THE SQUADRON

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1294, 24 November 1911, Page 3

THE SQUADRON

MOVEMENTS OF THE MEN-O-WAR. THE OLD AND NEW FL.VGS.HtrS. 11.M.5. Powerful, flying the pennant of Vice-Admiral King-Hall, will leave Auckland for Wellington on .Monday nest, arriving here on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Sho will remain hero until December 5, when she leaves for Lyttclton, sailing from that port direct for Sydney on December S. From Sydney the Powerful goes to Hobart, and will have that port for Colombo on December 2.'!. There she meets her successor, H.M.S. Drake, some transfers will he mado. and tho Powerful will proceed on to Portsmouth, and tho Drake will come on to Sydney. H.M.S. Torch is expected to arrive in Wellington from the New Hebrides, whilst the flagship is here. She will cruise about the New Zealand coast until the middle of January, when she leaves for Sydney. H.JI.S. Pioneer is refitting in Sydney. She will leave that port for Hobart shortly, after which sho comes on li< New Zealand, when the reservists wiil be drilled. H.M.S. Cambrian is also refitting at Sydney; she will also join the other warships at Hobart shortly. H.M.b. Challenger is there, now. H.M.S. Psycho is at Melbourne. Sho leaves for Hobart early next month. H.JI.S. Pe?asus and Prometheus left Sydney for Hong-Kong on November IS. The officers of H.JI.S. Powerful ate as follow.—Commander-in-Chief, ViceAdiniral Sir George King-Hall; Adminl's staff: Secretary, Mr. E. A. Bremner; flag. lieutenant, Ci. W. S. Seton; clerks, fol secretary, Mr. I''. .1. Ifeger, Mr. L. R. Wibner, Mr R. E. Worthingtoa; captain, E. F. Bnieu; commander,_R. A. Norton; lieutenants, 11. ,T. N.' Watsuu, A.. L. Snagge, R. N. S. Hill, W. Pasonl, G. B. Harrison, A. S. Douglas, J. Brooke, P. G. Glossop, G. E. Matthews, R. 0. Bell-Salter, G. L. Davidson; engineers, engineer-commander, A. I\. Rolle; engi-.neer-lioutenants, A. E. Shilleock, C. H. J. Purfcis, F. H. Pratt; engineer sublieutenant, S. Robins; major of Royal Marines, G. 1. Anderson; lieutenant of Marines, E. G. Cheeseman; chaplain, the Rev. G. B. Robinson; fleet-surgeon, V. G. Thorp*; staff-surgeons, ,T. O'Hc.-i, W. K. D. Breton; fleet paymaster. H. Foden; assistant-paymasters, B. M. Teck and F. I'. B. Jones.

The Powerful and tho Drake. H.M.S. Powerful (due here from Auckland on Wednesday next) has come to New Zealand to bid farewell to ports that have known her long and intimately (says the Auckland "Herald"). At the beginning of next year, she will sail off to Colombo, a.'.id will meet the Drake. The old flagship and the new will'salute each other, as a man would greet his successor in a pleasant billet, and while the Drako steams out to Sydney the Powerful will work her way back to England, and to a now duty, or a fate that lio9 with the Lords of the British Seas to determine.

The Powerful is, in the ports she has visited at odd times, certainly one' of the best known ships that liiive conic.toithese waters. She is so long and lofty sided — her four big fnnnels are so impressive between two strictly vertical masts—that she is a truly-eve-filling-object as she lies in harbour. There is no suggestion about iier of the rakishness, not to say pertness, that marks out the lesser cruisers of the squadron. She is too big for that, and wears an air of stern solidity .that fails entirely to suggest, the 21. knots that her sturdy engines can coax .her to.- She was, indeed, one, of the biggest cruisers ot' her first days, and was not greatly exceeded in tonnage, even 1 bv battleships, until six or seven years after she ■ was built.. . The Drake, which is to succeed her as 'flagship on the Australian station, is a. ship of almost the same size. The Powerful is - 520 ft. long. 71ft. broad, and 31ft. in draught. The Drake is 515 ft. long, lift, in breadth, and draws 2?ft. Her displacement is 14,100, as against the powerful s 14.200 tons. She is ons of a class of four ships, the others being, the Good Hope. , the Leviathan, and. the. King. Alfred, all built in 1901. The principal differences between the Drake and the Powerlul are that the retiring flagship is a protected, while the Drake is an armoured, cruiser, and that the .Drake has. .two .or three knots more speed. Her 'armament is in ' number and calibre of gun'si. almost the same that of the Powerful, but trims fire of lnler types. She has two 9»iins, Mark IX, 45 calibre, which hive considerably greater power than the Mark VIII, 40 calibre guns of the .same bore on the Powerful. Each ship carried 16 Gin. guns, but the Drakes are 45 calibre, or somewhat longer than, the Powerful's guns. The'l'pwerftil fairly bristles with guns,--having,' in- addition to the IS largo weapons, 18 12-poundors, 12-3'-ponnders. and two maxims. The Drake slackens off a little in her small arm'iment, having a trifle of 14 12-pounders. three 3-ponnders, and two maxims, bho has two torpedo tubes, as against the four possessed by tho Powerful. The armouring- of the Powerful, entitling her to the term "protected, consists of a steel deck, 6in. thick at most, designed to keep shells from entering vital parts. Tho Drake carries an armour belt of Gin. Krupp steel, -10ft. wide and 400 ft. long. . In appearance the Drake is somewhat lighter than the Powerful, this being du? to the fact that she has not a long flush deck. The Powerful and, her sister, the Terrible, aro very unhandy ships for manoeuvring-purposes, and cannot turn in a circle of less than 1100 yds. diameter; and they are such costly vessels to keep up that they have been for some time marked as likely to be wiped ot? the Navy list beforo long. The Drake is a handier ship, having a "tactical diameter'' of only 750 yds. Shc» like thp rest of her class, is a very ko«1 steamor and when new easily beat her contract speed. In 1905 she was the first ship to reach Gibraltar in the cross•Ulanlic race of the second.cruiser sr|indron and in December. 1906, she maintained at sea for' 30 hours, on a tou.--fifths power lest, an average speed of not ifnots.' Her best speed recorded was «i'"6 knots. Slio carries 900 men.