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May, 1914 in 1876 are the same class as those who do it to-day. In the twenty years succeeding the anniversary of the building of the victory, the whole of the change from ships of her day. to ships of our day was made. Minor changes have been made since, but they are as nothing compared with those of that twenty years. The period from 1885 to 1905 can be passed over with little consideration. In the latter year the Dreadnought was launched, and so momentous was that event that we now think and speak in Dreadnoughts, positive, com- parative and superlative. The active brain of Lord Fisher, with his readi- ness to. take advantage of all. the other active brains with which he came in contact, focussed the -de- be THE MARINE REVIEW velopment of thought in the direction of increased destructive power. Since 1905, Dreadnoughts have largely -monopolised public attention. But to-day the submarine is the most interesting. It is a weapon of attack to which up to the present there is no reply. It steals silently up to its prey, delivers its attack, and disap- pears. It is invisible, and may be called one of the unseen powers; but it is eminently a weapon which can most successful in peace time. What it will do in war time, when the restraint of its opponents is with- drawn, can only be guessed. Now those in the submarine know that they will not be run down if dis- covered. In war this terror will be added and will produce its moral 175 effect. There are 8 submarines of 204 tons and 600 h. p.; 47 of 316 tons and 600 h. p.; 8 of 620 tons and 1,200 h. p.; and 18 of a-larger class. The lightness of destroyers' construction was deemed by some to_ betoken short life, but there are some which are twenty years old still in our navy doing good work. The destroyer, light cruiser, and all the types were fully described and illustrated by the lecturer. Only two decisive fleet ac- tions have taken place in fifty years. In the first a chance shot decided the victory, though no ship was sunk or put out of action. In the second, the whole of one fleet was either captured or destroyed. Truly, modern condi- tions produce the same final results as those of old. Navy Yard Design N THE absence: of. Captic LS. I Van Duzer from the December meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, his paper entitled "General Organizatton of Navy Yard Design, Location, Capacity and Maintenance with Plan and Descrip- tion of a Large, Efficient Yard Prop- erly Located,' was read by Secretary Cox and abstracted as follows: This paper has been prepared to show that we must have at least one large navy yard where the entire fleet can be effectively repaired and sup- plied in time of war. That fact being admitted, the question is considered from three principal points of view, viz.: (1) Suitability of location, (2) capacity of yard, and (3) cost of con- struction, maintenance and operation. After considering the various re- quirements, it is pointed out that the position of New York is superior to. all other ports on the east coast. It is, however, maintained that a better location may be obtained for. the cre- ation of a new navy yard at Commun- ipaw, N. J., than is afforded by the present location in Brooklyn. The new yard would be a mile or two fur- ther away from an attack by sea and also close to all the great trunk lines of the country. It would still possess the advantages of the labor supply afforded the Brooklyn yard. The great opportunity of designing a new, modern and up-to-date estab- lishment for the construction and re- pair of ships is shown, and a tenta- Its General Organization, Considering Location, Capacity and Maintenance tive plan is presented. It is declared that the great expense of the new navy yard would be for the most part covered by the price obtained from the sale of the old navy yard. E. A. Stevens Jr.:--I think the sug- gestion of Capt. Van Duzer is an ex- cellent one, in regard to location, but it seems to me the sticking point would be to get congress to appro- priate sufficient funds to build the yard in the proposed position. Conse- quently, on account of the everlasting politics, Iam afraid it would be a hard fight--the Brooklyn representa- tives would put up a hard fight to keep the navy yard in Brooklyn. Such a proposition, however, in my opinion, should not enter into the po- sition of the navy yard, whether it is a question of the location of the yard, or the building of the ships, or anything else, it should be done to the best interests of the country and not for the benefit of any particular location. Provided that the location' can be dredged, there is absolutely no doubt but what the proposition is a much more attractive one than the present Brooklyn navy yard. ~The approach is very much easier and as Capt. Van Duzer says in the paper, it is further from attack at sea, and not only that, but it is nearer--I have not. measured the distance, exactly, but I should say it was 'at least two miles nearer to Sandy Hook than the pres- ent location, and when it comes to a question of speed, it would be infi- nitely more so on account of the slow speed with which the battleships are required to navigate the East river. The layout Capt. Van Duzer has put before us evidently shows a good deal of thought and seems to be excellently worked out. The location is infinitely better for the transporta- tion of materials, as at very small expense a railroad could be run in there connecting up with two of the main lines, to run to the western part of the country, to Pittsburgh and the steel industries. Everything which is destined for the Brooklyn navy yard has to be'taken out of the cars and put on lighters, and transported over there. In time of war, when every- thing is in a rush, it might be you could get one or two battleships out on line, immediately, with the new lo- cation, and in that way this quick action might make the difference be- tween a victory or defeat. Francis "IT. Bowles:--I will mention the fact that Iwas stationed at the Brooklyn navy yard for a number of years, and incidentally became well acquainted with local 'politics. It has always seemed t6 me with regard to the Brooklyn navy yard, and all navy yards, that naval officers, as a rule, confuse the function of a navy yard, and attempt to combine what I call a naval rendezvous "with an' industrial plant. When you see at the Brooklyn navy yard a party of sailors playing football, and another party of sailors sitting around on the benches watch- ing the game, it is more or less dif- ficult to keep any workmen busy.