DREADNOUGHTS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2170, 8 June 1914, Page 5

DREADNOUGHTS.

ARE THEY DOOMED? ADMIRALS DIFFER ON ■ THE QUESTION SUBMARINES AND SEAPLANES NAVY OF THE FUTURE Ey Tolecraph—Press Association—OanyrigM ... Lorififlrij Juno 5. Admiral Sir Percy Scott's declaration in favour of submarines has aroused attention. He contends that if siibmergibles were to close egress from tie ixortli hca and the Mediterranean > it would bo difficult to see how our cem.morce could bo much interfered With by rival navies. Thirty or forty submarines in tho btraits of Gibraltar would make ih« passage of a fleet hazardous, and any lower sending shins to hunt and destroy submarines would bt;; courting disaster. Britain, ivith its avanv liartonrs and much shipping, would bo at a great disadvantage if aa enemy had plenty of submarines, Sir Percy declared that as mote-r----ears had driven horses from tho. streets, so submarines had dooired Dreadnoughts. With seaplanes for scouting, a battleship fleet wotdd iw> longer be able to put to sea or even remain in safety in harbour, as the submarines would be able to break the booms. Tho Admiralty, ho urges, should spend money on submarines and seaplanes a.f«l a few. first-class cruisers. -The'future navy would be the navy of bis youth, the only requirements 'being boldness and daring.

NOT TESTED SUFFICIENTLY, j'. SIR C. BRIDGE'S OPINION. . .. Loßiicn, June 6. Admiral .Sir Cyprian Bridge is of opiuion that neither submarines nor torpedoes hart been tested stifeiontly to justify Admiral Scott's conclusion. The secretary of ihn Nary League considers that Admiral Scott's statement is calculated to mumietahly fai* jure Britain's supremacy of the sin at a moment when economists arc soeiisg to reduce the- expenditure on ja.fmiiments. The submarines ko considers nave not reached a stage in. fivohitiott to warrant Admiral Spoil's assertions, WHEN TORPEOGES FIRST CAME, SAME CM WAS RAISED. (Roc. Juno 7, 5.5 p.m.) itfn&n, 3um 6, Sir Percy Scott's dictum lias baro much discussed. The "Pall Mall Gazette" states .ihat tho Itok-eaßst of tins last manouvrcs was owing to Admiral Jellicoc allowing tho sntoiiinjica to, go hunting for a bag, and so i.ho eiioawns manoeuvres ended abruptly. Tito flagship was specially aft-wised, and not tax admiral was left afloat. Admiral Jellicoo suffered less owing to keeping to sea aiid steaming at high' speed day and night. Mr. Fred. T. Jane, the well-known naval author and joanteHsfc, denies that the capital ships are doomed-. Submarines, ho says, are too slew awl too few to sco over tho waves. ■ ••■ ■

Other experts point mifcthat a $m'ilar cry \var, raised wi-isu iofpcdwis were invented. Admiral Scott,' they any, is wrong in suggesting tJiit s«b?na'n"ncs are invulnerable, and it is not into that they would be able to attack booms, particularly the new . espiosjvo booms which have proved a groat success on tho continent. The "Dailv Chroniefo" cmiskkrs SisPercy Scott made too svwpiftjr ffriuotions, 'bat adjures Mr. Witts-toil Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, to go easy on battleship building, and not to squander millions on tusitt-antrf vessels. Tho "Daily rvows" wefcmn.Bs the breaking of the ico at tiabseility, which cripples tho_ national ffeaiices and ftfitangles foreign affairs, A cablegram published or. &ittisd»y .stated:—Admiral Sir P-erey i>nott predict* (he end of naval ivarfaw. Me says that: Dreadnoughts are doomed hßcan» c? submarines and their ts-rpsdae-s. Submarine cannot fi.tjht snbmtrine. Thrc Admirfljiv condemns wasting the nation's uneasy on useless battleships. i