THE PACIFIC FLEET. WHAT IT WILL BE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 84, 6 October 1909, Page 10

THE PACIFIC FLEET. WHAT IT WILL BE.

•SOME EXPERT CRITICISMS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 27th August. Mr. H. W. Wilson, 8.A., the author of "Ironclads in Action" and "The Downfall of Spain," and a recognised naval authority, kindly supplies me with the following note on the new naval agreement : — "The people of New Zealand are warmly to be congratulated upon the magnificent public spirit and patriotism exemplified in the new naval ngreement. We in this country cannot feel too grateful to them for their splendid gift of a Dreadnought cruiser or for their annual contribution. The arrangement under which the smaller vessels of the China fleet will be based upon New Zealand ports seems eminently satisfactory. It is , a haifway-house to the maintenance of its fleet by the Dominion, which must come sooner or later. This I, for one, do not regard as undesirable, holding that the people of the Dominions can never afford to delegate tho work of defence' to others, and that in the large spirit of patriotism, sympathy, and co-operation which inspires the States of the Empire, the various local navies, in the hour of war, could be trusted to give as complete and valuable assistance to the English Navy as the Bavarian and Wurt-emburg armies gave to Prussia in 1870. What more than this can we desire?" ANOTHER EXPERT VIEW. I had an interesting chat to-day with Mr. Archibald Hurd, the naval critic of the Daily Telegraph, and author of a number of books on the subject. He enthusiastically agrees with what New Zealand has done. "My impression has been all along," he remarked, "that New Zealand is adopting the higher Imperialism in the stand she has taken. She is doing much more to assist in Empire defence because she is assisting in the fleet upon which the main defence of the Empire must depend rather than 'turning her attention to any local measure of defence. You may have small cruisers dotted about here and there, but the main decision will depend upon an action of big armoured battleships, and they fight in large bodies. New Zealand is taking up a good stand in contributing to tho British fleet, and there is no reason why the Admiralty should not givo New Zealand a quid pro quo by allocating certain vessels r for local defence purposes. If New Zealand wants to, there is no reason why she should not train officers and men for herself in the Imperial fleet. I don"t know whether they have made any provision for that, but there is an existing provision under which Nctv Zealand can send cadets to this country for training which" has never been taken much advantage of." , On lhe general question of training colonial seamen, (Mr. Hurd confessed he could never, quite understand the colonial standpoint. "You want population to develop your dominions, and you are actually paying a premium to get men. Well, it seems to me rather bad policy when you get men to put them afloat in men-of-war, because, after all, the naval service is -economically an unproductive one. The colonies require a service of higher productive value." Mr. Hurd is sceptical as to the value of a merchant training for naval purposes. Theire was never a time in his-toi-y when the division between the mercantile marine and the war -navy was more marked than tho present, and it, promises to become wider - still. The bluejacket of to-day is a sailor-mechani-cian, with rather more of th£ mechanician than of the sailor. On that account the policy of the Admiralty to■day is rather to discourage the merchant seaman from joining the Royal Naval Reserve. In fact, the whole Naval Reserve is gradually decreasing. "I think, considering her population and wealth," Mr. Hurd repeated, "New Zealand has done remarkably well. She has shown a fine example." THE "PACIFIC COMMAND. i The most interesting part of the agreement is that which relates to the remodelling of the Pacific Fleet. It will consist of three units: — a. In the East Indies. b. In Australia. c In China Seas. Each unit will consist of :— •One large armoured cruiser (Indomi-1 . table). Three second- claps cruisers (Bristols). * • Six destroyers (River type). Three submarines (C type). The battleship-cruisers will, it is understood, be of about 20,000 tons, and ■ttilJ mount altogether 24 big guns; they will be battleship? • like the improved Dreadnoughts, only they will havo somewhat less armour, with a speed approaching 30 knots. Two oj: these . battleshipcruisers will be contributed by Australia and New Zealand, and the third— for the East Indies— by the Mother Country, and, it will probably be found that the ship to be laid down at Devonport in November wiil be assigned to this duty The "Bristol" type of protected cruiser is a new design recently evolved by the Admiralty. The displacement is 4800 tons. These cruisers will have a heavy armoured deck, will be driven by turbine engines of the Parsons type, and will steam at 25 knots. Each ship will carry probably two 6in guns (1001b projectile) with ten 4.7 in guns (351b projectile) and will have two torpedo tubes. They are admirably suited for commerce protection, and should prove good sea boats. The "River" destroyers are good seagoing craft, with high forecastles, and have a displacement of about 55U tons, and a speed of 25£ knots. They will bo turbine driven, and will' be able u> carry about 130 tons of coal or a larger quantity of oil fuel. The "C" class of sub-, marine is a development of the early and smaller vessels first built for the Royal Navy. They displace 313 tons, nave a surface speed of 13 knots (8 knots submerged) with a radius of action awash of upward of 1000 miles. They have two torpedo tubes. They can remain subnierg-ed for three days, and have been found admirable sea boats during exercises in the North Sea. The statement is absolutely silent as to the provision for the training of New Zealand seamen or officers and as to any understanding with regard to the victualling and coaling of the Pacific Fleet.