DON GUARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 47, 13 July 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

DON GUARD.

~«° . BRITAIN'S MOSQUITO FLEET. One of the most striking of the many changes introduced since Mr. Winston Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty is the organisation of an entirely new scheme of destroyer defence, based on the idea of a continuous patrol of the North Sea. This took effect at j the beginning of last month. i Under the old system both of the battle squadrons of the Home fleet had I a destroyer flotilla, attached, and there [ were reserve flotillas at Devonport, ' Portsmouth and the Nore. Under the j new scheme there are no destroyers permanently attached to the battle fleets.) Instead, the whole of the available forces ' are organised into eight flotillas, four i being in full commission and four in reserve with nucleus crews. Of the four active flotillas the first and second (the newest and most powerful), 3(5 in all, will be based on Rosyth, the third on Harwich, and the fourth on Portland. The fifth (reserve) flotilla will have Harwich as its base, the sixth Portsmouth, the seventh Devonport, and the eighth Rosyth. This last will be stationed at Harwich until the necessary preparations have been made at the Scottish port. No fewer than 165 destroyers are included in the new organisation, besides eight fast cruisers, eight scouts and eight depot <yid repair ships. Each flotilla is from 16 to 24 strong. Sixtyeight will be in full commission and 97 in reserve, the numbers in tlie North Sea being 52 and 50 respectively. In addition to these 102 destroyers there are flotillas of 12 submarines apiece based on Harwich and Dundee. With the exception of the fifth flotilla, all the North Sea destroyers are driven by turbines, and the majority burn oil fuel exclusively. The change will quite 'double the effective strength of the "advance guard" along the eastern seaboard. The importance of Rosyth, with its proximity to the north-about exit to the Atlantic, is demonstrated by the fact that the Admiralty are sending to Scottish waters 30 of the most modern and powerfully 'equipped destroyers iu the service—the first flotilla, composed of 20 boats of tin- Acheron class, which left the contractors' works as recently as 1010-11; and the second flotilla of 16 boats of the Acorn type, commissioned since 1000-10. This force in the near future will be strengthened by the transfer of the eighth flotilla, consisting of 24 27-knot coastal destroyers, from Harwich to the. northern base. The destroyers of the first flotilla, have, been specially designed for work in the rough weather of the North Sea, 'with high freeboard and strengthened hulls. Their sea speed is 29 knots. The second flotilla have had their hulls strengthened to meet the requirements of sea-keeping duty. The fourth flotilla (Portland) is composed principally of the Tribal class, some of the fastest boats in the service, with four Acorns added. This will be the only fully-manned flotilla in the English Channel. Of the whole great mosquito fleet 48 of the destroyers are maned by full crews. It take's 6000 ratings to man the four fully-manned flotillas. The first four flotillas are fitted with "wireless."