The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-11-11
BRITISH NAVY
GAINS STRENGTH
(Reciprocal News Servlce)
From i3 Queen Anne's Gate. London
Relayed by X. c. Office.
BY X. WALTER.

London, Nov. s. - The sum total OF
"A weeks deluge of information and
impressions is that the British
navy, the keystone of allied pow
er. is at least one hundred per cent
more efficient than in the days OF the
battle of Jutland. This Is without TAX
ing into account those-sections Of the
American navy actively engaged In CO.
operation with the British.
These estimates are not based on any
official statement but are my own con-
sidered opinion after "A visit to the
grand fleet. living on famous battle
ship the flagship Of a still more famous
admiral, mixing freely with officers and
men, and visiting every port OF craft
in the great northern base in which the
biggest concentration OF sea power the
world has ever known happened to be
in those days. Nor did / talk only
with those who have believed from the
beginning that the British navy was
perfect and all powerful. The keenest
sailors and fighters among them were
never under such delusion. Perhaps
the most surprising impression Of all
was that even today, after more than
three years of war. and after wealth
of scientific Improvement, which can
only be made public after the war,
there is still a buzz and furry Of in
vention and reform such as one might
imagine peculiar to the days of mobili-
Zation.
Every one of the privileged few who
have visited the grand fleet has spoken
.af th. 80
and men, with an inexhaustible admira.
tion for the manner in which they sup.
port their apparently tedious exile. But
1 find that the keenness is something
more than readiness and fitness and
the daily hope of battle: it was not so
much the virtues of patience and dis
cipline that struck me, but the intensive
activity of men, who every day awoke
anew to the task of making perfect
that day their individual bit of work
in this vast machinery of war. AS to
what the ship builders and munition
makers behind the navy have been do
ing, it took all the days / was there to
get any clear idea of the extraordinary
increase of the fleet and of the variety
of her instruments of power added to
II. You would be passing some rather
battered looking vessel in a picket boat
and ask a sailor, What's that old
ship?" and he would laugh and tell you
the very day last month or last year
when she joined them with a cloud Of
mystery about her. And this would
happen time and again, SO effective
to the unframed eye is the natural
camoufiage of the growing navy. OF
course these novelties cannot be de.
scribed in detail any more than the
tanks could be described before they
went into action, but a good way to
realize what has been going on in the
navy during these years, is to consider
the development of land warfare in the
same period-tanks, steel helmets, new
types of grenades, gas, flame throwers
and aircraft and the revolutionary
changes in tactics all these things have
involved. The navy has not had con-
tinuous fighting as the land forces, but
1t has had enough to stimulate inven-
tion and reform to the same degree
Furthermore, the public has been
grossly misled as to the real activities
Of the navy, soreheads at home and in
Germany are fond of representing a
powerful fleet Of battleships powerless
in their northern rathole. / found this
was standing joke among officers of
the great fleet. The truth is they never
know from day to day where they will
be next. The base in which / found
them was buster spot than New York
harbor: not only were there more picket
boat5 launches, drifters and supply
ships moving like ferry boats to and
fro inside that immense expanse of pro-
tected waters. but there was scarcely
a moment that one could look across
them without seeing ships of war enter
ing or leaving them. sometimes singly.
sometimes in squadrons. From an OBJ.
servation balloon in one-half hour, /
saw come in from various directions a
fotilla of destroyers, light cruiser, and
four Of the most modern battleships.
1t was one OF the morning delights to
go on deck before breakfast and see
what new ships were in and what had
left their moorings, always with the
help Of some expert, for to distinguish
these changes in such a vast assembly
OF ships was no early morning task for
landsmen.
Any American. who hopes that the
weight Of the American navy may be
of some use IN this war, must urgently
desire a closer cooperation with the
British navy than has yet been attain.
ed. There have been such changes in
all departments of the service that par.
ticipation in battle would be quite use
less without the thorough cooperation
Of training in the new principles evolv.
ed during the war. The comparison
with land forces holds good. American
troops on landing have to go through