A FAIRY FLEET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22654, 20 August 1935, Page 15

A FAIRY FLEET

NIGHT SPECTACLE ON THE SOLENT SHIPS OF FIRE (From Our Own Correspondent.) (By Air Mail) H.M.S. COURAGEOUS, July 17. It was approaching 10 o’clock on the night of July 16. We stood on the quarter-deck of H.M. aeroplane carrier Furious—a party of officers off duty and their guests. We had been talking of that other review in 1914 which the present • writer had seen from the hills of the Isle of Wight. What changes had taken place since then, what developments in the mechanism of the ships! There were no aeroplane carriers then, no Fleet Air Arm. Then it was a bigger fleet keyed up for the announcement of war, and with all the Naval Reserve on board, The spirit of the navy, however, was the same to-day —the efficiency and the thoroughness. The occasional war ribbons on the uniforms of some of the lieutenant commanders and of all officers above that rank showed that the memories of many of those on board bridged the years since that July of 1914. The forms of the 160 warships were fading from sight, though an orange full moon was rising over the still waters of the Solent. Only the chug-chug of an occasional motor launch broke the silence. There was no visible evidence of alertness. One knew, however, tha,t the rising ground of a circle of 50 miles had its watchers and a million more people were crowded in the seaside towns north and south, east and west. Suddenly there was a burst of red, white and blue rockets from the King’s yacht. As though actuated by a single hand on an electric switch, the whole fleet flamed into light. Those who saw that transformation will never forget it so long as they live. It was a moment highly charged with" emotion. As far as the eye could see were the outlines of fairy ships. The battleships were fully outlined, the lines of electric lights marking the water line, the edge of the top deck, the funnels, bridges, masts and cross-booms, and every ship that carried an admiral bad a flag marked by red, white and blue lights at the masthead. Many of the smaller ships were marked only by a row of lights from the masthead to the bow and to the stern, giving the impression of glowing peaks or lighted wigwams set all round thq solent. The perfect -outlines of the larger ships grouped together and showing under a moon that failed to compete with the brilliance of the artificial light were breath-taking in their effectiveness. There was something unreal in the whole spectacle—as though one were transported to another sphere where the ordinary laws did not operate. For a full half-hour the million unseen spectators gazed and wondered, entirely unable to express their emotions in words. As suddenly as the fleet had burst into light it was as suddenly swallowed up in darkness. A minute later the top deck lines of the ships were outlined by red flares. Men stood a few yards apart circling every deck, and at the appointed moment lighted their flares which blazed for three minutes. CASCADES OP ROCKETS. Again, darkness fell over the fleet. There was a pause of a few minutes, everybody anticipating they knew not what. Then followed the fairest sight that man, woman or child could ever see. Even a humble exhibition of fireworks calls forth spontaneous bursts of admiration. Multiplied a thousand times, and the effect is to leave one almost thrilled with unusual emotions. Again, in perfect unison, action was taken. The application of the lights to the rockets must have been timed to the fraction of a second. Thousands of their white lights pierced the sky together. Every ship sent up its group of 20 or more iu fan formation.

The white streams mounted to the sky iu unison, growing slower in their speed as they mounted higher and higher. Then the 12-mile circle of piercing lights burst into showers of red, white and blue, and for 10 seconds or so the wide space of the Solent ■ was transformed into fairyland.

Another pause and the whole sky was covered with fan-shaped traceries of searchlights. They began to cross and recross, to dip, to rise again, and back again to the fan-like patterns. Once more the fairy fleet was seen in their patterned lights, and then again darkness.

Two more showers of rockets with their glorious rain of red, white and blue, marked the great final display of a memorable night.