WAR OF THE FUTURE

Grey River Argus, 26 June 1914, Page 6

WAR OF THE FUTURE

ABOV,E OR BELOW WATER? EXPERT SAYS "WAIT." (Per Independent Cable Service.) LONDON, June 20. Rear-Admiral Bacon, now managingdirector of the Coventry Ordnance^ Works, has written a to the "Times' on Sir* Percy Scott's views on submarines, and urges confidence in the mature judgment of the Admiralty as n'whol'-' \\ l hich, he says, is the only real body of experts in complex questions of Naval policy. "Tlhe submarine," he goes on, "has not been tried in^'wars^ and the knowedge of :ts .capacity in peace is unknown ouMde the Admiralty. '•Yet Sir Percy ' Scott rushes boldly into print with his views, and with an authoritatlveness that could only be justified by an accurate knpwtcdge' which it is difficult to see how , Sit Percy Scott possesses." Admiral Bacotf contends that it : is rash t& assume a success for the submarine such as will -lead to the .early disappearance of other fighting ships, and* probably mean the evolution, of battleships into, fast baltlecruisers for commerce protection, and lead to the value of attack, as'sunxJng greater proportions than defence, because the submarines will be defending the coast