FASHIONS IN WARSHIPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

FASHIONS IN WARSHIPS.

WHAT SHALL WE CALL THE NEW TYPES? The new £60,000,000 fleet which Lord Charles Beresford suggests should be built and added to our navy comprises most of the classes of ships now to be found in the fleets of the world, which two new ones. The old ones are battleships, protected cruisers, and torpedo boat destroyers, and the new ones "commerce-protection cruisers" (which is really an old type resurrected) and "anti-destroyers." What is the exact meaning of these terms in the navies of the twentieth century? Since 1900 there have been enormous developments in all branches of naval warfare, and the gulf between the typical battleship of that year and the so-called Dreadnought of to-day is so wide as to place the ships in wholly different classes. nine YEARS' PROGRESS. For instance, the " battleship" of 1900 —the —displaced 14,000 tons and carried only four 12-inch. guns. The improved Dreadnoughts now building displace 19,250 tons and carry 10 12-inch weapons; while speed has .advanced from 19 to 21 knots. It is, therefore, absurd to class all these vessels together as '"battleships," for the Dreadnought is equal to two or three Duncans.

The Dreadnought has a broadside of 68001b weight. The Duncan, carrying the standard pre-Dreadnought, battleship armament, tires only 40001b on the beam; yet they are frequently lumped together as " battleships." It reminds one of the beggar who bore the legend: Engagements 5, wounds 3, children 6total 14." Even in Dreadnoughts great advances have been made, and the original vessel has been outclassed by what are known as "superDreadnoughts." All foreign naval Powers are now building these improved vessels, which, instead of 10, carry 12 great guns. POSSIBLE NEW NAMES. ! . These improvements make it plain that our present names are out of date. To avoid unnecessary confusion it might 'be well if ships of the all-big-gun type were called "ships of the line," and older vessels, built with similar objects, •"■battleships." "Armoured cruisers," so called, have been left out of the proposals for the new fleet, and, seeing that in recent years this class has developed so amazingly that a modern unit could tackle any pre-Dread-nought, with reasonable hopes of success, this is perhaps just as well. Our own Invincible class, with their broadside of 68001b of metal, are simply .Dreadnoughts which have sacrificed a few inches of side armour for an extra four knots speed. There is no sense whatever in calling such vessels cruisers. They are fast battleships. Some German official statements have, indeed, referred to them as " cruiser-battleships." Protected cruisers have gone out of fashion in recent years, especially in England, although we are now building 11. We have some huge examples in the Powerful and Terrible, displacing 14,000 tons each, but which, owing to their poor armament and protection, are merely a parody of the name the navy list gives them—"first-class cruisers." Protected cruisers are vessels with no side armour at all. but simply a protective deck. Instead of increasing, the size of these ships as a class has diminished, and newer vessels of the class are from 3000 to 4000 tons, and steam 25 knots. TWO KINDS OF DESTROYERS. Lord Charles Beresford demands 18 of these vessels, and also another 18 which he calls commerce protectors. Lord Charles would have these of the same type as the protected cruisers; but vessels built previously as commerce protectors or destroyers have all proved dismal failures. France, i Germany, and the United States have all j had a hand at it, and all dropped it quick- I

The so-called torpedo boat destroyer is another anomaly, since no Power now builds torpedo boats. The destroyer has taken their place, and Lord Charles Beresford did well by calling the vessel he proposes to build to deal with the enemy's destroyers " anti-destroyers."

The whole scheme of naval nomenclature needs revision now that things maritime have so greatly changed. As well call the Invincible a frigate as an armoured cruiser, and the 36-knot Swift would be almost as accurately defined were she called a sloop instead of a,torpedo boat destroyer.