The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1914-08-12

The fleet of British battleship!
which sailed at the end of July under
sealed orders from Portland in com
mand CT Sir George Callaghan is /;
division of the first home fleet O
Britain. This division is known in the
navy as the first fleet and is always
kept ready fully manned, for sea serv
ice. Neither the second nor the third
fleet has been kept fully manned, as
many of the officers and men are
training on shore and would not be
able to go into action without frs,
taking period OF training at sea.
The flagship of the commander in
chief OF the home fleet, Admiral Sir
George Callaghan, is the battleship
Iron Duke. She is of 26,400 tons dis
placement, 10000 horsepower and has
speed of twenty-one knots. Her
armament consists of ten 1875 inch
guns in double turrets on center line,
twelve six inch guns mounted In an
armored battery and six three pound
ers. She has four torpedo tubes.
The flagship of Vice Admiral Lew
is Bayly, commanding the first bat
tie squadron, is the Collingwood. The
other battleships Of the first squadron
are the st. Vincent, Hercules, Colos,
sus, Neptune, Marlborough, Vanguard
and Superb. These are among the
biggest and most powerful fighting
ships in the world, costing about $12,-
100000 each. The guns are mounted
in pairs in turrets, one OF which is
placed in the bows, two side by side
amidships and two astern, one behind
the other. The weight of the pro-
jectile is $50 pounds, and it has a
muzzle velocity of 1000 feet a second
and range of about twelve miles.
This squadron has also battle cruis-
er squadron comprising four vessels
and one attached cruiser besides.
Second, Third and Fourth Squadron.
The second battle squadron com
prises the battleships Ajax, Audaci-
Gus. Centurion. Conqueror, King
George V, Monarch, Orion and Thun-
derc..
The second battle squadron also has
u cruiser squadron of four vessels as
well as an attached cruiser.
The third battle squadron compris
es the battleships Edward VII. Africa,
Britannia, Commonwealth, Dominion,
Hibernia, Hinduism Zealandia and an
attached cruiser. Four cruisers con-
stitutc the third cruiser squadron.
The fourth battle squadron forming
part OF the first fleet, consists Of the
Agamennon.. Bellerophon. Temeraire
and Dreadnought, which is the flag
ship of Vice Admiral Sir Douglas A.
Gamble. commander of this squadron.
The Dreadnodght is of 1890 displace.
ment, length 536 feet, beam 50 feet.
draft 81 feet and speed 81 knots. She
carries ten twelve inch guns and TWEEN
tyfour little twelve FOUNDER quick fir
ing guns. The Agamemnon is OF 49,
500 displacement. has four twelve inch,
ten go inch, fifteen twelve Founders
and five torpedo tubes. The Beller-
ophon and Temeraire were built after
the Dreadnought and are OF 1860 dis
placement, SIG feet long. So feet beam
and carry ten twelve inch and sixteen
four inch guns and three torpedo
tubes.
The fourth battle squadron has al
so an attached cruiser and three other
cruisers.
Second and Third Home Fleets.
There are also second and third
home feet. The second home fleet
or division comprises two battle squad
rons, numerically the fifth and sixth.
The fifth battle squadron comprises
eight battleships. an attached cruiser
and q cruiser squadron OF two yes
sells.
The sixth battle squadron compris-
es five battleships and a cruiser squad
ron of three vessels; also light cruis-
or squadron Of four vessels.
The third home feet has also two
battle squadrons, known numerically
as the seventh and eighth. The
seventh battle squadron consists of
eight battleships, one attached cruiser
and cruiser squadron OF seven YES
sells. In the eighth battle squadron
besides six battleships are five dis
tinct cruiser sqradrons OF six vessels
each.
The first home fleet comprises in
addition to the vessels already men
toned four distinct flotllas, each com
prising cruiser, a depot boat and iii
teen to twenty torpedo boat destroy
ers. The second home fleet is accom-
PANIED by mine layer squadron OF
seven ships.
Battle Cruisers.
England's first home fleet comprises
four vessels of the class known as
battle cruisers.
Germany and England are tie only
nations in the group which have built
any battle cruisers. These are huge
cruisers of high speed and OF great
offensive power. They are in reality
in which some thickness
of armor has been sacrificed in order
to permit the installation OF powerful
driving machinery to obtain speed.