SIXTY-MILLION FIGHT

North Otago Times, Volume CIV, Issue 13656, 26 August 1916, Page 8

SIXTY-MILLION FIGHT

is- WHAT THE NAVAL BATTLE * re " OOOT, in- ' ' ire- '■ les ■'>..;■' i„. It took the Boer War three years to , r . -run us in. for a bill of £100,000,000, Hi, yet more than half that stupendous sum „„ was expended in the course of a few ~„ hours when the British and German L .j. Elects came into actiou off the coast , tl) of Jutland on May 31 (says the Glas|l(! gow Weekly Herald). t„- Twelve times our daily war expeudi0. tine blown away in an afternoon and ,|, evening! That is what .modern naval \. warfare costs. A year or two ago we ill grumbled because the annual expemli]c tare of the Navy was exceeding the jh fifty million limit; now we think noth\j ing of-that sum when it goes in battle ~s in an houj or two. lc It is remarkable how wasteful of life 0 . and money a big naval action can be. ,f A battle-cruiser can bum fortv or fifty • h pounds' worth of fuel in an'hour and usually docs so when it is at full speed; „ it can discharge powder and shell at ~, ovev £IOO a shot; and if perchance one 0 of these £IOO shells, or a £6OO torpedo, t . or a £3OO mine should blow it up, it lt; sinks a dead loss of from a million and ll' a half to two million pounds, P) . Ships-Lost and Damaged, p . In the loss of- ships alone the Jutland ie Coast action ran up a bill of about .„ £23.0000. Here is the bill of lost warships:— . BRITISH. ■e .' f ' ■'.''£• ,„ Queen Mary .. .. 2,078,000 i„ Judefatigablc . .., 1,536,000 it Invincible .... 1,768,00(1 ■ Defence' .. .... 1,883,000 il Wai ™ l ' ■•/•■■., 1,186,000,1 Black Prince.,. .. 1,193,000" * y . .:■ Tippcriiry ...... i'00,00L) ;„■ Turlmlent ... ... 200,000 ~ Nestor' :.. .. ..• 150,000 d •" ■•*'oma<l' •■ ..■..'.'. 150,000 e Ardent .... .', 100,000 ,1 " Fortune ... ... .; 100,000 ~ Sparrowhawk .... 100,000 ' k' ' _ e : £10,244,000. v GERMAN, '• • ' £ ! Kaiser 2,250,000 ,|, Hiiidenburg .... 2,250,000 s. Mzow 2,500,000 ' f Derffliiigcr ~.. 2,500,000 " ii El K r '400,000 1, Wiesbaden .. ~ 400,000 1- Rostock 400,000 Frauenlob .. .. 251,000 c Poiniuem .. .. 1,210,000 t . Nine destroyers .. 800,000 II Submarine .. ~ 100,000 £18,001,000

(In one or two eases the figures are only approximate.) This works out at a grand total of something over £23,000,000 for stmkeu ships alone. But what about' all those that,were damaged and disabled, somo of thorn most severely? Their repair Mil will reach a total which it is impossible to do more than hint at. Let »s give, tho bulk of it to tlid Gorniaiis, and place the total at £II,OOOOOO. 'Gunnery At Over £IOO a Shot. That covers the gator part of the '"aterial damage, but there.are some formidable items still to come. Think of the ammuutiiou used, and the price of it. Big liaval guns arc expensive things to play, with, For guns of 12iu, 13.5 in lf and j bin, calibro, each shot-cordite' charge, projectile, and wear ami I ear of gun-r-costs well into three figures; £IOO will only lire one of the Dreadnought's 12iii.'gtiiis;;o)i'eej you \voulcl hilvc loadd' a. bit to that sum before it would supply the necessary for a round from oho of the Lion's 13,5 hi. weapons; and double if you were to' make one of flio 'Lizzie's" huge loin, popguns speak, Hie Lion could polish off an M.P. '3 salary in three or four'shots. Wliy, the 1 salaries of tlie whole' House, with those ; of fhe ; Cabinet. Ministers thrown in, would not keep battle-cruisors in powder and. shot very long, and if the dreadnought fired her ten guns at the 1 rate of one round per minute she could ' make an end of the Primo Minister's 1 salary in ten minutes! Quite a sport 1 .for millionaires. 1 Bui it is no use trying to find the 1 ammunition bill for the. Jutland Coast I fight, by estimating what every gun and < skip can.tlo. Tlie matter must be ' covered more generally. I There is a.clue to go upon. Some- t one, .writing on the Dogger Bank light, | ■cßtiniateaV-with what degree of aecu- 1 racy and authority is not kuown-that 1 about three-quarters, of a, million' t pounds' worth of ammunition was ex- I ponded in that running light. Well • ,i» the Dogger Bank battle nine big i ships fought for five hours; at the Jut- < land Coast there was an average of about forty-iiye vessels engaged for | ten hours or so. That is live times the 1 number of .shins and twice the time, ) •which roughly means ten times the am- . munition, or £7.500,000.

The Coal Bill. There is.a further itwn vet-a comparatively small; one this time. Ships do 1 .not move free of chaw '-very revolution of the engines, evcrv turn .of _ the propellers, costs money ,Jiotive power is* Hot- so expensive as g«».power, but it mounts up. E or instance", a battle cruiser .doing full speed ,ea« get through a thousand tons of rui-'l in a day, ■l'Vcl, oil'and coal-in the I)ro |, or . itwns-in which it is burned-costs m au average over N.lOs per ton, so jjiat allowing the Lion ten or twelve hours of lighting and-about the same time Jor getting to and from the scene 0 .battle, we fiiaf that she has cost UiiUO for fuel alone in that period, »e had twelve, ships in the light that «niM .do';that "fuel disappear].."" [nek, and probably thirty to fifty other uig ships-involved, which also '■' consumed very, large quantities, as well us dozens of smaller .ships that can shift an amazing amount of coal and oil. twenty thousand pounds would not. over-estimate the whole thing, mid the enemy, with his shorter distance to cover,, would likely account for £20,000 What of the Men? Jo much for the material side of the yt. But what about the i lllinan element* We cannot really lav down huancial values for them, or lallv tliem 01 on a pound,.shillings, and" peace measure. Hardly less than 20,000 men, fairly equally divided between the two Jleetj must.-■havo been killed or temporarily' d ™ m ' « their eJoiioiiiic alue-a value, of course, which falls la.r short of their real worth? Some years ago it was stated in Parliament that it cost £3OO to make and train an Dftiwcut bluejacket. On this basis tlio loss in men means £0,000,000. But political economists and statisticians nave agreed that every man has an economic value to his country of £IOOO s<>i going on this calculation, the item lumps to £20,000,000. i, •'. * Lnlish ships lost.. 10,2-14000 German ships, lost. 13,0mJ)00 Damage to ships ~ 0,000,000 Ammunition .. 7.500,000 i l '' 1 " 11 00,000 ; Alvn •• •'• .. 20,000,000 '"'rand In la 1.. ■ O,8i)«,0H0 fifty-Hiiie. million pounds, rou»hlv ip«"ikiiig, in half « da v™ four and a mil. miljioits per hour. 'faiilv, unlv the latioiis.'fhat' have fat purses t-;ui'li-'ht nany modern naval battles. b