SEA SUPREMACY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1677, 18 February 1913, Page 5

SEA SUPREMACY.

NEW TYPE OF FIGHTING SHIP. GERMAN ENTERPRISE. FRANCO-BRITISH AGREEMENT. By Telejraph—Press ABaooiation-CopTrieht London, February 16. / The newspaper "Engineer" states thai Germany is building ft now typo of sh/p, lying so low that! its deck is littlo more than awash. It ia said it will revolutionise warfare. It was first offered' to ,<3reat Britain, but the offer was ignored/ Five of these vessols, it is claimed; • could destroy a .super-Dreadnought, co/iting the price of twenty of them. It wfd carry a single gun of maximum power?. An impenetrable bow-shield will h& the only, target for an enemy. /

Admiral Sir Cyprian interviewed,' ridiculed the idea of ref/Brbisliing ■ the above obsolete type of vessel, which would be helpless with a sintfld gun against a considerable head sea. / FRANCE tMEASY. : {—■ ANGLO-GERMAN/ FLEET RATIOS. . (Paris, February 16. Leading newspapers are exercised over the proposed increase of the Germany army and the /recent discussion between Admiral von /Krpitz (Secretary to the German Navy) cud Mr. Winston Churchill (First Lord of,the British Admiralty) regarding shiy-building. , M. Jaequoa Bardoux, in an article in jOne of the'newspapers, urges M. Poincare (the PresjUont) ai&M. Jounart (Minister for Forefgn Affairs) > to visit London and Conclude'a fresh agreement between Fra.noe> • , ' DECLARATION OF LONDON. ,' NAVAL PRIZE BILL TO BE ' i REINTRODUCED. . v ' / ■ London, February 16. . The Naval Prize Bill, containing 1 ! the Declaration of London, will be re-Intro-duced early next session of Parliament. . Tho Naval Prize Bill provides for « modification of the law of contraband and rights of seizure and search during international conflicts. The Bill passed through Grand Comnuttee during the earlier .part of thei 1911-12 session, and was later considered by the Commons, on the report stage. After an important amendment— to ppstpono thß operation of the measure until tho consent of the Powers had been obtained to a reduction in'tho number of the Judges of the International Court set up by tho Bill—had been rejected, a motion for tho third reading, was carried by 172 to 125. But when tho Bill came before the House of Lords for the second reading, it wag thrown out by 145 to 53,

1 ; MOMENTOUS.'; END OF THE DREADNOUGHTS. - '-.':".•'. (By Gyro,) ' . - To state that the above cablegram is mo- ; mentous—momentous for Britain-is understating matters. It probably means the abolition of tho whole Dreadnought type ii ,1° « Bis years from now, and then all .the Powers will start on a new type again-Geraany well in front/Three flush-decked oil-enginod ships, each mounting a single, turret (not gun, as the cable states)i re-ould be inoro'than 'Kmat'ch 'for' any Dreadnought or super-Dreadnought afloat or projected. . Printed statements are already appearing to lull tho public further into the fools paradise" in which they now repose. It is said that this is merely a cast back" to the idea of the Monitor whach fought and checked the Confederate ironclad Virginia during the course of the American Civil War. Unfortunately (for Britain) the cases are for from parallel.' Ihe old Monitors wore slow compared with ships of the line, 'whereas, here, a new type is at hand which* will) be at least 50 per cent, faster than any warship in tho world, able to ohoose its own range for battlo, and offering hardly any target at all to the battery of a Dreadnought. The fact that Admiral Cyprian Bridge has pronounced against the new type may Iseom formidable, to the general reader, 1 but doubts on this point ore at least excuiablo. All old Admirals have their fetiches, and the days when some of them stuck out for "masts and sails" are not very far gone by, The old controversy of beam Are," "Low flre, J ' and "all-round nro still rages, and Admiral Bridge is J. well-known apostle of the theory; of beam fire only." Hence, doubtless, he refuses to entertain the new type, which is fast marching on to the scene. Unfortunately for the Admiral's theory --and for Britain-all tactical considerations ahuw (without a shadow of doubt) that tho ideal ship' of .the, future will neither be, the ship wbioW, is strong in fire on the beam, .or tlie bow, but too ship which is strong all round. At present no ship in the world can use all her guns at once at a given target on a given compass bearing, and, in fact, some of the world's Dreadnoughts 'can only use a very moderate percentage of their total hitting power. Efforts have been niado lately to increase the total beam fire on Dreadnoughts by mounting' all turrets on the ship's centre-line.. This means that all the guns can tfhoot on either beam, but the number of '"wasters" for bow and stern fire will always be considerable, so long as masts, funnels, and superstructures are in the way. Obviously a ship's gunners can hardly be expected-to set to work to demolijh their own Ships, however desirable" bow,br stern fire may bo. And, as long as Are have steam warships, 50 long will this tactical trouble exist..

■•'Obviously-the ideal ship of war is the ship_vrhich can never be caught out of position, however blundering itho method of approach on an enemy selected by her captain,' (or Fleet: Admiral) may bo. The whole duty of an Admiral, commanding, a fleet of steam battleships, is to select what is termed the "angle' of approaoh on an enemy." and to turn up at an appropriate compass bearing., .-'■■,' The oil ship promises the abolition of all this trouble. She need* no funnels, and 6he may therefore, have a perfectly dear deck. Any compass. 1 hearing on which the enemy may be. first sighted will do for her to approach on, and, as tho desideratum Is a elpar field of fire, it follows that the idenl. ship will only have, one turrot. With more than one, some obstruction to tljo field of fire musttake plare at times,'as there must bo some, portion of tivf arc of training in. which one. turret obstructs the fire of another. . /

With Hie new ''centre lino" system of pun-mounting, efforts have boon made by naval architect? to minimise this otetruction by vs.isin? one turret higher than another. This 13 not an unmixed blessing, for si/.ch a raising of the turrets reduces,a shj'o's metacentric height, and therefore readers her much less safe in action. ".-:/ . ■ x Eight midget bottle-stingers of the typo contemplated by the cable message mi{;nt possibly ,Vra built for tho same cost as one Dreadnought, and, as throe.of them could p/fobably annihilate one 1>;<; ship, a very/ slight deduction shors fhrt tho end oi the big'boat and tho adh"' l,, .nf the funnal-less ship is at hand. It Avill probably be a mvmhv >f years before'this Is generally realised, but the nlumato result will bo none tho less sure. Arid, as usual, Germany leads the way. THE BROAD WOOD PLATER PIANOS, / The Broadivood Player Pianos are British throughout, all mndo in one faotory, oil fitted with aluminium' tubing, which is imperishable. Terms to suit any purchaser. The Dresden Piano Co., Ltd., Wellington. - M. J. Brookes, North Island manager. '