OVERSEA SQUADRON.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1722, 12 April 1913, Page 15

OVERSEA SQUADRON.

GIFT SHIP'S FUTURE.

; GREAT SCHEME OUTLINED.

V • EMPIRE'S PIVOT FORCE,

The Admiralty ivroposec'. to -form tho OaiaaJan, Malay, and Now Zealand ealps .into an Imperial 6quadron, based on Gibraltar. Tho 6quMron would occasionally' visit the to enow 'ne flag, and would be' ready to operate at tho danger pofnt at Homo or abroad. Speoial facilities ; would be offered to colonials .to man and officer tho madron, which would bo strength- . ened by light cruisers if any of the Dominions saw fit. Tho Dominitons Bhould also bo encouraged to develop SavnJ bases and dockyards, and local flotillas of auxiliaries—Mr. Ohurohill, First Lord 'of tho Admiralty, in tho House of Commons on Harch 26. The plan of forcing tho Dominion's gift ships into an Imperial Service Squadron, novradopted by Mr. Churchill, has been 6trongly advocated during tho last few months by the naval correspondent of the London "Daily Telegraph," Writing last year at tho time of the .proposed withdrawal of tho British battleship from the Mediterranean tho "Telegraph s" correspondent' sketched in bold outline the big part that an Imperial Service Squadron could be; made to play in the naval defenco of tho Empire. Ho ■ aaid: ; / . ; , If the Dominions will make some sacrifice, the idea of withdrawing the battleships from the Mediterranean—the road to Egypt, India, and the Antipodes—can bo abandoned.' Wo can placo eight modern ships—preferably tho eight Formidables— into.these waters, with a due proportion of cruisers and torpedo' craft, and when the need arises, Dreadnoughts can be dispatched,'if our; kith and kin' will assist m providing an Imperial Service Squadron to be'based on Gibraltar. This would be the "pivot-force" of the Empire, protecting the entrance to the Channel,. whero the .great trade routes of the Five' Nations converge, 'protecting the entrance to'.the Mediterranean, and protecting also .the lines of Atlantic trade— the trade from and to Canada, the United States, and South America.: If themain strategical theatre-in-four ,or five years' time became.the\Pacifio, then-this squadr ron would; steam south. Naval force,is fluid j it can be moved-rapidly and swiftly, so as to' respond to policy. Tho squadron to perforni this' duty would have .to be powerful and force oi-unrivalled strength., It might be composed as follows, its'approximate cost being indicated:— . ■. , ' ■ . Crews ■ (officers Cost. and .• .£ . men) 8 Dreadnought .cruisers, each mounting eight / ■ '.< 13!5in. . guns and ten , 6in.'- weapons, : and with a 'speed- of 28 , ' knots. '". , 1G,.500,000 - 7,200 " .12 ./smaller' .cruisers, each mounting six 6in. , . guns,' and wjth a speed : . ." i ■ . of 25 -knots :.... 4,500,000 5,000 ;' ' 21,000,000 12,200 'An : annual payment of, about £1,400,000 ■ would cover,interest, at 3 ter cent., and 6uch a proportion of capital as in twenty ( years would extinguish the capital cost. The oiitjay ,ori •upkeep, including the pay of officers'and men, and prospectivenon- . effective charges, such as pensions,',would' be about iE1,600,000 a year; ■ . Consequently .: for a 'sum .of about >63,000,00.0 annually this fine, ,squadron of eight Dreadnoughts and a dozen cruisers .could be maintained!'and at the end. of twenty years—by which time their fighting value would havo ' been greatly reduced—no . debt ' upon . them would remain. EMBLEM ...OP { IMPERIAL UNITY,V? ' • This squadron ! woiild : T)e( an:emblem''of Imperial unity—of: unity for peace and for war. Its .'.'maintenance would not. involve a : very.heavy charge., :is not a great sumfto be found by the:peoples of the British Euipiro,'with a revenue • of u surplus' each year, of raised 1 in taxation, for which there is no immediate channel of expenditure. This vast revenue is divided' about equally between the United Kingdom and the other parts of tho Eui-< pire, and this revenue, tho capital bohind it, and much,else, the Navy pro-, tects. " ; The contrast between this and the of the Imperial Service Squadron is so marked; that- it .calls for; no comment,' 1 particularly, if it' bo borne in mind that this naval foi'cs would not merely hold' the gateway to tho insuring peace, but would hold in impressive force the terminals of the 'meat ocean routes 'along which. - tho Empire's ' commerce moves, arid would prevent the recurrence of privateering, dreaded by business men. _It may bo that the'schemei of co-opera-tion for the establishment of this Im- ■' perial Service Squadron would have to be confined to tho 1 self-governing Dominions; and the Mother Country—the Five Nations under' the British flag.. In revenue they compare thus:— ' REVENUE. ••• , . £ Dominion of Canada ' 24,210,-118 Commonwealth 'of Australia'... • 19,515,000 Dominion of New Zealand 9,986,000 Union of South Africa 5,585,000 United Kingdom 187,000,000 If we omit from the calculation ; the very rich inhabitants in the United: Kingdom, the peoples of the Overseas Domin-ions-are better off-than tho people'of the ' United Kingdom, and they bear a,far less . heavy burden of. taxation,. because they, pay no imperial expenses—Crown, Debt,