THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BRITISH NAVY.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1475, 26 November 1884, Page 2

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BRITISH NAVY.

... The following is_a._ summary nf answers given by a correspondent to twelve questions in the PaU^Mall Gazette- »a to what is tue ••truth a&mt. the navy," : — "I. Increased risks. — Our from war have enormously increased since 1868 9. The naval expenditure of other powers has increased 40 per cent . Our popnlati n has incraa^lfc per cent, our trade 40 per cert&sur wealth 40 pcx cent, our shipping 30---per cent, and our possessions JL_ty&_, been enormously extended.' Yet^ir face of all these increased responsibilities and increased dangers;~_ui* : nav.il expenditure has been slightly ! diminished. To bring it up to tie reative position of 186*1 9 it ought at .* ..•>:. to lie increased £4,000,0 Jp a, yeas*, I and even then the increased P a pYemiunt ; would uot be equivalent to theitfcteased ' risks. j "2. Ironclads Afloat.-'-So far frora> . j being able to demonstrate om- 4 if rests- " I tible superiority ' in armour, and speed, to any probable combination of ' fleets, we are just o little ahead -of x France in ships, behind ber in guns aud in tlits- age of onr ships, aiYH' v 'abtsdt , equal in armonr and speed. Francis ' ! has outbuilt us by 1 ) r OOO tons of ironclads in the last ten y**ai_. To 1 restore the proportion between the shipbuilding votes of the two countries that existed before 187 ft, our, shipbuilding vote should be increased py at least £1,000,000 per annum. • ! 4 -3. Ironclads Building. —lnstend of making up lost ground we are losing it, aud two years heuce France will be i ahead of us in second class ironclads, and our superiority in the first class will have been slightly diminished. I "4. Repairs. — Repairs have to some extent been sacrificed to building, with I the result that more than one half of our third class ironclads can hardly be regarded as fit to go into battle. "5. Gnnfi.— Our guns actually fitted j are inferior both in weight and in power to those of France and Italy* . We have not one ironclad afloat armed J with the new breechloader, of which 500 have been made since 1880. I "6. Onr Foreign Stations. — In case ' of sudden war, the French have better 1 fighting ships on the Chinese station ' than England ; the Chilian ironclads > are stronger than our Pacific cruisers ; ' the uew ironclads of Brazil would ' sweep our South American squadron * off the sea. On the other stations we 1 have ships letter than the best that | could be sent against them. " 7. The Protection of our Marine. — Our fast ocean cruisers available for policeing our maritime highways against the Alabamas of the future are sufficient to allot three to each station. We hive 19,000 merchantmen scattered all over the world to protect and only 24 unarmoured ships of a speed exceeding fourteen knots for their protection. •' 8. Coaling and Telegraph Stations. — A hostile cruiser could, with almost entire impunity, destroy to-morrow the coaling stations at Hongkong, Singapore, Bombay, the Cape, Ascension, St. Helena, Mauritius, St. George's Sound, Fiji, and Vancouver's Island, which are virtually unprotected, although Hongkong has four torpedo boats, and there are slight fortifications at ono or two of the other i ports. " 9 Docks. — We have eight foreign stit.ioiis and four docks. There is no dock Iv all India in which an ironclad j could refit, and although a dock is building at Hongkong; if the Audaotou* was injured, she would have to go ta Sydney or come back to Malta to refit. " 10. The Defence of Home Ports. — There are not more than two harbors in the United Kingdom adequately protected, and "some of the most important commercial ports absolutely lack a single torpedo boat. •• " 11. The Personnel of the Navy. — We have not sufficient trained men to man our fleet when war is declared without drawing 8000 from the reserve, and that reserve is not half aa numerous as that of France^ ' "12. The Mosquito Fleet.— -In the cheapest and "deadliest mode of defence onr' naval supremacy, instead of being absolutely irresistible, Hi absolutely nonexistent To bring us into line* with our rivals 100 torpaio boats shd"*ld be laid down at once. . '., x "The, substantial accuracy' iff 'my answers to your inquiries will no| ha impungetfby any competent authority in the navy or but of it I bave shown that on almost alt ' the *4*tel ly important points* "mentisne*d^ , y you 'the troth e.nout the navy ' iethat our naval supremaoy has almost ceased to exist." „-.,..;.: