The Ideal Navy.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 5, 29 July 1908, Page 38

The Ideal Navy.

EXPERT DISCUSSES THE MONSTER WARSHIP. In an important article in the “Nineteenth Century” on “The Cult of the Monster Warship,” Sir William White, late Director of Naval Construction, says:— Battleships for the service of the British Navy must always possess ample sea-keeping qualities and large fuel-endur-ance. They should be of dimensions and types that would secure for them the capability of maintaining speed in a seaway, and in fighting their guns in heavy weather from steady, gun platforms. They ought to compare favourably in defensive powers—including protection to buoyancy and stability, as well as to armament—with foreign battleships of the same date of design. In offensive powers, unless a very high price has to be paid, the individual ship should not be inferior to the contem-

poraneoug individual foreign ship; but a limit of cost per ship may be reached, when other risks than those incidental to gun-fire have to be considered. Numbers of ships as well as individual power must be taken into account when the constitution of the fleet is being decided. Homogeneity and practical identity in manoeuvring power are qualities of the highest importance in units making up a squadron of battleships. The effective speed of a fleet is that of its slowest ships; a moderate difference between the effective speeds of two rival fleets does not greatly affect their relative fighting powers. Difference in type, dispositions of armament, and manoeuvring power between the ships of a squadron very seriously reduce its capability as an instrument of war. Draught of water is a most important feature in the design of warships, and relatively moderate draught is a distinct advantage in naval operations and in harbour or dock accommodation.