Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-04-02
heard from during tho Dardanelles
llA4aa i.

heard from during the Dardanelles
operations. Beyond this, however,
little Is known. and there Is rarely a
reference to these formidable ships
although 1t Is officially definite they
were completed at the times stated,
and must now be somewhere afloat
with their formidable 15-inch batter
les. These were not primarily the
ones under discussion in the recent
debate, as they are completed, but tho
Queen Elizabeth was referred to as
the type OF later ships around which
the debate really centered.
Two more capital ships of the
Queen Elizabeth class were provided
in the 1914 estimates, namely, the
Agincour and the Renown; and two
more OF the Royal Sovereign class,
with slightly less tonnage. namely, tho
Repuise and the Resistance. The
first two were to be OF 27,500 tons,
the Others of 25,750 tons. All were
TO have l5-inch main batteries with
IL 10 10 C-inch guns, anti-aerial guns,
etc. The Agincourt was to be built
at Portsmouth, the Renown at Fair
field, the Repulse at the Palmer yard,
ana an, the Resistance at Davenport.
These were part of the ships under
discussion in the debate. Except for
the foregoing known information as to
thelf authorization. size, power, etc,
nothing more is known of them, Of
ficially or otherwise. and quite prop
erly as u matter of necessary reserve.
All mat Is known Is that the Agincourt
and her big sister ships were provided
for, but further reference has never
been made to them.
rive more big new drcadnaughts
were provided in 1914, namely, the
Royal Sovereign, Royal Oak, Resolu-
ton, families and Revenge. These
have since become known as tho
Royal Sovereign class" The capital
ships were to be of $3.50 tons, with
eight or ten l5-inch main guns and
II siN-inch. The first two, the Royal
Sovereign and the Royal Oak, were
actually completed, the first at Ports
mouth in December. 1915. and the
Royal Oak at Davenport at the same
time The Resolution, Ramille and
revenge, were. according to the last
information permitted in Jayne's sum-
mary. building at the Palmer. Beard
more and Wiener yards. and to be
completed in 1916. Beyond this
nothing is known of the ships of this
class, except that the Royal Sovereign
and Royal Oak were completed and
are now aflcat somewhere with their
l5-inch guns.
Veil of Silence.
iHc ipitSolHS are INC SHIPS around
which the recent debate centered. and
details of which ships there is COM
plete silence except on the known
facts before given. The rare refer
ences to the ships of the grand fleet
usually mention ships of an earlier
date such as the Lion completed in
1910, the Royal Princess in 1911. the
Queen Mary in 1913 and the TIGER
and Iron Duke of 1914. Admiral Sir
John Jelllco, in command of the flet.
dated recent letter to the Times
from on board the Iron Duke and this
and the Lion and Tiger are frequently
referred TO. But is is over the later
ships of the Agincourt, Queen Eliza
beth and Royal Sovereign class that
the veil of complete silence is drawn
except for the foregoing known de-
tails.
Without adding details on the
progress or completion of the fore>
going ships. Mr.. Balfour in his recent
speech declared generally that THE
fleets are much stronger than they
were six months ago. They are still
stronger than they were twelve months
ago, and their excess over what we
possessed 10 months ago is still
greater