COAL GIVES PLACE TO OIL

Hawera Star, Volume L, 20 December 1930, Page 18

COAL GIVES PLACE TO OIL

"yET a third era of motive power in the British Navy is doomed, .by an announcement of the Admiralty to all shipbreaking firm's, made with dull formality, devoid of sentimental •lament. ! Muscle on the oars, wind) in the sails have each in turn given .place to coal. | Now coal has completed' its surrender j to all-conquering oil, writes Commander U- M. Da'niel, D. 5.0., B.N. (formerly of HAL'S. Koval: Oak) in .the J ‘Daily Mail.” The last of the ‘ ‘ coal-lieavers ’ ’■— lIJM-S. Dartmouth, Birmingham, and Lowestoft—are now put up-for sale. (By the terms o'f the London Treaty, assuming ratification by Japan, the 1‘3.5-inch gun battleships of the Iron Duke class and the Tiger will have to be disarmed within a few months of the treaty becoming effectual, to be sunk or scrapped' within the following year. Only the Iron Duke will be retained as a. training ship, partially disarmed and dismantled. 'Coal ships will be outlived ini the Fleet by masts and yards, for Nelson’s flagship, HJMjS. Victory, still -flies an admiral's flag, and her “books’’ carry the names of thousand's of officers and men. It may seem a small thing to sigh about. The era of coal.has been brief, and the oil replacing it seenvs to landsmen. to make little .change in the appearance of the Fleet. It is four vear s since the last coalburning battleships, with a trail of inevitable smoke from their funnels, bade; farewell to the Mediterranean Fleet, and J-IjMjS. Iron Duke, most famous of ships since the Victory, steamed home with trailing- (pennant to- mark her paying off and movement into the reserve. That was - really the death; the rest is a long protracted funeral. To mark the event the 3rd Battle 'Squad'ron presented their admiral, Sir Michael Hodges, now Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, with a shovel i brightly burnished by hor.ny hands. It (was a similar token which the senior

Ships of Royal Navy

engineer of HALS. Queen Elizabeth during the war fixed on the bulkhead o'f the engine-room casing, adorned with the eloquent motto, “Lest we Forget. ’ ’ Forget what'? More, surely, than the dirt and dust of the coal-fired stokehold? Yes, indeed. IHovv different are the days now. when destroyers can return front, patrol a'nd men go to sleep while fuel is pumped into their bunkers through a hose; cruisers can anchor after a. “sweep” act-os's the ocean and in a few hours be ready again to proceed, officers and men refreshed and tanks topped up_; battleships continue unchecked their high-pressure programmes of training and mechanical adjustments. In the old days “Coal Ship” meant all hands and the cook. Competition was terrific to top the list of tons an •hour. Neither beef nor brain was spared, and officers would) shovel, run, a'nd tip with the men. Indeed, I remember in- one ship we asked some soldier subalterns to dine and bring their football' kit. We mere on very friendly terms, and; come thev did, to learn that at 5 a.m. next day we wanted) them to help in the officers’ lighter. They shovelled' and ran like sportsmen till they could stand no •longer, and' we broke a record. 'Some said it was not cricket; perhaps not; but it was Coaling Ship! Nowadays i.n the .NaVy there is nothing- left that needs’ brawn. Physical j training is still persisted in to produce healthy bodies and alert- minds. Pull- ! mg regattas'are encouraged as a sport. I but rowing has little more to do with j the everyday life of a* modern sailor | than football. ! When sail vanished, rheumatic, longsince retired .Royal Yard' men swore the Navy was going to the dogs. ,'So they -said when) breech-screwed guns and cordite replaced the muzzle-load- ' ing piece belching black powder smoke, j So they say now when oil ousts c-oai and (who shall doubt?) with equal truth.