the American
DreadnOught OF 10000 tons. the Delaware,
at present the largest war ship in the
whole world, until superseded by two Of
her sister ships. still larger. and now
nearing completion, in the United States.
The Delaware is larger. than the pride
of the British navy. the Dreadnought
Neptune. Then there was the magnif-
cent German cruiser Won der Tom, lately
returned from a cruise in South Ameri-
can waters, undertaken with a view TO
showing the South American republics
what Germany can do In the shipbuild-
ing line. There was the French 1900
ton Danton, only just commissioned, and
the Austrian Radetzky; while Italy sent
two battle ships and her latest cruiser,
San Marco. All the way from japan
came the Kuramo
Altogether, fourteen foreign nations
were represented. However, two nations
hitherto present did not send ships.
Greece and Portugal-the latter probably
not having received an invitation: but
these were more than made up for by
Austria, China, and Turkey, all OF whom
had no ships in 1902 but sent one this
year.
The illumination Of this magnificent
fleet on the night of Friday. June "a,
was planned on an unprecedented scale,
but was married somewhat by rain.
FLANEUR-
Copyright, 1911. by Court Gossip syndicatsJ