The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1914-08-12
Great Britain's Mighty Fleet

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!; They might be called fast battleships
What they lack in armor is made VI
in speed. Still, they are heavily ar.
mored, though not so heavily as are
battleships of the Dreadnought type
England has nine and Germany four
Of these battle cruisers.
S1uadrons in Far Waters.
AS its name implies, the home fleet
lies in home waters. The navy main
tains patrol fotillas to the number OF
four, besides submarine fiotilla num-
bering forty-seven vessels. Each pa
troll fOtilla comprises cruiser and
about twenty torpedo boat destroyers
These vessels patrol the seas.
In the Mediterranean squadron there
are eleven cruisers, heavy and light,
and ten destroyers The eastern
squadron in China waters comprises
six cruisers, six attached ships, ten
river gunboats and eight destroyers.
Both the Mediterranean and the east
ern squadrons are likely to become in
volved in case of general European
conflict. Small squadrons. chiefly
cruisers, are maintained in Australian
waters, in the East Indies, around the
Cape of Good Hope and off the west
coast of America.
Tho Iron Duke.
The new battle ship Iron Duke, the
| first of the five large ships of the 1911
IL program to be completed, was com
missioned only last March for duty as
the flagship of Admiral Sir George Cal
!aghan. the commander in chief OF the
home fleet.
The Iron Duke is the sister ship of
the Emperor of India. She was laid
down Jan. Is, 1912, and was over two
years in construction.
The Iron Duke and the Emperor of
India are the first Dreadnought ships
in the British navy to carry the six
inch gun, previous ships, with the ex-
ception OF the famous Dreadnought,
first of her class, which was furnished
with twelve Founders, mounting four
inch guns.
Another unique feature Of this class
is the provision of two twelve FOUNDER
guns on high angle mountings for use
against aerial warships. The training
anu ClCNdIiAS SSalo VI thSoS ihouhl
ings are arranged to permit of large
and rapid movements OF the guns in
both directions. The effective high
angle ranges is stated to be about
1000 yards at an angle of not less
than so degrees. The displacement of
the Iron Duke and Emperor OF India
is 26.ioO tons. speed 221a knots.
y The fleet flagship of the German
navy is the Friedrich der Crosse,
having displacement of 24.31O tons
and an armament OF ten twelve inch
guns.
Great Britain's Best Ships.
Since the beginning of 1913 the al
ready mammoth British navy has been
reinforced by several ships of the
Dreadnought or super Dreadnought
type, several of which appear in the
lists of the battle squadrons OF the
home fleet above cited. Among these
new monsters are the Conqueror,
King George V, Centurion, Ajax and
Audacious and the battle cruisers
Princess Royal, Queen Mary, New
Zealand and Australia. The Princess |
Royal and Queen Mary carry 1876 inch |
guns.
The Australia and New Zealand
were paid for by the colonies whose
names they bear, but are at the dis
posal OF the British admiralty. Their
largest guns are twelve inch. The
Princess Royal has reached a maxi
mum speed of 1921 knots, while the
Queen Mary has been credited with
the phenomenal rate Of 35.7 knots. :
Other vessels of the 1911 program may
be added to Great Britains naval ar
mament should she engage in pro-
tracted war.
The British feet Is scattered around
the world. but the British sea lords
have never failed to have a strong
right arm of their naval power con-
centratcd in home waters under the
of the home fleet. The
British fleet in the Mediterranean is
nothing compared to the wonderful
aggregation of steel concentrated in
the home fleet Great Britain is de-
pending upon France to look after her
naval interest in conjunction with the
British battle cruiser squadron in the
Mediterranean.