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June, 1909 WARSHIPS OMITTED IN RE- CENT PROGRAMS OF NAVAL CONSTRUCTION.* BY THE RIGHT HON. LORD BRASSEY. T is an obvious remark that it is in vain that parliament should vote lavishly for the navy if the money is ill-spent. Unanimity of professional opinion in relation to construction is weighty, though per- haps less conclusive than some may think. It has 'been reached, not as the result of independent investiga- tion, but by imitation of British de- signs. To the British admiralty belongs the credit of producing the first speci- men of a new class of (battleship, showing a marked advance over all preceding types in speed and in guns of the heaviest caliber. The coal- endurance is sufficient for ocean pass- ages. Occasions may arise in naval warfare when superiority in speed and big-gun armament might decide the issue. ito 41s: ne@cessary..to secure 4 preponderance for the British navy in' Dreadnoughts. It is not inconsistent to contend that other types besides the Dreadnought are of great value for the line of battle. We see in recent naval con- struction a continuous increase in di- mension and in cost: Cost (in- Displacement. cluding guns.) Tons. Bi Lord Nelson .... 16,500: 1,654,098 Dreadnought « 17,900 1,813,100 : 'Lemeraire = s ..0 4 18,600) Not given in navy esti- St. Vincent ..... 19,250 -}mates. In round fig- Neptune = fo.0..642 20,000 J ures possibly -- £2,000,000. - The latest battleships designed for Germany, the United States, and Japan are ships of 20,000 tons. In his recent volume on naval ad- ministration, Capt. Mahan insists on the objections to continual increase of dimensions: 'When a certain speed has been attained, a small increment must be purchased at a very great sacrifice. What shall the sacrifice be? Gun power? Then your vessel, when she has overtaken her otherwise equal enemy, will be inferior in offensive power. Armor? Then she will be more vulnerable. Something of the coal she would carry? But the ex- penditure of coal in ever-increasing ratio is a vital factor in your cher- ished speed. If you can give up none of these things, will you increase the Size? Will you have smaller numbers with larger individual power? Then you sacrifice power of combination!" Ther are considerations in connec- ee "Abstract of a paper read before the Insti- tution of Naval Architects. "'TAE Marine Review tion with armaments, "The main in- strument," says Sir Cyprian Bridge, "is the gun, and it is its fire that has to be concentrated. If the ships are distributed at suitable intervals, the enemy's return fire must be either divergent or be only imperfectly con- centrated, * * * The mounting of very heavy armaments in single ships reduces numbers, * * * This consti- tutes an obstacle to the desirable tac- tical dispersion." So, too, Sir Regin- ald Custance. In his chapter on the Battle of Tsushima, the gallant au- thor shows how "the fire of 63 guns was concentrated on the leading ships of the Russian line. Shells rained on their decks. They were enveloped in a sheet of flame. The great principle of dispersing the guns to concentrate their fire was emphasized and con- firmed." With increase of dimensions have not secured invulnerability. It is not possible to protect the whole area of side above water with impene- trable armor. In the war in the Far East, the mine was a deadly weapon. If we were creating a new navy for the defense of the British empire, it would be desirable to lay down a pro- portion of 'ships of moderate dimen- sions. We are relieved of this neces- sity. We have, as Mr. McKenna has said, a mighty fleet of ships earlier than the Dreadnought. The forthcom- ing volume of the "Naval Annual" will give a list of 44 British battleships. Classing the Lord Nelsons for the time being as Dreadnoughts, we have no less than 38 other ships, of which the oldest was launched in 1894. Col- lectively, these ships carry 144 12-in. guns, 8 10-in. guns, 32 9.2-in. guns, 28 7.5-in. guns, and 428 6-in. quiék-firers. They are heavily armored. to 20 knots an hour. With brave and 'well-trained men behind the guns, and under the command of captains reared in a service which has no record of failure, we 'have a fleet of vessels which well answer in these latter days to the two-deckers of the glorious past. It is not necessary to dwell on the armored cruisers. The type has disappeared from the latest programs of construction. .Equal in dimensions and in cost, with a slight inferiority in armament and armor, but with a steaming power equal to 25 knots at sea, the four ships of the Invincible type, and the Indefatigable, should certainly be included in the Dread- nought class in any comparison of, naval strength. Armored cruisers cost as much per ton as battleships. Our appropriations to cruiser construction have not been approached under any we: Speed 18 - 120 other naval administration. In the view of many naval authorities, it would 'have been well to have spent less on armored cruisers and more on battleships. The large protected cruisers are the latest effective of all the ships on the British navy list. It is a waste of public money to keep such ships as the Powerful and Terrible in commis- sion. They carry large crews. They are too vulnerable to be reckoned as fighting ships. It remains to refer briefly to the inshore squadron. The Dreadnoughts are essentially ships for, the open seas --beyond the range of the torpedo, and free from the danger of the float- ing mine. In narrow and_ shallow waters, in the southern 'part of the North 'sea, with all lightships and buoys removed, navigation would 'be hazardous in the extreme. At night, and in thick weather, the torpedo would become a most formidable as- sailant. The gun is a useless weapon against an invisible foe. The naval experience and professional skill which 'have produced our noble fleets for the open waters should now be "directed to the creation of a type spe- cially designed for the inshore squad- ron. We are strong in destroyers and submarine boats. The Monitor, the armored tram, as désigned by Admiral Ammen, U. S. N., and tthe protected torpedo vessel, as exemplified in our own Polyphemus, are types of a past era, but which must still be found ef- ' fective in modern warfare. It is hardly possible to close with- out a reference to pending discussions of today. We must look to the future. Wie must add to the expenditure on construction. We are strong in ships. The amounts voted for Great Britain, Germany and the United States are approximately the same. In Germany one-half, in the United States. one- third, in Great Britain one-fourth of the amount voted for the navy is avail- able for new construction. We can- not keep ahead without further effort. A pilot chart of the South Atlantic Ocean which should be of the greatest assistance to vessels navigating in these waters is now being issued by the United States Navy Hydrographic Office. This chart can be obtained by mariners, free of cost, by applying to the Branch Hydrographic Office at 72.80 Broad street, New York City. James H.:Woods has been appointed assistant general sales agent of the Pittsburg Coal Co., at Cleveland.