A LINK OF EMPIRE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1558, 30 September 1912, Page 5

A LINK OF EMPIRE.

NAVAL CHANGES. MEDITERRANEAN FLEET. By TeleeraDh-Presa Assoclation-CoDrrtehl (Ecc. Septembar 29, 5.5 p.m.) London, September 28. It is officially announced that the Admiralty has decided that the composition of .the Mediterranean Fleet is to bo as follows:— From September :—The armoured cruisers Good Hope, Lancaster, Suffolk, and Hampshire. •From January, 1913:—Tho battlecruisers Indomitable nnd Inflexible, tho armoured cruisers Warrior, Duke of Edinburgh, Suffolk, and Hampshire. In April next tho armoured cruiser Black Prince will replace tho Suffolk, and in July the battle-cruisers Invincible and Indefatigable, will be added. It is finally announced that the Third Battle Squadron will join the Commander-in-Chief in the 'Mediterranean, and cruise in tho Mediterranean from the end of October to the end of January, 1913. This squadron consists of battleships built immediately before tho introduction )f the Dreadnought type, nnd comprises :ho Africa, Britannia, Commonwealth, Dominion, Hibornin, Hindustan, Tvinpr Edward VII, and .Zenlandia. A powerful :ruiser squadron is linked with : these jattleships. IN THE MIDDLE SEA. DISPOSITION OF EUROPEAN NAVIES. < Writing of the withdrawal of the Malta Squadron in June last tho naval corresmndent of tho London "Daily Telegraph" aid:— -Though the strategic centre in Europe las shifted from Southern to Northern vaters, the Mediterranean remains tho ;ey to the Empire, and the base upon vhich British prestige in the councils of Europe rests. However great the prelominance of tho British fleets in the >Iqrth Sea and the English Channel, the bsenco of an a'dequato battle force in he Middle Sea will unquestionably weakn the hand of the British diplomatist in he discussion of all those problems which he present war between Italy and Tur:ey is bringing once more into. proruinnce. "•.'■■ There' is a strategy of peace, and thero s a strategy of war. The new disposiions belong to the former category. Not inly is war not inevitable, but'it is unikely so long as we hold our present nargin of superiority over the fleets of ho Triple Alliance. The present tension nay continue for years, and the question s whether during those years we shall ibdicate our traditional position in those caters—admitting, in the eyes of Europe, hat we have abandoned the main artery if.the Empire, connecting the Mother Country with India, and the outposts of he King's Dominions. The policy of concentration is not one f massing every ship on one objective, t consists in the distribution of tho i'leet so as to ensure the greatest number f strategical combinations . which it is lossiblo may bo required. This is the policy which the Admiralty liive hitherto adopted, in view of the rowth of German sea-power. The folowing statement reveals the distribution 1 British battleships, in full cominis-. ion, in contrast with the battle forces of ilermany and France :— 'GREAT BRITAIN. ■•• ■■ Home Gib- ' Ports, raltnr. Malta. ■1900 8 - 10 1903 10 6 14 1906 16 8 8 1910 16 .66 1911 ■' 16 6 ! 6 1912 «../jVi.-i;-.25 .'.>-y-"'* .' ■' ~ GERMANY AND FRANCE. Germany. France. ~: -'• • ■ North Mediterranean Sea. Chaunol. 1900 8 6 6 1903 i 15 6 5 1906 16 '6 • ,6 1910 16 12 — 1911 .-. •...-. 16 12 - 1912 17 12 — • ; As the German navy was expanded in he earlier years of the century, Gibralar became the "pivot" of British naval lefence, and it was the policy of'the Adniralty to hold, in, and at the entrance o, the force superior to my which it might have to encounter in he Midland Sea. This was tho strategy if peace, with an eye to the strategy of var. Now, the Gibraltar ships have been irought home and the Malta vessels movdto Gibraltar. This, added, the corresiqndent, is an abandonment of the Medierrancan, in the opinion of the Contin-' «t. . . ■ " The Admiralty subsequently announced hat there was no intention ofwithdrawng permanently from the Mediterranean, ind the cable message indicates that after Fuly next four battle-cruisers (superDreadnoughts) will be stationed in the iliddlo Sea.