ROYAL REVIEW.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1835, 22 August 1913, Page 8

ROYAL REVIEW.

OF ARMED MERCHANTMEN. I Iff rr/v IK SEA PAGEAN SELF-DEFENSIVEL INER ON HER TRIAL, The assembling of the great merchant, ships for the Royal review in the Mersey was an event that opened an entirely new chapter in soa pageantry. The magnificent five-mile line of ships was head-

Ed by the new "White Star vessel Ceramic, the "first armoured merchant cruiser under Mr. "Winston Chmrehill's scheme io> uiuWjo firing practice. Ceramic's Trials. This self-defensive liner is an eighteentfa>u«iml lonner, and she will lie the largest link ill the steadily-growing trade between Britain and Australia. Her maiden cruise began at Belfast and.ended at Liverpool after many adventurous evolutions in the Irish Clmmtal, and it has been remarkable in feveral ways. She is armed on the after deck with two 4.7 inch giuu of the kind that saved ladysmith in the South African war, but'of an improved design. There arc four, or five merchantmen similarly armed. .tat no vex-ri has so far carried out firing practice at sea. . The test, was made within sight ot land at ilie north-east corner of Ireland in tile presence of Admiralty and White Star officials, l'or about an hour the after deck of the Ceramic membled that of a battleship in action. The guns were prepared bv a squad of picked men from the naval station at Portsmouth, and-for the time being the place where the ships potato?* were hoarded was turned into ah ammunition store. Three little red flags stuck on wooden crones were dropped overboard as the vc-sel was steaming ahead, ( and when sho had left them at a wide rpnge the otter deck was cleared of passengers except for two kiiiematograpli operators and a few I,ressmC "- Gun Practice. Fiach gun fired ten shots of ■!slb. at ranges vnrviug from 13(10 yards to four miles. The Ceramic the shock

of the exnlosion splendidly. I litre was not a porthole or a wineglass shattered. The naval gunnors carried out this interesting test under the supervision of H. H. Campbell and Cap'TaVn J. D. Dick, Assistant Director of Naval Ordnance. The While Star directors issued r. statement to The effect that it is their intention to mount all their ships m the regular Australian trade with guns similar to those on the Ceramic. The experiment was regarded as demonstrating that armed merchant vessels will provide very effective defensive power, thereby adding to the security of the mereanlile marine. The guns are placo'.i astern for the reason that they are intended for defence against a pursuing enemy, oiul not for attack on a fugitive foe.