ENGLAND AND HER NAVY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14926, 26 February 1912, Page 7

ENGLAND AND HER NAVY.

LATE ADMIRALTY CHANGES WHY MR. McKENNA LEFT. NO WAR PLAN READY. By Telegraph.— Association.— Copyright. (Received February 25, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 24. In his speech in the Address-in-Reply debate Captain W. V. Faber, Unionist member for the Andover division of Hants, stated that tho references to naval and other matters in his speech at Andover in November came from a highly placed personage. The reason, he said, why. Mr. McKenna was dismissed from his position as First Lord of the Admiralty was that Cabinet asked him for the plan of what it was proposed to do in the event of war, and that he replied that he had no plan. CAPTAIN FABER'S SENSATIONAL SPEECH. Captain Faber's speech at Andover in November last created a great sensation at that time. Ho then alleged that when tho Moroccan situation was at an acute stage the Cabinet was divided as to whether to stick to Franco or not, and that Mr. Lloyd-George stood resolutely for adhesion to France. The situation, Captain Faber declared, revealed naval uupreparedness. That was why Mr. Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in the place of Mr. McKenna. Mr. Churchill then held' a conference with Lord Charles Beresford, and the result was his proposal for the creation of a war staff at the Admiralty. When the pinch with Germany occurred, tho speaker explained, the British fleet was divided into three divisions. The first was stationed at tho south of England ; the second in Irish waters, and tho third off the coast of Scotland. At that moment the Admiralty lost sight of the German fleet. The Cabinet did not know what was going on; but it was a ware that Germany might attack all three fleets separately. The admiral in charge of one of tho divisions of tho British fleet knew the grave danger, and asked the officer commanding the land forces if the fleet would ho safe under the cover of the guns in the forte. The officer replied that if the forts fired, their guns might hit the fleet, instead of covering it. The Cabinet, continued Captain Faber, had been wise enough to send Mr. Churchill, their best man, to the Admiralty in this emergency. It was also stated by Captain Faber that during tho late crisis, when the relations between France and Germany were strained, the idea had been to send six divisions of tho regulars to help France. This, if carried out, would, he declared, have left Britain defenceless except by the navy.