Our Navy.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 4, 1 February 1911, Page 542

Our Navy.

tion, to be the ugliest ship in the Navy. This is mainly due to the remarkable appearance of her three funnels, which are all different in length, width, and shape. A difference in width and shape is no new thing. To take a familiar case, the "Powerful" has four funnels, one of which is round, two of which are broad oval, and one narrow oval. And some of the later Dreadnoughts have funnels of different width. But a difference in all three dimensions at once is certainly startling. Some of the papers say that the idea was to raise the fore funnel well above the navigating bridge, but none of them say what difficulty was experienced in raising all three, which would seem an obvious course.

Belonging to the same naval programme a? the "Indefatigable," we.have the battleship "Neptune." She, too, has just been completed and appears to have gone through her trials with every success. On the measured mile she attained a mean' speed of 21.786 knots. With the tide she reached about a knot more as the maximum. The "Neptune" is our first completed "Dreadnought" to carry all her main guns (in this case ten 12in.) in such a way as to be able to use them all simultaneously on the broadside. This has been done by placing three pairs on the centre line, one forward and two aft, and echeloning two additional pairs amidships. She displaces 20,250 tons, and has a length of 510 feet.

A study of a photograph of the "Neptune" shows her to be a very ship-shape vessel. In no other vessel in the British Navy has the top hamper been cut down to such an extent. In appearance she is quite unlike any other Dreadnought. She has two tripod masts. Her two funnels are disposed, one close up against the foremast, and the other about half-way between the two masts. There are two box-like structures at the base of the masts, presumably containing conningtowers, etc.; there is a small boat deck running between the tops of these, and a small bridge forward; and this is absolutely all the superstructure she has besides her five turrets. One of the turrets, the fourth, is raised so as to be able to fire over the top of the fifth, and this gives her a nominal stern fire of eight 12in. It is never contemplated, however, with these superposed turrets that one shall fire directly over the other. The object of superposing js to allow a fire to be maintained much more nearly in a line with the lower turret than would otherwise be possible.

Apparently the age of "wonder ships" is not yet over. The "Dreadnought" was one, the "Indomitable" another, and the "Lion" another. Of course, these huge Snips are more interesting from their very size than the smaller ones, but still we must all look forward with keen anticipation to the advent of the next scout, if, as The Navy says, she is to have new guns, new engines, new appearance, new protection and new dimensions.

By the way, the same publication is responsible for the statement that Britain has already designed a big advance on the 13.5 inch —presumably a 16.25 inch. The 16.25 inch gun was, it will be remembered, the largest gun in the Navy in the early nineties and prior thereto. The ill.fated "Victoria" and her sister ship, the "Sans Pareil," carried a pair, as did also one of the old "Admiral" class. It weighed 110 tons, but was abandoned and replaced by successive improved 12-inch guns.