TO MAINTAIN THE FREEDOM OF THE EMPIRE-A BATTLESHIP AND CRUISER SQUADRON, WITH THE FLAGSHIP NEPTUNE AT THE HEAD.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 13, 27 March 1912, Page 29

TO MAINTAIN THE FREEDOM OF THE EMPIRE-A BATTLESHIP AND CRUISER SQUADRON, WITH THE FLAGSHIP NEPTUNE AT THE HEAD.

Ihii-.ulik tin X.ivv Estimates tin- «uln*r 'lay. in the House of (’ommons, the new First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Winston Churchill made a characteristic speech, in which he gave expression to the general wish that some arrangement could be come to between Brit. tin and Germany with a view of the mad rare for Dreadnoughts. “A naval defeat,” he said, “would mean more to us than to Germany or France, because the people of Britain are fed from the sea. hence the necessity of British naval *»i’pien..n y, u lii.-h i< not a matter of trade ~l l( | commerce, but of our very freedom. We must so conduct «nr affairs that no single navy shall have a reasonable prospect of success against us.” This imposing photograph was taken in the Solent when the fleet Stephen < ribb. photographer. assembled to welcome the King on his return from India.