DOOM OF THE DREADNOUGHTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15269, 5 April 1913, Page 5 (Supplement)

DOOM OF THE DREADNOUGHTS.

WEIRD STORY OF GEBMAN SEA . MONSTER. !'"'''.' : -: : V-:' ■■■'":a; '' ; ty\ I ''"'^v''-'"""/'' : '7 ; "'':'.'''. , , AERIAL TORPEDOES. . Once more the Board of Admiralty has been caught napping. It has been "done ■ih the eye" by those astute Germans./ "Grand Admiral" von Tirpitz, ;:the ; ,: arch-; "been ;:miakingv" calculated Indiscretions." ■ German Dreadnoughts the tun© pi about £2,500,000 apiece, ace a mere. the real nayal striking: iweapon is s vessel costing -about onetwentieth of the .price. Meanwhile we a# -being inado:to. concent oi sters, wnile Germany is multiplying destroy ers of a r&w category—speedier than Dreaclrumghte, lying low in tho water, little ■ fchan :awash, fighting « a 4:f n >; presenting-nc> larger target, than a sloping | shield, andv mounting one big, gun dis- j charging a fiorb of aerial lorgcdo. i :^S^--at'ieasty : ; states.'a correspondent of j Sedate Engineer, ;.who ; has thus j given their cue to all the 4mgo journals ! in attacking tbdL Admkalty and discevefmg some new ■wickedness, on the part of Germany. "New wasps of the seai" " Dreadnoughts superseded/'; "Design l&b.eliprhy- fc he Admiralty," •'Secret Fleet"for= Germany'—these were son** i>f $he :'r^ers^o^ : 'Bucli papers recently. y/.Thia new type of some maryellohsf qualities. ?; She can sea in all weathers, she- can fight at the longest though her business /S/to ad-, vance bows on attain enoxinous speed, and shbcanwork her single big -gun effectually; when fhe is practically awash, wbscb gun ■ baa some kind of disappearing of screened mounting; that target of the; most elusive kind- : v The'Geman: Dread; nouffhte "loom; popular estima-, tibn!; but; in reality, these, new ate- the things that; count. .When*the tangled story is unravelled and:the quali-; tieirof the new ierait ;are;Considered-the fbnnef loses credence v and the latter is; stripped of its terrors- -This super-de-btfoyer is v evidently a; congener of art old; friehd, the dynamite.gun- vessel Vesuvius,: wEch was launched for.the Unitedr States. navy "in 1888, and mounted three 15m dynamite gnn-tubes; = She Was a vessel useless fifom beginningi and the first and last of her typo. , "Bottled Sunlight," It Ujppears ithatthe in ■■ the Engineer ; prepared i hi 1884, cbn- , jointlyrwith 'Sir Edward Reed; the design |or-'*:'--v^'el; : remained a project. However, some; Continental engnieers/got ;hold.of. it, perfected;it *ith bicredible deliberation overa period of 25 ',' years,:and then offered; ifr-rmirabiledictu! ~4bMr.Asquith; Vwhb dismissed it/with a gesture. Not such a-cool reception did ■iV'meet- witb GermanyV whdre its. development has; since, readied a ;%scale of : great* r '■.:■■':?. '."%■''■;•''■' ; That: the Germans .have i taken into consideration the feasibility, of building such ' a vesset is prbbableV and it is even possible that they may: have built! an experimental craft, 'but that they have built a ■ flotilla of them is incredible. The characteristics assigned to the vessel;are; contra 1 dictory. < A craft carrying> a single big gun, say of 15in calibre,; Mth'a disappearing .mounting;; to: be: of ,; considerable size, especially if provided'with engines of gTeat power"; driving' her awash : through the water, atover2s;knots. [Moreover; though:capable of -engaging,Dread-. • noughts : at/extremeranges with big shells, : ,she-shcoild secondary >. armament;' lestiehia^hfirself^should ; be despatched by destroyers;:; Aiming, with, the big gun at long range-would'be a ticklish business, andit is-not explained whether the gun can be "trained,, or must be fired hi: the-cb"rectiohof of the vessel. As ifo existing 1 German; destroyers of,the ■ most recent .construction, it is.pertain that they aire'vessels efth'e, ordinary destroyer class, mbnntmg;3.4mvrtunsV: Their; characr ter is- revealed ;by ; ;pSotog^aphs;^nd > described in text The Engineer: ' correspondent also gives a story' that is, . wunderbar concerning .German sobmaMes. A cunning engineer,, has, learned to capture licht.for. them, so: .that they;are , independent of the pensebpo-: , A sort of .'• halbseemiV to surround, them below water. i hut'how^t jehablesythem to sec what:is: above is not ©xnlahied. : British boats [ , greatly supenor: to any j yet built in Germany.

. '-. '■.-'., -,- ' •■ '..'-'' Germany Amxtsed. . > The statement -that the Germanjj, navy had adopted- : ..and a .number' of' deadly destroyed, furnished with an-aerial gun capable.. destroying Dreadnoughts; causes considerable amuse? }n^MQ : .''-'Be'i'h'n* especially in naval circles; where it; ia -relegated to':the category of "phantom eirship,'* stories, 1 talea-of ; [iQprj&i : ,"-. : :ias. ''Oormiat'.:. waiters'*; y£? r - London, etc. Needless-to observe, the story .from begiriningoto end is inherently; absurd;- v ; "What Department about, what ar& our naval 'attaches i ands thevnaval; attaches o£ other Ponvers 1 about, if this extraordinary vessel lias escaped their notice? " Tkou&aneta of people'.-.in;'■- 'Ge.rniany vri^iist; know' about the ; vessel: if \it v .was *p]laririod^ : and;' it presup-' poses; a .bbloßsal piece? ti>f duplicity oh i the; German Admiralty, ..which is unthinkable. This? fairy tale has often 'cropped up in former: years.. The press in Germany 4 pokes jwetitfuh lat the • idea. One journal saya tne,' Engineer forgot to mention -' that by. pressing .a; button the vessel,could;be teansformed into an aeroplane. Another points out that 4< sum;niec;iß.lthe:Proper.:.time.''for' such stories— iinnmer, when the sea-serpehfc and the gigantic gooseberry flourish/' : ■[-■'■ : ' >l " ■''- •■•■■■N--. ,: v ■ i