"BLOWING THE GAFF."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17217, 21 January 1918, Page 3

"BLOWING THE GAFF."

NAVAL SECRETS PUBLISHED. H.M.S. HUSH. (Fbom Oub Own Correspondent ) LONDON, November 13. British correspondents who have been allowed near tho Grandi Fleet during the war have gone on the understanding, which it has been quite unnecessary to enforce, that nothing should be published which could convey useful information to the enemy. Naturally they do not complain of that. When I visited tho Grand Fleet and its bases, early in 1916, I saw in every stage of completion what we wero only allowed to hint at—viz., the vessels which I then called H.M.S. Hush.

Those ships I—and others, no doubt— have seen in every phase of construction, at sea, and subsequently in dock again. I. knew its peculiarities, its points of weakness and its sea experience. But the Germans did not. So far as we are aware H.M.S. Hush and her clutch have not yet been seen by a single German ship which has lived to tell the tale. No doubt the German Admiralty knows the essential facts about them, which possibly explains why no German, capital ship has shown herself to a British capital ship or decent-sized cruiser since the battle of Jutland.

But it is rather a shock to find the Temps publishing, with tho permission of the British Admiralty, the following description of tho new longships, by its correspondent, M. A. Rousseau, who has been visiting tho Grand Fleet. "Wo were passing in front of ships of -unusual aspect," he writes, "especially constructed craft for war purposes; monitors, trawlers, and the like. Certain of these vessels caught our attention. They were very long, with immense decks fore and aft. They appeared to He low on the water. Perhaps this was an optical effect produced by their length. They have two tripodi masts, tho first of which carries tops apparently armoured', and *in the middle of the vessel rises a very squat central castle, at tho extremities of which are the heavy artillery turrets —turrets two guns of the- biggest calibre. The secondary artillery, the calibre of which is the same on all vessels of the same type, is at the limit of the average anoj small artillery. The stem of these craft is tapered, more like the beam of a yacht than that of a battleship; it is not perpendicular, but curving inwards —to use a sailor's rjhrase it is 'cut-water.' The shape- of the stem has certainly been determined in order to realise very high speed, and, as a matter of fact, these vessels are very swift, much-fleeter than the fleetest of pre-war cruisers. "These craft—we may call them battle cruisers—are of two types, or, rather, of two dimensions, for their elements of power are, we believe, the same, except as regards protection. As for speed, it is as high on the small as on the bisr craft, the radius of action having to bo the same; and the armament, if it differs in number, is tho same as regards .calibres of the principal and secondary artilleries. "These vessels have been created since the -war. I eay created because it was stated to me .that they were inspired by the lessons of the war. They were begun in 1915, and have been 12 months in service—an admirable result of the organisation of labour in the British dockyards. I know not whether they have all been built in private yards, but the most important of those formerly afloat (the , which is commanded by Captain Michael Hodges, formerly Naval Attache at the British Embassy in Paris) was turned out by private industry. Other vessels of the kind are under construction, their dimensions being yet more considerable. " We were received on board two of these vessels. On one, the smaller (tho ), as we went -through tho officers' quarters, I was fairly astonished. Two officers -were playing billiards. True, tho ship was at anchor and in a roadstead as shut in as possible, but it is my opinion that the must have fine qualities of stability to have on board a permanent billiard table. On tho sgcond (the ) the captain _ invited us to lunch, and afterwards we visited the fighting quarters—blockhouse, look-out station for submarines, a turret with its enormous guns, which fire two shots a minute, and which, according to the Germans weigh 96 tons and throw a 885 kilos (19471b) shell. " Everything is organised to have the fire control in one and the same hand, and the laying by one and tho same eye. The system invented by Admiral Sir Percy Scott a few years ago had made great progress. The heavy artillery and the secondary artillery arc no longer autonomous; everything acts under one and the same direction, and if the guns have a fuse fired in the turret itself, they have another electric one operated from a central station. It is a truly remarkable system, and one which, beyond all doubt, has produced highly satisfactory results. Its installation on the new ships shows 'that it has stood the test. ' " >rh c and the are closely related. They are sisters, one being smaller, built to travel together because they have, the same fighting power and can carry that power to any distance at egnal speed; they are capable of surprise actions, against which the enemy cannot guard himself, and their speed is a guarantee against the torpedo. None the less they are fitted with devices to neutralise the explosion as far as possible. They are a jTroof of the confidence of the British Navy in the powerful surface vessel, capable of heavy hitting, the only one which appears able to assure the mastery of tho seas.

" England is building many submarines, but tho development of this new weapon has not affected the theories which have mads tho naval power of our Allies, and this is proved by the now building programmes, which are the outcome of experience." In face of all these disclosures the suppression of the names looks a little absitra.