NAVAL MANOEUVRES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 797, 21 April 1910, Page 5

NAVAL MANOEUVRES.

IN THE NORTH SEA. V Bj TeleEraph-Press Association-Copy right) London,' April 19. - British naval manoeuvres, which will extend over'a fortnight have been. be-< ; gun in the North Sea. One hundred warships, including eight Dreadnoughts, are taking• part , .. OPERATIONS OF "THE ENEMY" ■\ LAST YEAR. ADMIEAL MAY'S DEFENDERS: The following narrative of the BritisK manoeuvre of last year, their meaning and their results, is of interest at th« present vnainett! v " - ' On Juno 22 the mobilisation .for. the naval manoeuvres was ordered, and in little more than an hour from the receipt of the order 150 ships of the Reserve fleet had filled up their crews to war strength, with an entire absence of friction or difficulty. The total number of: ships- engaged in the manoeuvres was about 370, including the Home, Atlantic, and Mediterranean fleets. On the eve <A the manoeuvres on Juna 10, the cruise* Sappho were 'rammed by another Sappho, a merchant steamer with which .she col. lided; but she was towed into Dover and. beached,'and was ultimately repaired without difficulty. . ~-..,. The fleets manoeuvring were divided into four groups: (1). Red, representing the British fleet, consisting, of the Home fleet, under Admiral Sir W. May,, with one division at Bantry Bay, and a detachment at Galway, and with the other division at Scapa Flow, in the Orkneys; (2) a Bquadron of observation, supporting Red, of four cruisers, with numerous tor-pedo-boats and submarines; '3) Blue, representing the enemy, consisting of the Mediterranean and, Atlantic fleets, under Admiral Sir A. Curzon-Howe, at Oban, with a detachment" at Lough Swilly; (4) White, under Rear-Admiral Jerram, with four battleships counting as eight, in the Fourth. White was an ally of Blue, and was required to effect a junction War was declared on July 1. Undercover of a thick fog White escaped down Channel and made his junction with Blue, inflicting heavy loss on the. Red cruisers. Meantime Red had come into touch with Blue, and fighting had''occurred in which Blue lost a battleship, and Red two Dreadnoughts. On July A a general engagement' followed, in which Eed brought twenty-two battleships and seventeen armoured cruisers to bear on Bine and White's eighteen battleships and eight armoured cruisers, with the probable result of an easy win for Red. Tha> ships were not allowed to ran at high! speed, only 3.10 their full engine-power being used. The engines and machinery wero therefore not severely tested. After; the battle of July 1, several days of valny able tactical exercises followed.