THE COLONIST. SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1919. THE GRAND FLEET.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 14958, 4 January 1919, Page 4

THE COLONIST. SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1919. THE GRAND FLEET.

The veil of secrecy which has' shrouded ; the work of the Royal Navy since tse ( beginning of the war is gradually being lifted, and some light is bemg ' thrown upon the/ incidents which have greatly piqued the curiosity of the public. Not the least interesting subject upon which enlightenment is awaited is the additions to the Fleet, by new construction and other means, and the description of ie»v ships. fo»----of course, no navy lists have been issued since 1914. The naval correspondent of "The Times," according to a cable message to Australian papers, has named twenty-one battleships that joined the Grand Fleet since the last navy list was published. Two -re of the Iron Duke class, the^ Empe-.-or of India and the Benbow. ~" Five vessels of the Queen Elizabeth class include the Barham, Valiant, Warspite and | Malaya. Five others of the same class, but of slightly smaller displacement, are the Royal Sovereign, the Royal Oak, the Ramillies, the Resolution, and the Revengo. Two Turkish, battleships have been renamed the Agincourt and the Erin, and two Chilian vessels which were also taken have been renamed the Canada and the Eagle. There are five others familiarly known as Hush ships, including the Repulse, the Courageous, the Glorious, and the Frivolous. They are'all 800 feet long, of a tonnage of 30,000, and with a speed of from, 30 to 35 knots. It seems thai: Britain laid down no new battleships during the war, since these vessels were under construction in 1914. The explanation of this may be the limitations imposed upon capital ships by the submarine. The Emperor of India and the Benbow were laid down in May, 1912. They are 25,000-ton ships, with 13.5 inch armour, armed with ten 13.5-inch guns. The Queen Elizabeth, the Warspite, the Valiant, the Barham, and the Malaya were laid down in 1912-13. They are 27,500-ton ships, burning oil fuel exclusively, and capable of steaming at 25 knots. They are protected by 13.5-inch armour, and carry a main armament of eight 15-inch guns. The next group consists of the Royal Sovereign, the Royal Oak, the Resolution, i the Ramillies, and the Revenge, laid down at the end of 1913 and early in 1914. They are about 2000 tons smaller, and rather slower than the Queen Elizabeth. They are heavily protected, and carry each eight 15-indi guns. The Chilian and Turkish battleships were under construction in Britain when the war started, and. they were taken over by the Admiralty. The Chilian shipslaid down at Elswick in 1912-13 have a displacement of 28,000 tons and a nominal speed of 22 knots. They have 11----inch side armour and carry each ten 14-inch guns, a calibre never adopted by Britain. One of the ex-Turkish ships is a 23,000-ton battleship, armed with ten 13.5-inch guns, and the other, laid down originally for Brazil, has a displacement of 27,500 tons, and carries fourteen 12-inch guns. The maximum thickness of the armour is 12 inches in the one case and- 9 inches in the other. The battleships just mentioned account for 16 of the 21 additions to the battle fleet during the war period. But the 1914 Estimates, issued before the beginning of the war, provided for the construction of four battleships, while the battle-cruiser Tiger was then under construction. The design of the Tiger could not have been varied. But the four battleships, although ordered, had not been laid down, and a contemporary conjectures that they became the "hush ships" of which so much— and so little—has been heard during the last four years. "The Times' " correspondent says that they are 30,000----ton ships, 800 ft long, with a speed of from 30 to 35 knots, and he adds ffiaS they "have a combination of great speed with heavy armament on a comparatively light draught," so that they could be used in the shallow waters of

the North Sea and the Baltic. It seems certain, in .the light of these facts, that the "hush ships" are more lightly armoured than the -battleships of 1912 and 1913, and that they are, in fact, improved battle-cruisers. If the newer ship carries 15-inch guns and has increased engine-power, and at the same time has reduced displacement, the designer almost; certainly will have had to cut down the weight of the armour. The "hush ship/ then, may be described as a "super-battle-cruiser," able to strike tremendous blows and to choose her own position and range by virtue of her great speed, but unfitted to fight in the .line of battle beside the floating forts that are built to receive ias well as give shattering blows. Will *any more battleships be constructed? lOr have the submarine and the mine I caused the battleship to be out of date? The answers will come with the Naval Estimates of the Great Powers during the next year or two.