BRITAIN'S DEFENCES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1028, 18 January 1911, Page 5

BRITAIN'S DEFENCES.

ADMIRAL WILSON'S VIEWS. SEAGOING FLEETS AND MOSQUITO CRAFT. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyrlctot London, January 10. To the second edition of General Sir lan Hamilton's book on , "Compulsory Service," Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson (First Sea I/ord) adds an appendix, emphasising the fact that Britain's defence must be two-fold—consisting of, firstly, seagoing fleets, and, secondly, mobile mosquito craft, including 170 destroyers and torpedoers,- and fifty submarines, stretching from Dundee to Dover, and to Devonport. Admiral Wilson points out that the really serious danger is interruption of trade and tho destruction of merchant shipping. All ships operating in' home waters should bo in wireless communication, and so disposed as to make an invasion, even on the . moderate scale of 170,000 rtien, practically impossible. MONSTER BATTLESHIPS. TWO MORE VESSELS BEGUN. London, January IG. The keel plates of two new battleships —tho King George V and tho Centurion— are being laid to-day. Each will have a displacement of, approximately, twentyfive thousand tons, and a horse-power of twenty-seven thousand, giving n speed of twenty-one knots. The thickest armour to bo used will be twelve-inch Simpson-steel. The vessels' armament will include ten thirteen and a half-inch, and twenty-four four-inch guns. Tho latter are to be used against destroyers. , There will be three tubes, firing twenty-one-inch torpedoes, with a range of seven thousand yards. The officers' quarters will be situated aft. CRec. January 17, 10.45 p.m.) London, January 17. Lady Curzon-Howe, wife of Admiral Sir H. S. Curzon-Howe, laid tho first keel plate of the King George V, alid Lady Fawkes, wife ,of Vice-Admiral Sir W. H. Fawkes, the first keel plate v of tho Centurioh. AUSTRALIAN SEAMEN. London, January 1(1. • The High Commissioner for. Australia, Sir George Reid, has arranged that. Australian seamen serving aboard the battleships Commonwealth ami Now Zealand shall continue on those vessels until the cruiser Australia is read}-—in September, 1912. . They will then form part of her crew. The suggests that the men should be re-engaged • for fivo years, as their agreement expires on March 12 next.