The Washington herald., 1911-07-07
THE RECENT NAVAL REVIEW.

i
One of the most interesting PERSONAL.
ties in the British navy and who was in
command of the third and fourth divi-
sions of the home fleet at the great re-
view on Spithead, end OF last month, one
of the pageants in honor Of the corona
tion Of King George and Queen Mary, Is
Prince Louis OF Battenberg, vice admiral
and serene highness," and, above all.
we'll known to American society, espe-
cially since his last cruise to these shores,
when he inspected the Naval Academy at
Annapolis, and was the guest of honor
at the great social event during the horse
show in Madison Square Garden, New
York.
The prince is of commanding presence,
being six feet three inches In height, and
with his long black mustache and beard
and bald crown-presents a striking ap-
pearance. He was once offered a throne
that of Bulgaria, after the mess his
brother, Alexander of Battenberg, had
made OF his short but extremely stormy
reign in the ever seething little Balkan
country
Born in 1854 at Gatz, in Austria. he
entered the British navy at the age of
fourteen, principally through the agency
OF Queen Victoria, whose granddaughter,
Princess Victoria of Hesse, daughter of
Princess Alice, he subsequently married
He attained his present rank three years
ago. and, but for the fact of his foreign
birth and close Germanic relations,
would probably, in the course OF time,
be in supreme command in the navy,
as by common consent he is one of the
most brilliant tacticians that the service
contains Extremely popular with off,
GERS and men, he has the gift of never
forgetting face. recognizing at once
any former shipmate, no matter how
long the interval AS commander-in-
chief of the third division, his official
residence Is Admiralty House, Sheerness,
where he and Princess Victoria are ex-
pected to entertain largely during their
official tenure. He has two sons, one
of whom-Prince George of Battenberg-
is a midshipman.
To the unlnitiated, one naval review
is very like another, but a few details
as to the enormous advance in war ship
building, as exemplifed in the pageant
at Spithead, may be OF interest. AS re-
CARDS tonnage, the fleet assembled in
the Solent under the command of Ad-
miral Sir Francis Bridgeman outstripped
any similar gathering held heretofore.
the Thames River in 1909 One hun
dred and sixty-seven British vessels of
all descriptions, from the tiny sub
marine to the latest British Dread
nought, the Neptune were assembled,
with a tonnage of Sd. 800 In 1909, the
total tonnage was 607OO0 and at the re-
view at the coronation of King Edward,
293, 800
AS showing how rapidly obsolete men
of-war became since the beginning of
the Dreadnought era. it will be of in-
terest to state that only three ships
were present at Spithead which also
formed part of the review in 1902, all
others having been built subsequently to
that year. Even the famous Dread
nought" herself is a victim, having de-
scended to the second division. and Ieav-
ing the first fighting line to super
But one of the most noteworthy fea-
lures Of the Spithead review was that
there were present only considerably less
than one-third of the effective fighting
ships In the British fleet. For every ship
that passed In review before the King
and his guests there were two elsewhere
on duty, while for every two ships at
Spithead there is one now under con-
struetion.
The whole of he first and second di-
visions Of the home feet was there, and
a selection was made from the third di-
vision, but of the last-named force a
large proportion of ships were absent,
including two battle ships, several cruis-
ers and gunboats, and about 60 destroy
ers The fourth division of the home
feet was not represented at all, and this
for another IL battle ships, III