THE FLAGSHIP DRAKE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1613, 3 December 1912, Page 6

THE FLAGSHIP DRAKE.

FIRST CALL HERE. BATTLE VALUE IN "THE LINE." Named after ft well-known buccaneering, commander of Elizabethan tim«s, H.M.S. Drake, flagship, made her first appearance in Port Nicholson yesterday. .From a fightins point' of view more than ordinary interest attaches'to the event as (outside the American fleet) she is ono of the few armoured ships which have ever , sailed in Australasian waters. The heaviest gunned vessel seen here was the little Matsushima, of the Japanse training' squadron, which was at Wellington some years ago, but she had no side armour worth speaking of. . Neither did our late flagship H.M.S. Powerful, and, on this account it would probably require five Powerfuls'to make a match for one Drake, old as the latter vessel is. The other . plated ships which have sailed in Australasian waters are the Euryalus (formerly flagship on the'station) and the celebrated Russian warship Gromoboi, which visited Australia about eleven years ; einco, and afterwards struck and received hard blows in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5. These five ships,,if ranked according to battle value, would be classed as follow:—Euryalus first, Gromoboi second,.- Drake third, Powerful fourth,' and Matsushima fifth. ' ■' The flagship arrived at 11 a.m. yesterday, and came from Picton, having made the run across the Strait in four.hours. The Drake flies the flag of Admiral Sir G. F. King-Hall, who is visiting New 7,ealand for the last time before leaving Australasia. She is classed in a list of four ships, and .was first commissioned in March, 1903. Her sister ships are the Good Hope, Leviathan, and King Alfred. She is a first-class'armoured cruiser of 14,100 tons, and was at one time capable of developing a speed of 24 knots, bhe carries a complement of 900 men. . The Drake's armour is of Krupp eteel— a-belt of Uh feet, wide by. 400 feet long. It is 6 inches thick amidships. , She was laid down in April 1899, and was completed in 1902. Her coal consumption averages 11 tons an hour at a speed of 19 knots, and: 19 to 24 tons'an hour: when the engines are developing ,30,000 horse■power (24 knots). Her main armament comprises two 9.2 in. guns, and sho cost about .£1,000,000. , ■At medium ranges the big guns on H.M.S: Drake are very little inferior -to the'much-boomed 12in. guns. Their power to penetrate armour is not much less, and their rate of firing very much greater. The future movements of the flagship are not announced at present, bnt it is understood that she will remain at Wellington until December 11 or 12. During her stay in port' the Navy. League will arrange visits to the.vessel by its juvenile members,- and probably. entertainments for. the men. At the conclusion of her I visit to New Zealand waters, the Drake will return to Sydney, and will leave Australian waters for Home in January, At noon yesterday the Drake and Cambrian each fired a Royal Salute of 21 guns, in honour of the sixty-eighth birthday of the Queen Mother Alexandra. At the conclusion of the firing the Drake's band played the National AnAdmiral Sir George King-Hall did not land at Wellington yesterday, but was conveyed by launch to H.M.S. Cambrihn, and proceeded by her to Lyttelton. The Drake is coaling at Wellington. ADMIRALTY CHANGES. The following changes in naval commands are announced by cable:— Bear-Admiral T. H. Jl. Jerram.Onow in comm'andof the fourth battle-squadron) to the command-of the China equadron. Rear-Admiral H. G. King-Hall (brother of Admiral Sir George King-Hall, Austrai'Han station), to the command of the Cape squadron. . '•. • Vice-Admiral Sir G. Lβ C. Egerton succeeds Admiral Sir W. H.. May as oom-mander-m-Chief at Plymouth. Vice-Admiral Sir H. B. Jackson (now in command of the Eoyal Naval War College) succeeds Eear-Admiral E. C. T. Troubridge as Chief of the Admiralty War Staff. . : , ' . Some surprise is expressed at the appointment of a rear-admiral to the China station. The appointment is interpreted to mean, that the Eastern fleet will be placed under the supreme command of thn Admiral of the Australian squadron.