NAVAL NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15822, 22 July 1913, Page 3

NAVAL NOTES

(Contributod by the Navy League, Otago Branch,) "My country is not alone the province where I was born; my country is whenever in any part of the world the British flag flies. You cannot appear indifferent because you sleep with security. Whatever cODWrna British subjects here concerns British subjects everywhere. .' . • Our obligation, i repeat, is tho defence of our country by a fleet built by Canadian labour, and as far as can be done manned by Canadian men, under the control and the rospcsibility of tho Canadian Government, tho Canadian Parliament, and the Canadian people." Sir W. Lauricr at Toronto, May 6. "Up hammocks!" at last cried the bosun at dawn; The guns were oast loose and tho tompions drawn; The gunner was bustling the shot racks to And "all hands to quarters!" was piped . with a will. -NEWBOIX

CANADA AND THE NAVY. A nominated Liberal Senate, having thrown out the Borden Government's Navy Bill, Mr Churchill (First Lord of tho Admiralty) on Juno 5 last stated in the House of Commons that tho situation created by the rejection of tho Canadian Naval Aid Bill requires immediate action in order that tho margin of naval strength necessary for the whole world protection of the British Empire may bo adequately maintained for tho autumn and winter of 1915 ajid in the spring of 1916. In these circumstances tho Government, havo determined to advance tho construction of the three contract sliips of this year's programme, and orders havo been issued by the Admiralty to ensure their being begun at the earliest possible date instead ot in March next, On July 18 the First Lord amplified his first stateriient. 'It is doubtful whether tho amplification will meet with more generous approval than did the earlier statement. It was pointed out at the time by tho critics that it was exceedingly difficult to see what tho object was in advancing the date for laying down tho three contract ships of tho new programme. They and the others of 1913-14, it was contended, were designed to give Great Britain, independent of colonial assistance, 39 Dreadnoughts in the spring of 1916, as against Germany's 26. What will bo the result of the acceleration? It will simply givo Great.Britain 39 ships a few months earlier—perhaps by the end of 1915. It moans that Great Britain will probably have 39 ships in service beforo Germany has her 26; but it does not' alter the fact that when Germany has 26 Great Britain will not havo moro' than 39.

THEEE ADDITIONAL SHIPS DEMANDED. . Tho matter, said the critics, could not be allowed to rest where it was. Three ships, " urgently required," had been withdrawn from the potential Dreadnought fleet of the Empire in 1916, and the Government is pledged to do ite duty by the oversea dominions, whatever Canada might decide to do. If then, the Government does not replace the Canadian ships, the position in 1916 will, judged by the official standards, be distinctly perilous. The following summary of the situation proves this:—Germany in 1916 will possess 26 completed Dreadnoughts. Against these Great Britain, apart from the dominions, should possess a total superiority of 60 per cent;—that is to say, 42 ships; but under the programmes as they 6tand at present it will bo impossible to possess more than 39. On this count alone she will be three ships short of her 1 requirements. Again, Mr Churchill has stated that the 60 per cent, standard was founded on the principle that Great Britain ought to be 50 per cent, superior to Germany in home waters, the remaining 10 per cent, of her superiority being available for the "whole world" defence of the Empire. From the above, however, it will be seen tha-t the margin to be provided is exactly 50 per cent., 60 that the remaining 10 per cent., or three ships, represents the force which the Admiralty is failing to supply for the defence of the outer 6oas. CHAPTER AND VERSE. Mr Borden last December described the proposed Canadian ships as " urgently required within two or three years at the outbide." That is to say, assuming that Mr Borden was basing himself upon information supplied by tho Admiralty (as ho was), the latter was of tho opinion "that Britain's naval requirements as regards Dreadnoughts in the winter-spring of 1915-16 are represented by the following:— Ships. 1. A superiority for Great Britain of 50 per cent, in homo waters over tho German total of 26 Dreadnoughts ... 39 2. A further superiority for Great Britain over Germany of 10 per cent towards tho whole-world defence of the Empire 3 3. Tho colonial or dominion ships Australia, New Zealand, and Malaya 3 4. The "urgently required" three ships proposed by Mr Borden's Government ... 3 Total 48 Official chapter and verse can be quoted to show that these 48 ships will be necessary in the spring of 1916 for tho naval defence of tho Empire, but -jiless six further ships are provided for the actual strength of tho Empire will be made up of the items that are numbered 1 and 3 in the above list, or 42 ships in all. The critic concludes:— "When Mr Churchill comes to speak on the shipbuilding vote, it is to bo hoped that he will malec some attempt to explain how 42 chips are to bo regarded as equivalent to the 48 which, according to the various official statements, Great Britain . ought to possess." It is to bo feared that the perusal of Mr Churchill's speech of the 18th inst, will prove disappointing to his critics. Tho First Lord did not then promise to provide for a single additional shio. All he is reported to have said is "they might have laid down three extra, but this step would not be taken till it is necessary," whereat the alarmists and scaremongers, we may be sure, have long since commenced to ring tho alarm bell,

A FAMOUS DUEL. There were many articles, descriptive and editorial, in the English press of June 1 on the famous sea fight that was fought 100 years ago between the Engl : sh Shannon and the American Chesapeake. There have been no wars between the two nations since 1814, and next year there are to be joint celebrations in honour thereof. But', still, there is no harm, argued the journalists (Britishl, in recalling so glorious an episode. Why, perhaps, the English remember tliis engagement and no other is because the preceding one? had been so " unfortunate" (vulgarly referred to ae " lickings "). Between the opening of the war and the meeting of the Shannon and the Chesapeake, the Alert (16 guns) had been taken by the Essex (32); the Guerriere (38) by the Constitution (44); the Frolic (18) by the Wasp (20); the Macedonian (38 by the United States (44); the Java (38) by the Constitution (44); and the Peacock (18). by the Hornet (20). Most of these actions were remarkable for, the execrable gunnery of the' British ships. Except in the action between the Essex and the Alert, the opposing ships wero not very unequally matched, and yed the British ships sustained five times the loss in killed and wounded that they inflicted on their opponents. When the Peacock fought tlio Hornet, each shin bearing 10 guns or. the broadside, the hull of the former was so riddled with shot that she sank soon after her surrender, while during the 14 minutes that the'action lasted the hull of the American vessel was struck only once, by a shot which glanced off the bows. The Peacock had earned tlio nickname of " The Yacht,'' by reason of her smart appearance, and it was the fetish of spit and polish that had destroyed all trace of fiehting efficiency. A TERRIBLE 15 MINUTER. Tho Shannon was' a ship of n different stamp. Captain Philip Broke had commanded her for seven years before he met tho Chesapeake, and he had laboured unremittingly to increase her battle efficiency. He saw that the guns were properly fitted with sights. Every day when circumstances allowed the men were exercised at training the guns, while target practice was carried out twice a week when at sea, Broke presenting a pound of tobacco to each man who put a shot through the " bull's-eye." Ho was also in the habit of occasionally heaving'a cask overboard, and then 6ud-

denly ordering a certain gun to bo manned to sink it. The action was fought out-side Boston Harbour in the late afternoon of June 1, 1813. The result of Brake's systematic training—emphasized to a large extent by the neterogeneou6 naturo of the Chesapeakc'6 crewwas just what might have been expected, from the time when the first shot was fired at 5.50 p.m. to the hauiing down of the American Bag by the boarding party was just 15 minifies; and although the-Ameri-can Court ot Inquiry reported that " if the Chesapeake liad not accidentally fallen on boaid the Shannon, and the Shannon's anchor got foul in the after-quarter-port of the Chesapeake, the Shannon must have vcrv soon surrendered or sunk," there is not" the least doubt that the euperior shooting of the British ship , was the principal factor in bringing about tile defeat of tlio American. The Ids 6 sustained by the Chesapeake was double that sustained by the American ships in the . whole of the six preceding engagements. The Shannon herself was struck by 39 shot, and lost only half as many men as her opponent, Tho American's defeat-was, in part, duo to the supreme contempt they had acquired for the fighting worth of the British vessels. Captain Lawrence put to Gea confident of victory, and a magnificent banquet had been prepared in anticipation of his triumphant return with the Shannon in tow; but the negro was a better prophet who is said to have called out to a friend about to go on board the Chesapeake: "Good-bye, Sam. You's gwinc to Halifax befo' yo' comes 1 back to Bosting."' And sure enough to Halifax they went.

AN INTERESTING REMINISCENCE. Apropos the above anniversary Lieutenant I H. Chamberlain, R.N.' (retired), writes to the London Times as follows:— In tho year 1876 I was at Halifax, N.S., and, knowing that H.M.S. Shannon brought 'her prize into that harbour after the action, landed with tlie view of finding out where tho gallant American, Captain Lawrence, was buried. An old man to whom I addressed a question on the subject was ablo to give me the required information, supplementing it with some extremely interesting details," which as far as I know have never been published. The following is his story: I was a boy at the time, and was in church with my parents on June 6, 1813. About halfway through the service some, one came into the church with a slip of paper in his hand, walked straight up to the clergyman, and gave it to him. On that slip was written tho announce- • ment of the fact that H.M.S. Shannon was ncaring the mouth of the harbour, with an American frigate in tow. _ The congregation was immediately dismissed, scrmonloss, and men, women, and children ran down to tho wharves to see such an unusal sight. As the two ships passed we, on shore, were cheering wildly, but our cheers (much to our astonishment) were not answered by the seamen on board the Shannon or Chesapeake. All that the men did was to swarm up the larboard lower rigging and wave their hats. The reason why they did not cheer was that the brave Lawrence lay dying below, and. like truly "allant fellows, even though flushed with victory, they respected his last moments on earth. I was 12 yearn oH, and remember the whole scene as if it occurred yesterday. You will find Lawrence's grave in the naval burying-ground near Admiralty House.