A WARNING VOICE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 972, 12 November 1910, Page 12

A WARNING VOICE.

LORD CHARLES BERESFORD ON THE NAVAL SITUATION. OUR INSECURE POSITION. lord Charles Beresford has addressed an "open letter" to the British Premier on the naval situation. His Lord6hi[ writes:— During the next few weeks there mus4 occur a momentous crisis in affairs oj the nation and of the Empire. If th« right measures are taken by the Executive Government of which you, sir, ar« the representative, the defences of tha Empire may bo secured; but if, on tho contrary, the present opportunity bo. neglected, then, sir, I will venture to affirm with such assurance as fifty years of public service may lend my worda that the' position of affairs with regaxd to the naval defence of the Empire will, three years hence be fraught with ft danger whose gTavity I believe it to be difficult to exaggerate. I select the year 1913-1914 as the critical moment, bocause if the country is to be fully equal to the contingencies which will tnea arise, due preparation must be begun, immediately.. In order that the naval power of Great Britain may be maintained in its proper, relation to the strength of the naval power of foreign nations three yearo hence, I believe it to be absolutely essential that in addition to the five capital ships which are to be laid down next, year, seven more; first-class armoured ships should be laid down. Such' an increase in the force of heavy 6hips must, of course, be supplemented by' the full and adequate provision of all' those other elements of fighting power upon which depend the whole .utility of the battl# squadrons. I have no intention of adducing facts or figures whose accuracy cannot be easily ascertained by means of reference to the proceedings in Parliament and to the ordinary text-books. The position in 1913-14 under .existing arrangements would be as- follows:—

1913-1914. .dg i J 11 | - on o 4 h £3 Dreadnoughts .25 21 .4 4 29 Pre-Dreaanoughts 9 _ Total 34'; '21 j 4 -29 1° framing this calculation the two Australasian battleships now building ara not included. It is impossible to include in any practical estimate of naval force ships which are. not under tho direct control of the .Admiralty. : I have also, for the sake of 'simplicity, excluded the "Pre-Dreadnoughts" of foreign Powers. Their inclusion would not affect the value of estimate dealing'only with modern heavy ships' as the decisive factor, in future warfare. The table shows a superiority/ of 13 heavy ships over Germany alone, and 5 over the Triple Alliance. Reckoning in "Dreadnoughts" alone, the position under existing arrangements will be as follows ' 1913-14. ' ' Great ' Triple Brit- Ger- Aus- Alii-: ain. many. tria. Italy, ance. Dreadnoughts... 25 , 21 4 4 29 It is, therefore, clear that three yean hence our superiority over Germany will be reduced to four ships of. the "Dreadnought" type. . We shall be exactly equal to Germany and Austria combined, and inferior by four veesels to the .Tripls Alliance. ■ ' ' ~

I view the situation thus exposed with a' profound apprehension. I proceed to give my reasons for believing it to be dangerous in the extreme. A margin of four ships is wholly inadequate." From my own experience, I can quote instances when, owing to unavoidable exigencies, six Battleships out of. eight were unavailable. If it be argued that the fleets of other Powers are liable to the same contingency, I reply that we cannot afford to risk such accidents, an assertioh -with' l which' 'I L believe that ''every intelligent person will agree. It may be argued that tho inventions of the Government with regard to the shipbuilding programme for next year have not yet been disclosed. 1 They have not. But what we do know is that the construction of the "four contingent ships" of last year was postponed to this year, and that the construction of the five ships of this year's programme has been postponed to next year if the same course be pursued. With regard to Germany, Great Britain owns an "unassailable superiority"—the phrase, sir, is your own. With all respect, I venture to submit that, technically speaking, no superiority is "unassailable," and that_ the_ admitted superiority in.' heavy 'ships- is largely neutralised by the lack of menj of stores, of docks, of cruisers, and of torpedo craft, with all of ..which the Imperial German Navy is admirably equipped.