OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 3249, 21 June 1916, Page 73

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

(Conducted by MAGISTER, to whom all communications must bo addressed.) FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. [llagister will be glad to receive Nature Notes, marked papers containing educational articles, diagrams, details of experiments, etc., of scholastio interest to teachers and pupils. Correspondents must use okly OXE side of the paper, and whether using a pen name or not, must semi both NAME C.IK: ADIUtIiSS.] THE BATTLE OF SKAGER RACK. What is the truth? We want to give our senior pupiia an outline of what has happen d; and, as far as we know, our losses have Lii.cn made known. But have the Germans made their's known? As far as we can make out, the Germans have lost over 50 per cent, more tonnage than we have. I suppose matters of high policy and strategy make both sides minimise their looses and maximise their gains; but. in the long run, 1 don't think anything is gained by doing so—but the reverse, lor nothing is received as truth. Take Trafalgar, for instance. Napoleon was in Vienna when he was mortified to hear of the disastrous battle, and he summed up the situation thus: "The storms occasioned to us the loss of a few ships after a battle imprudently fought." \ r et, wasn't Villeneuve goaded into action by the Emperor's taunts? Here is a quotation to show how the French and Spaniards were hoodwinked: "In Franco the event was known only by report and through the medium of foreign papers, which were then prohibited; nor was it generally known until the Restoration, about 10 years later. The Petit Journal, a semiofficial journal, improved upon Napoleon's invention. If published what it described as an extract from Collingwood's despatch giving a long list of quite imaginary British ships sunk at Trafalgar. The Spanish imagination, too, is capable of much audacity. In the Museum of Arms at Madrid, Trafalgar stands solemnly inscribed to-day a Spanish victory. And this is how it is referred to in "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte," translated from the French of M. do Boiu'ricnne, who was "private secretary to Napoleon, ..iinistr of State under the Directory, the Consulate, the Empire, and the Restoration." I have read somewhere that Napoleon loft him a sum so that ho might have the leisure to write a biography of his master. Leaving out a little embodied in the extract just given, this is Bourriennc's. account: "So completely did Napoleon succeed in veiling that disaster in obscurity, that previous to the Restoration it was scarcely known in France. It was, however, very well known at Hamburg, it having been communicated by the merchants. The issue of the battle was to us equivalent to the destruction of our fleet, for we lost 18 ships; and the other 13 returned to Calais dreadfully damaged. The battle of Trafalgar was fatal to the three admirals engaged in it. Nelson was killed, Gavina died of his wounds, and Villeneuve was made prisoner, and on his return to Franco put a period to his life. Napoleon was profoundly afflicted at this event, but at the same time he did not express his mortification, for ho never allowed himself to be engrossed with two subjects of equal interest at the same time. lie showed the same self-command at Vienna, when he received intelligence of the financial crisis which occurred at Paris during his absence."

Now, having written *so much to show th.it history i« written in a very one-sided way, let us see what wo can make out of the details sent out.

Lot us take our Empire first: —Queen Mary—27.ooo tons, 75,000 h.p., 31_ knots, eight 15. Sin and sixteen 4in. Indefatigable—--18,750 tons, 43.000 h.p., 29 knots, eight 12m and sixteen 4in. Invincible—l7,2so tons, 41.000 h.p., 27 knots, same, armam?nt as former. " Defence—l4,6oo tons, 27,000 h.p., 23 knots, four G.2in and lea '".5 in. Bla.ik Prince —13,550 tons, 23,500 h.p., 22J knots, •six 9.2 and ten 6in. Warrior —Same as former, excepting four 7.5 in take the place of ten 6in. These figures give 104.920 tons, 176,950 h.p., eight 13.5 in. twenty-four 12in. sixteen 9.2 in, fourteen 7.5 in, ten 6in, and forty-eight 4in. German Ships: Der Hinger (?)—26,000 tons. 75.0O0(?) h.p., 50 knots(?), eight 12in and twelve 6in. Hindonburg(?j— 28,000 tons(?). 35.000 h.p.(?), 22 knots(?), eight 15in(?) and fourteen 5.9 in(?). Kaiser-24.310 tons. 23.000 h.p.. 21 knots, ten 12in and fourteen 5.9 in. Lutzow—26.ooo tons, 75.000(?) h.p., 30 knotsfr). eight 12in and twelve 6in. Ost Fricsland—2l.oCo tons. 28,000 h.p.. 21 knots, twelve 12in and fourteen 6m. Pommern—--13,200 tons, 16.000 h.p.. 19 knots, four llin and fourteen 6.7 in (but it may be a new one, ranking with the latest battle-cruiser or ' battleship). Westfalen—lß.9oo tons. 20.000 h.p.. 20 knots, twelve llin and twelve din. Ebbing—s44o tons(?), h.p.(?), epeed(?), ten 5.9 in(?) and (V). Wiesbaden—442B tons, K.p.(?). spc-od(?). eight 4.7 in(?). Rostock—--4900 tons. 25.500 h.p., 28 knots, twelve 4.1 in. Praiienlob—27ls tons. 8500 h.p.. 21 knots. ten 4.lin. These figures, as the queries

show, aro incomplete, nnd I shall bo glad if readers enn supply the missing data. In the compilation T have used Jane's "Fightingl Ships," 1915, rind "The Navy League Annual." 1913-14, the volume that should have appeared last Trafalgar Day was promised for a later date, but T haven'i seen n copy yet. But such a<= Ihey arc, they give us tho following t0ta15:—174.745 tons, eight 15 ; n. thirty-eight 12in. sixteen llin, twentycicht 6.7;n. fifty 6in, thirty-eight 5.9 in, eight 4.7 in, twenty-two 4.lin. For our satisfaction let us assume that

wo have given aIJ oar actual losses and ignored our " lame ducks.'' and I.h-it w ■ have rather under-estimated than over-esti-mated tho German losses. Perhaps wlien Buo'han's history volume dealing with this battle comes out we shall get, a close approximation to tho truth. Let this battle bo

to Germany what Trafalgar was to France, and may her Waterloo come speedily, may a St. Helena follow, and a Napoleonic ending for the Kaiser. "A large stone was then lowered down on the grave, and covered the moderate space now srimcient for the man for whom Europe was once too little." TRAFALGAR AND SEAGEE RACE. If time and space permitted many interesting comparisons could be made. October Zl, Iciuo, was a Sunday, '" and a son of Saboatio peace seemed to be on the sea and iiii the air." The wind was a very light one from the west-north-west. "Like an intelligent machine guided and controlled by one man, tlie fleet bore down very slowly indeed before the light wind, in two irregular columns, upon the enemy. 10 or 12 miles away." What a contrast between that and tin; way Jellicoe's ships ploughed the sea to be m before all was over. Compare the tonnage of the Queen Mary with the Victory—27,ooo tons against 2200. And what about broadsides.? A Victory broadside was 11801 b, or just over half a ton; now a broadside will be 12 tons or more. Then, a yard-arm to yard-arm fight was looked forward to, but now firing commences at even 20,000 yards, or over 11 miles. Then a ship could bo riddled, beached, repaired, and ready for the fray again in a few days—but now I At Trafalgar we had about 450 killed; would that no more IoA their lives at iSkagcr Rack. As many went down in two of our ships as were lost altogether at Trafalgar. Isn't it pitiful! RECENT ADDITION'S TO OUR. NViVY. "Navy" (Dunedin) recently asked mo what additions have been made recently to our navy. The following is all 1 can say m answer: Though John Murray's recent catalogue announces the '"Navy League Annual" us published, and outlines its contents, so far as I know, no copies have yet conic to Dunedin. Jn any case, it will not be complete. The following, taken from the New York Times. February 6, may be taken, I think, as a fairly accurate list of the Super-Dread-noughts launched in 1914-15. In 1914: Iron Duke, Marlborough, Emperor of India, and Benbow (each 25,000 tons). In 1915: Tiger (28,000), Barnham, Malaya.. Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, Warspito (27,500 tons each), Ramilies, Resolution, Revenge, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign (25,750 tons each). I think, though, the tonnage given cannot bo relied on. For instance, the "R" group is given as 29,000 tons in the Navy League Annual. The seme authority and the "Times Book of the Navy" give the Tiger as 23,000, but the Statesmen's Year Book put it down as 29,000. The Queen Elizabeth group (27.500 tons) is credited in the Annual with eight 15in guns, but the "II" class with 10.