The Alaska daily empire., 1916-03-16
ls1ooIol corro-1ond1nco-l

I4DNIONI NINIlN l. - nUIcNi WlNA sufficient gun power to cause the necessary destruction. is the cardin. al principle of British naval strategy, and battle cruisers, an unknown Quan. llty at tho beginning ol iho war, hove proved this principle to the sntisiac. llon Of every man aboard the battle cruiser fleet. which was visited this week in tho North Sen by cores lpondent
 New battle cruisers before the war were not exactly objects of pride to their officers and crews. On account Of the yoraclty with which they con. sumed coal service on them was not popular. and a government harrassed with demands for reduction in naval expenditures had no reason Co favor these refinements Of the superdread. naught school.
 TO prove that the battle cruiser has redeemed ils unfortunate early repu. tadon. it Is only necessary to point to the activities Of this type of fight. ing craft since the war begun. Battle cruisers brought Von Specs career to full stop, and they were the only big ships which succeeded in getting into the North Sea engagements.
 So 1t Is mot surprising that these monsters. the biggest fighting ma chimes afloat. are idolized by the off. cors and men who fight them. A squadron at the opening of the war the battle cruisers now form the nuc- leus of Great Brilain's first line fleet of naval offense. There are many new ships among the light cruisers at- tached to this squadron, but virtually every battle cruiser in it has been 'blooded" to use the navy's equiva. lent for the army's baptism of fire, and the sailors now manning them show their pride and boise of veter- ans.
 When the mist lifted for few minutes as the correspondent stood on the control bridge of one of the battle cruisers, the fastest fleet, ca pablo of actual offensive operations ever gathered together under one fag appeared in view.
 There were more than 100 war ves- sells In the fleet. arranged in squad rons. with battle cruisers, surrounded by their screen Of faithful destroyers' occupying the place of honor. but with every section down to the hum blo. rusty. but vitally necessary col Hers. on the mark for flying start if the eagerly awaited coming out of the German fleet is slgnaled.
 One lone dreadnaught powerful enough to meet almost any foe, but slow in comparison with the other units of the neet swung at anchor. The officers on the bridge pokIngly explained that she formed the third line, Go come on and pick up the pieces. or, if necessary, to be sent out as bait for the wary German fleet
 The mobility of this fleet has cer- tainly thrown on 1t much of the pa- trol worl, in the North Sea. and it is accepted as matter Of course that should the German warships come out. it will be the first unit of the British navy to feel the shock of bat- tie. as it will, on account of it's speed be able to set into action before tho superdreadnaughts reach the scene.
 Hence its claim to be the first line of offense. with Che superdreadnaughts second and the old batileships of the pre-deordnaght period forming Q powerful third line reserve. No land force ever has been SO well protected against unforeseen disaster as the Brit lsh navy.
 Increase in the size Of the biz guns does not worry Che officers of the battle cruisers. who say, that since their 18.5-inch guns can sink battle ship as far as the long range can be found. any bigger guns would add to the weight Of inc ship and reduce the available space for turrets with- cut sufficient corresponding advant- ages. These officers talked about the much heralded German 17-inch gun In Q speculative way, but, even admitting the possibility of mounting it on O warship, they did not show any great concern.
 This feeling of confidence in their ships is not matter of theory for the battle cruisers are the veterans of this war. In destructive power they have done only what was expected of them. but in their powers of resistance they have more than surprised their officers.
 The battle cruiser Lion, which bat tied the greater part of the Dogger Bank action as Vice Admiral Sir Dav- i'd Beatty's flagship, IS the most note worthy example of this unexpected power Of resistance. High explosive shells raiued on this ship from stem To stern, and, although they ranged Tn size from tho Bleucher's 8-inch to the Derrfinger's 12, only one of them reached a spot vital enough to inter- fere with the ships fighting power.
 This shell struck the engine room,