BIGGEST BATTLESHIP

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 65, 17 March 1911, Page 3

BIGGEST BATTLESHIP

LAUNCHING OF THE

THUNDERER

AN IMPRESSIVE SCENE

! (N.Z. Times Correspondent.) LONDON, Feb. 3. WKen the biggest battleship that the world has ever known glided majestically down the ways into the Thames on Wednesday afternoon, the roar of cheering which greeted her was not entirely English, New Zealanders, Australians, Canadians, South Africans were amongst those privileged to see the birth of H.M.S. Thunderer, and their voices swelled the mighty chorus of welcome to the new Dreadnought. It was a happy thought on the part of the builders to invite a number of colonials in London to see the launching ceremony.. Dwellers in the Dominions .overseas yield to none in pride of race, and loyalty to the Flag. But they have few opportunities of seeing the might of Britain's Navy in the making. For most of those colonials who went to Canning Town on Wednesday the spectacle of a great Dreadnought taking the water was an unprecedented event. And the Thunderer, moreover, is Britain's greatest Dreadnought. The High Commissioner for New Zealand took a party down to see the launch of the Thunderer, at the invitation of Mr' Arnold Hills, the : managing director of the Thames' i Ironworks Company, the builders of the battleship; The party of New Zealanders comprised the High Commissioner (Sir Willian HallJones), Lady Hall-Jones, Mrs Christie, Lady Stout and Mr Stout, Mr and Mrs C. Wray Palliser, Mr Wray Pailiser, Mr and Mrs H. Hill, and | Miss Hill, Mr and Mrs T. E. Donne, !Mr and Mrs T. H. Hamer, Mr G. •I H. Scholefield and Miss Scholefield,

Mr and Mrs J. P. Whitelaw, Miss F. E. Young, Mr Edwin Brown, Mr John Foden, Miss Hutchison, Mr K. C. Travels, Mr and Mrs J. A. Warnock, Miss K. E. Isitt, and Mr H. D. Dansey. . It was a lovely winter afternoon, dear and crisp, and the sun came out to grace the occasion with blue skies find welcome light. The dull, dingy streets of Canning Town looked almost cheerful in the unaccustomed sunshine. Strings,of bunting were displayed from many windows, and. the dwellers in those dismal regions came out to make holiday and cheer the new battleship. , The building of the Thunderer on the Thames has been an immense boon to the people of Canning Town. It has given work to 3000 hands for something like nine months, and about £800,000 has been sfent in they building operation. The New Zealand guests were accommodated on a staging close to the battleship's massive;, hull, which I towered high above our heads. At such close quarters one could realise her mighty bulk, for to look up was to feel absolutely dwarfed. What would happen if she fell over in sliding down the ways?, It. was exciting to speculate on the possibilities of being squashed flat! But the workmen assured the timid ones that there was no danger. i ANXIOUS MOMENTS. | But it was an anxious time for those in charge, nevertheless. When the wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury severed the rope, and the weight fell with a crasih on the last remaining dogshore, there was a [tense, impressive hush. The face of 1 the foreman was blanched under the ' norvour strain. , Would the mightly mass of metal move? For seconds which seemed like minutes the leviathan seemed to hang motionless. Then came the cry "She's„off!" At first it was only, an eighth of an inch that the great vessel moved; then half an inch; and then slowly, smoothly, majestically,, she began to glido down towards the water, gaining momentum as she went. . Amid the cheers of a vast multitude, the firing of bombs, the music of the bands, she took the water, and in forty-seven seconds from the cutting of the rope the .Thunderer was forging across the muddy water of Bow Creek into the Thames. A huge ball suspended over the stern opened out as she went down tha ways and scattered - clouds of white and blue papers over the crowds benoath. Pigeons flew out from inside the ball and circled high above. Cheer after cheer rang out from the delighted multitude. From first to last the launch had been a brilliant and unqualified success. Afterwards there were speeches of congratulation. Mr Arnold Hill, the director of the Thames Ironworks, is paralysed with rheumatism;' but he was brought to the launch in an invalid chair, and he made a splendid speech after the ceremony. '

"MONSTROSITIES." The ThundereTJ ; the world's largest .battleship, has be'en launched in record time, he said: His company had built the Warrior, the first ironclad launched oil the seas, and in their yards were constructed the first ironclads of the German. Russian/Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Greek and Japanese navies. In his opinion the battleships of to-day were monstrosities, far too big, too costly, and too dangerous if they happened to go down. He had in. his house a,new design for battleships. This had only been completed a few w«eks. T, he Thunderer was 30 per cent, more powerful-than the Dreadnought, and 20 per cent: more powerful in gun efficiency-1-aVid that was the true criterion and test of the value of at attleship—than the biggest ships yet built in Germany or.France. The design he possessed was. in structural strength, 10 per cent, greater than the Dreadnought, 20 per cent, less in displacement, 20 per cent. less in cost, and at least 10 per cent, greater in battle efficiency. (Cheers.) He spoke of what he knew, and he trusted before a hew battleship programme came out his design might be considered by a committee of sensible, moderate and experienced men, so that they might'get rid of the monstrosities of the Lion class.

£500 FOR TALLOW

Ten tbna of tallow, costing £500, to say nothing of many barrels, of oil and soft soap, were used to make the Thunderer glide down the launching ways. The figures will give an idea of the' costly nature of so great an undertaking. For weeks past, too, dredges had been at work clearing away the slush from the bed of the river Avhere the huge, vessel was to take to the water. Only the shell of the battleship, of course, is ready at iKe time of a launch. Another twelve or fourteen months' work has to be done on board the Thunderer before she is ready to take her place in the British Navy. But even the empty shell is an impressive sight, and those colonials who saw the birth of the Thunderer will not readily forget the thrill inspired by this vast engine of latent destruction, this "thing of dreadful might unequalled on the seas."

A witness in the box at the Supreme Court at Dunedin on Friday said that ho was tho first to send frozen fish to Melbourne. The Government used to grant a bonus for every ton of smoked fish exported. The Victorian Government said it was not fair to their people to have this bounty-fed stuff going into Melbourne, so a duty was put on smoked fish. Ho had to get over that somehow, so he tried frozen fish, and got. it through the customs. The fish was smoked there, and the business had gone on ever since. Mr Adams: "And it has done no harm to Victoria." Witness: "It has done, good, because the smoking finds a lot of work.

There died at Waimate on Sunday afternoon Mr John Manchester, at the age of 77. He was well known as senior partner of the firm of Manchester Bros, and Goldsmith, established in 163. He was also, Waimate's most prominent citizens, and was connected with local bodies for nearly fifty years. He was the first Mayor of the town in 1879 and then held office from 1901 to 1908. On retiring from the position he was presented with a piece of plate linda handsome testimonial by the citizens. He was the originator of the Wesleyan Methoclist Church insur- : ance scheme.