WARSHIPS' FUNCTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15686, 13 August 1914, Page 9

WARSHIPS' FUNCTIONS.

PARTS OF A NAVY. GROWTH "OF BATTLESHIPS. The modern fighting fleet is composed of battleship, cruisers, and tho "smallfry.'-' winch arc a very powerful and fastgrowing defensive portion of the strength. Latterly, of course, tho adoption of flying as an adjunct to naval activity has introduced a new element which is quit* untried, and in regard to which no roll';! hie figures can be given. The battleship, properly so called, is the heavy-weight. Only in recent years has this class of vessel become really fast. The Dreadnought, built in 1906, was tho first to exceed 20 knots; and she also marked the arrival of tho "all big gun" ora, which still holds sway. In previous years battleships carried a secondary battery of considerable size, but in the newer types it was nominally abolished. Taking tho British Navy for consideration, the armament of the newer ships consists of an array of guns of at least 12in calibro, with a light battery of 4in, and in some cases 6in, for "repelling torpedo attack." As a matter of fact, this light armament is just as formidable as the old secondary battery, and is only dwarfed by the hug* size of tho heavy guns, which are far moro numerous than on the older types. An intermediate and very important class had three main divisions of guns, some very large, a secondary battery of considerable size, and a number of smaller ones. The Newer Ships, These classes may be illustrated as follows :— FT. M.S. Duncan (1903) ' 14.000 tons, four 12in guns and twelve 6in; speed, 19$ knots. • H.M.S. Kine Edward VII. (1905), 16,350 tons; four 12in guns, four 9.2 in, ten 6in; speed, 184 knots. H.M.S. Dreadnought (1906), 17,900 tons, ten 12in jmns (no secondary battery); speed, 21 knots. H.M.S. St. Vincent (1910), 19,250 tons; ten 12in, eighteen! 4in ; speed, 22 knots. H.M.S. King Georeo V, (1912), 24 000 tons; ten 13.5 in, sixteen 4in; speed, 21 knots. H.M.S. Iron Duke (1913), 25000 tons; ten 13.5 in, sixteen 6in; speed, 22 knots. Ship? now buiklin? are tvo''fied bv the Queen Elizabeth (1915), 27.000 tons; eight 15m, sixteen 6in; speed. 25 knots; and the Royal, Sovereign (1916), 27.500 tons; ten 15in, sixteen 6in ; speed, 21 knots. Hand in hand with the increase in \ weight of armament and of speed, there) has been, of course, a, huge- growth of the ships in size; and the armour carried i by them has become far moro effective, j not only by being' increased in weight, but by improvements in tho quality. A very interesting point about the development of the warsnio is the increase' in the weight of the broadside. The] arrival of tho Dreadnought brought about many vital changes in naval ideas: and one of tho most lar-reaching in its effects was the invention of a method of so' arranging the guns that all. or nearly all,! the big weapons may Bo fired over either broadside. The following figures show how the weight of the broadside has de-' veloped since then : 1906, H.M.S. Dread-; nought, 68001b; 1909, H.M.S. Neptune,' 85001b; 1910, H.M.S. Orion, 12,0001b ;| 1911. H.M.S. King ' George, 13,1501b; 1913, H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, 15,6001b. j The Cruiser Glasses. After the battleships come the cruisers. Hard upon the heels of the Dreadnouehts come an entirely new typo, the battlecruiser. Up till about 1906, , battleships were vessels of huge power, but of very limited range. They could not go far afield without being nursed and fed by a convoy or by comfortable rorts. Cruisers, on the other band, bad a great rango of action, but a limited capacity for talcing and giving blows. The battle-cruisers failed into the breech. They combined enormous speed, hitherto unapproached, except by tho fastest light fighting ships, with heavy armour and tremendous batteries; and they were equipped for long voyages. H.M.S. New Zealand is in this class, though she is surpassed by later vessels. H.M.S. Queen Mary (1913) weighs 27,000 tons, carries eight 13.5 in and 16.4 in guns, and has a speed of 7>b. r i knots. There are 10 vessels in this division in tho navy, Great Britain owning half oi the world's collection. Cruisers vary enormoasiy. Some of them are armoured, that is, they carry on their sides heavy belts of steel armour plate similar to that which protects the battleships. But it is lighter and loss extensive, and is usually confined to the neighbourhood of the ship's vital parts— engines and magazine hoists. Hence Kipling's virile description It was our good shin Clampherdown That carried an armour belt; But forty feet ,at Btcrn and bow Lay bare as the paunch of tho purser's sow To tho hail of the NordenfoWt. The protected cruiser does not carry armour ; but there is still a special steei protection for vulnerable point 6. often in the shape of a " protective deck." This is designed to prevent shells from reaching the vitals, and is usually carried from below the water-line on each side. The great bulk of cruisers aro of the protected class, but ft few carry no armouring at '.ill, and are of littlo service in hard righting, being designed rather ah despatch boats and for the lighter police duties of tho sea. , Under-water Attack. While the battleship and the cruiser are built primarily for gun-fighting, and carry torpedo tubes for use as opportunity offers, there is a very big division of the nr.vy which aims at attacking below the waterline, and which arc specialised wholly with that object in view. Such guns as these vessels— destroyers, torpedo boats, and submarines—carry, are small and useless against big vessels. Their duty i; to discharge torpedoes, and they aro made, to run in fast, make their attack, and seek in flight the safety that their thin skins cannot, give them. The fornedo-l>oat destroyer is a highly developed torpedo-boat; invariably very fast, and carrying a few light guns. Britain owns 239 of them, built and building. They range from SOL tens to 1000 ton 6in .displacement, and their speeds run from 27 to 34 knots. Tho terpedo-boat is smaller still, a mere shell of steel packed with power and explosives ; and tho class seems to be disappearing before the larger, faster, and more v/eatberly destroyer. Britain has not built any since 1909, when the fastest ran at 2'/ knots. Submarines aro tho latest development of the warship, and they arc now being built up to 1210 tons displacement, with a power of i ver two-horee power per ton.