OUR NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1665, 4 February 1913, Page 8

OUR NAVY.

Its; genesis and growth.

'•THE GREAT COMMONER'S PART.

BY THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL.

■ -Ha -of •-the : most interesting' speeches "I 01 nt a New Zealand Club lunthere have been many in- ? i? W speeches at their board-was that - Excellency .the Governor, the i a „rjf 'Liverpool, who was tho guest,of IfW' 7«3tcrdny. His Excellency talked ?„trV growth of the Imperial-Navy, and 'l":"Wsing the centuries since first BnS'becarrie a sea Power, he sßowcd an '. ™ Sramonly ■ detailed knowledge of the •■■Kjltical 'and. military history of tho King- '','%, and, later, the Empire. / ._ vd'he chairman of. the chib, tho Hon. C. 5. Luko.-cxpressed tho pleasure members ■■i Tit in having his Excellency as guest ml hoped his Excolloncy, might of ten be ! visitor to the club's meetings.: He was pleased to bo able to announce that the •Earl of Liverpool had consented to accept 'the position of patron of the club. _• " Tho Earl of Liverpool was received with a round of hearty applause when he roso .to --speak; First .'he ;thanked tho company for tho very kind ,nnd• hearty,'reception given I him. It',-was ■ a'very great ;pleasuro to him, ho said, to meet'so many ;of:the'coinmercial.'community,':and;to 6ce '< fiomething of them.-; "It a very difficult thing," he said, "for a person who stands'ih the/shoes I am in at this moV '-inent,to niake any kind of address with,'.out—shall we.say—skating on thinice; and ;' atfthe .sariioHiine to: make a speech', that shall be nt all palatable or interesting, p ','rim-sure',.wo hnvenll listened to'some of \the dullest boring orations ever delivered. I shall,give.you ;a topic.w.hich does not entail skating on thinuce, and-which,' I liope, may interest you. -It;is. thelabsoluto ;.riecessity-of sea-power'to; a nation that has, oversea Dominions, and the development. 'of armaments. '■ , :

■> : v.;:;'■'.-;i'l ■'.The; Task of Pitt. -t ■ "I have>. taken-89-my starting point a period analogous to the, French Revolution, for: two .reasons:—(l) To show how, impossible -it is for:a/great-Ppwcr to /.ignore the, trend, of events which take, placo in nations .and --which ; must vitally, aff eot her policy, .both:.financially.and commercially. (2) That it was about this period, viz., 1787, that a small, colonising.: expedition was sent to Australia' and.gavei immortality to an abscure by'callin? ' tfie, settlement • Sydney. . Let us; considor the 'position.; 'At' the time England iiad been engaged ;in ailong and inglorious war' Wit- Ahierica, her,tr.oop9.were prisoners or, blockaded in America; her credit was -exhausted ;'hor. fleet'wis unprepared, and; ireason- to fear/attack from the united -navies/of France and 1 Spain. This/was'iri.l77B... : , -, .:.:,'•■, ~-±-' '■ j,"ln December, 1783, the great Commoner,;- the 1 younger : Pitt, assumed the First.''Lordship;of the Treasury, and so commenced a.supreme and unbroken Ministry whioli'waa:to last.for 17,year9. The fituden t of h istory< realises 'what a: colossal ■tok, lie, ;was. ..undertaking.' ,In »the lasteight years.the;country: hadi'seep political degradation reach its climax. -Fox,, who had;denounced North, now sided with him —the accuser-had'sat, down with tho accused; The country,:was sick'of the old methods.-.-(They -saw.' a- young man;.rich wi.th;eloguen'ce,,heir, to.'ah immortal name,, .'■untainted ■ in,; spotless 'in life,' who slowed 1 the- -very .first day - lie met Parliament, ps' Minister ia supreme disdain for the: material- prizes -ot-life. ■■iTho country recollected that-in a,few months the elder;Pitt,had raised England from,the ground and placed her at the ' head' of ;Europe.;. Might not, something be .hoped, for >|rora _ his son? :'.-." ' . : /'?fo;. Minister can ever wish"-for war. Apart from. the."■inseparable- dangers to our Constitution and our commerce, his L own, position, suffers detrimentally. He has to- face! not the-excitement of the field, but" dbmestic.' misery and discontent,' the ■ burden- .pf; taxation; and the unpopularity of the Sacrifice which all war entails. If this is true of any Minister, 'with -how much.gTeater force;;does it apply-to Pitt? Tho'task he had set himself inVI7BJ was ,to, ; raisS; the, nation from the exhaustion ,oftho>American"s ; truggle,'to repair her finance.and to; strengthen by reform the foundations'of-her 'constitution. Ho-re-quiredjat least' fifteen years -to give full benefit to his financial reforms.:; -His enthusiasm was all for peace, retrenchment, and-refornii :■:.:.-;-if:,-:'; ; '?■.< '~-.;..'. •;.--. ; : ;

..His: .Foreign Policy... ' ,-Had'he'been able to'carry out his France only left him alone— ho would have been far and away the ■greatest'Minister.'England has ever seen. But what Ho', who had yfought for his ideal, peace, as tho best .meansiof raising- his 'country: to the first : ,i place;,' in ', the..concert. of. Europer-f or bo • ;it:;remembored in 1789' he: was,deaf'-to tho : •shorUs of; rnge-at',.the'/convulsions in : (France,'., saying 'that. Franco could settlo' 'her internal - affairs' as sho.; wished—in. 1793fourid 'himself unable to (stem '.the' ' tide.v -The' French Convention'declared >ar on the rulers of Great Britain and r Holland, , and the people were shouting 'forwar.'-. It wasnot the moment in any .event which, he>would have selected. ' By a curious: 'coincidence ' England. had 'a -. series of bad harvests,- from ; 1789 1 to .1802, of •..which 1792-was, the '.worst.! ■'■ The question might, be asked, Why, if,ho''was so ■'averse to; war, did'Pitt' not'.resign? .Be- ■ cause he could -not havo avoided war, and he knew that if he did-not face the inevitable, he would be succeeded by a Minister.' who"" had not his capabilities, 'and. would 1 be far more warlike in his ; temperament.' With indefatigable energy ;. he-mceU.tho.;crisis.j,-.;The notable points .of these years, as'.regards tho conduct': of ■ the war and of foreign'policy /were these: .—Pitt's two % 'endeavours . ■to-, combine. Europe, against the.common enemy—his iconstant■ anxiety ,'for peace—the. four .direct overtures which ho mado with this ; object .between 1793 and 1801; th<T;uni- ';. form success 'of .the 'enemy on land, and '; the uniform triumph Vof Tour,arms*''' at, , 6ea. . '*i;iys-*ff/'::; y''-.';■-. :' '-Pitt's policy was r ' two : fold—it was . a ■naval- and colonial policy. It; meant . that while Pitt .-.was.; subsidising,•< the : laraies of the againstvFrance; : our- Navy being !stipremo, wo■.were,'able" , to .have our troops/operating' with: sucV desk -in India against Tippo Sahib, pre-. '■■. venting ' Napoleon from i over-running L'Egypt by Nelson's'victory of the. Nile in 1798—capturing practically the whole of 'the ' dies.-V'And-so 'we .pass to the last phase of the War—the crushing • of-: tho French and Spanish navies at Trafalgar, and '-.'making., the naval strength \oL England ■ supreme, which enabled us to, convey our ■'■: .troops safely durihg.'fhe Peninsula War, ; and at'the same .'time''guard-;tbeir supplies and base...„.:Let. ij;.not be,forgotten' .that this supremacy iwas''gained'by the ;,' forethought of the ; Great;,Cpmmoner. ' | -.■,.•.'■ On Lines of Communication. And so;we pass to the second ! phase cmbraced by a period-from after'the Peace of Paris," in 1815, to tho present time. ' We have'seen tho supremacy of.our great .'■'. Navy unquestioned during'tho! groat war, and we .■.find thaf'suprcniacy maintained during the.years of peace, that is to say, 1 of-peace'so far as wo "were concerned with reference'to Europe—only broken by the Crimean War in 1853. It was tho "vital essential to,us for tho maintenance of our -Indian Empire during the Sikh wars of" the forties, the Indian Mutiny of 1557, J the : China" War of 'the sixties,. may I, say tho unfortunate strife of the • earrie decade in these islands, .the maintenance ,of our authority in Egypt durin<* the-stormy period which began' in 1882, not; to end. finally .till 1898 by, the crushing-of tho Khalifa.' Our very life blood was tho maintaining of our lines of communication'during 'the struggle of ■ 1899 to 1002. ' That is what the Navy has meant to our, country, and to, her. colonies." It is a great' heritage, and one of which wo are all proud, and one which the British nation intends to maintain, not-as a -menace, but.as a ': safeguard for the peace of .the,.world. And r.3 wo :have said this-regarding ourselves, let us compare it when ' tho question; is associated with other nations ■ -Whv did' Spain 'so- signally :fnil In 1898 against America, and lose practically all: hor colonies? '•'■ Firstly ' 'became she had not considered : her colonies an asset in the strongest f,o»se of tho .word, and, secondly, she

had not the sea power,' when the hour of stress came, either'to meet her enemy or to guard her lines of communications. Tako fhe Russo-Japanese War of 19<M. Again, what made it possible for Japan to land her armies, with practically no opposition, in Korea? Simply because she was omnipotent on the, sea. Ihcso are the two great oxamples of to-day, of nations other than ourselves, where the supreme power of tho sea has been vital to their undertakings and development. Let it not bo forgotten that both of them nro great commercial nations, to whom tho Expansion of their commerce and outlet for their population is a necessity. Evolution of the Fighting Ship. Briefly let-us ponder over the great evolution which has taken place, both in ships ,and material sinco the Navy, as we know it now, was a reality. Wo know the "Great Harry," of Henry VIII's reign, the ficst ship to bo called his Majesty's .ship, was looked upon as a ship of prodigious dimensions, and yet she was probably smaller than tlru greator number uf our smallest coasting sailing vessels. .Then-we see the Navy evolving from a series, of what wo'should now term piratical or filibustering expeditions against the Spaniards in the West Indies in Queen Elizabeth's reign, and the rise of such names as Frobisher, Drake, Lord Howard of Effingham, and Hawkins, men of /great daring, who wore the mainstay in defeating the invasion, of 1588, but whose ships were unwieldy and difficult Jo. navigate, and whoso. : guns■ were often more dangerous to the ships' themselves than" to tho enemy. Then ;we pass through a period whioh was not altogether to, our credit, except during, the time' of Cromwell, when we know the British ships of war were the terror of thesoas. ■•': '.- • ■ -

;' Gradually, with, tho commencement of I the 18th ■ century, the ships developed, .not only in 'building capacity, but also in armament.' The'classes ns we-know them, varied little between the early years of tho 18th century "and the end ot the fifties and beginnings of the sixties of the 19th century. The largest ships were the first-rnto three-deckers, carrying 90 to 120 ;gnns—in tne caso was there a four-decker, the Santissima Trinidad, which fought at .St. Vincent ■ and Trafalgar,' and finally, foundered there. The third-rater 'frigates; 50,' 46, 236 guns,' the second-rate two-deckers varying in armament, as GO, 74, and 80-gtih ships. The fourth-rates, ;Carvettes, consisting of 26-gun'6hipa'car-ried'on a flush deck, and the brigs, 10 land 16-gnn vessels. Of' the latter class the less said tho better. With •the era of steam .'came the changes of conversion from- sailing ships to auxiliary screws, and the fleets pf the Baltic and Black Sea in. the Crimean War to a certain extent consisted of these ships. But what this war did prove conclusively was that as the. armaments;had improved it was absolutely essential that some form of .vessel shouljl be devised to resist tho ponetrnting power of the pro'jectiles which were, destructive in such a marked degree to a wooden-structure. And so'in- the early' sixties commenced the era.,of the iron ships, to develop later■ into steel ships, which is the greatest change ,in' ship-building the world has 'witnessed.: The classes of ships of war changed, the old names ceased to be,' and from them emerged;battleships, cruisers of various classes, torpedo destroyers, torpedo boats, and, mitre lately, submarines, .to be'followed, shall, we suggest, by. air . cruisers. One gun .of to-day,' fired from a battleship, can throw a projectile a great' deal more than equal to mil' the broadsides of the Victory. And the size of our. great, guns-is continuing to increase by leaps and bounds-rthe 10in., then the 12in., now the 13.5 in., and there are suggestions ;o£ alGin.gun. Ahd'what of ;the size'of the ships? It is difficult to measure.the battleship'of. to-day with the .wooden ship, .because the. style of measurements' is different, but this we'can do: We can; measure the'- battleship *of the eighties and those of to-day 12,000-ton ship was looked Upon !as a monster—l -am begin■ning to think we shall livo to see a 40,000-ton battleship. T know the great commercial steamers havenow exceeded this, figure, but at present the construction size of battleships is still in' 20,000 t028,000-tonships.j When you see a battleship of .the/Dreadnought class passing the ;Victory in Portsmouth 1 Harbour, you realise, what size really, is;-and.if,you .again mention 'tho'Great Harry,' she in' her ;turn would only, bo equal to a steam pinnace—if as large—of one of our modern l>attleship3. : In size,of crews \ there is !not so much difference! Tho three-deckers usually'carried crews varying from 600 ;to 780 m'eh:.'the crew* of. to-day, of the I Dreadnought class are; if anything, slightly under this figure! • .---,; ... ; "Be of Good Cheer, Work Together." •

: And let us lastly turn to the question of. expense. 'The cost of a modern battleship k2} millions—a three-decker of Nelson's time about .£BO,OOO to .£90,000. Is it not sufficient to say this: That: the time has arrived when it is fully realised by her daughters that England can no longer bear this burden alone, and hence the ready offers of assistance extended to her from all; the oversea Dominions—offered in the sure: and certain hope'that in. the day of difficulty we, who nil belong to v the Empire, shall not be found wantingY N Therq'aro few here who.will in one sense consider: : " themselves,; sentimentalists, though all will find themselves allied with the true definition of the wordin reality. Pitt rests in' that old sanctuary in which ,so many of our great men lie, and over his body stands a monument graven by cunning hand. It depicts the Groat Commoner standing as he used to do when first Minister in the land, his hand outstretched, and it seems to betoken, that though not. with us in the flesh ho-bids us "Be of good cheer, work together, and be not dismayed." (Applause.) ' •" At the invitation of the chairman, the members gave three cheers for his Excellency, as showing their appreciation of his address.. ~ :'.'■'-.'.,