AT SEA IN WAR TIME

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2262, 23 September 1914, Page 6

AT SEA IN WAR TIME

THE BATTLE FLAGS ' HOW THE NAVY MOBILISES "Tlie final war preparation is of a dramatic' nature, the only dramatic touch permitted perhaps—for tho • Bri-' tish Navy is very averse to anything that savours of an appeal to the gallery," writes' Mr. F. T. .Jano in the Sydney "Shipping List,"'in describing the operation of clearing a British fleet for aotion. "Six big battle flags are hoisted —one at, each masthead, and two to support it in the rigging of each mast. This, too, is purely utilitarian. It,is one of the many obiter dicta attributed to. that greet practical seaman, Admiral Sir John Fisher, that a patriot of the hysterical type once said to him anent the battle flags: 'Ah, I am, indeed glad to,see that you preserve tho glorious old traditions of the flag) , 'Traditions, be blowedl' the Admiral is said, to have replied; 'it means, that we don't have to waste men-replacing an ensign shot away. , "The story'niay or may not be true, but the sentiment expressed is. the sontimont of- tho British Navy .through and through. And soi as the British fleet goes into action', and the boom'of the battle guns sounds. at last in deadly, earnest over the water, thore will b.e no men saying, 'Rernember Nelson and Trafalgar;' to each other. , I'robably nothing will bo said at all, but if anything docs break the silence beforo the guns begin ,it will most likely be the roice of some sporting bluejacket trying to:get a chum to lay odds on his chances of survival!

Ships of Reserve. "To return to my subject. Commissioned ships have nothing to do in preparing for war beyond:/, preparing, for,, 'battle. It is otherwise, , of course, with the ships in reserve, of whose mobilising'we heard so much the other day. That mobilising was more of a test of oiir preparedness than aught else; and much that appeared in' the nc\rspapers as being done was not dono at all in reality.- But wo had'the shadow of what might be, just asiro had it atthe time of Fashoda, and at the time of tho Flying Squadron. "The first men to be affected are the dockyard men; , in a sense they ore the only people much affected at all, for tho Navy is happily now so organised that it/can actually mobilise without hitch l'or excitement. The dockyard men are first affected berouse they have to put the finishing touches as quickly as possible to any work in Jiand. That means overtime, night shifts, and if necessary work on Sunday. Every' officer doing duty in harbour ships or anywhere else ■in tne.Home ports lies .his 'war appointment.. On receiving the mere order to take up he knows- exactly where to go. Similarly tho men are all told off—it is nil arranged beforeTmnd; the. authorities have only to switch on, as it, were, and the wheels go round.

In the Stores. "In the store establishments all the stores for individual ships other than those always .in place lie neatly apart and ticketed.. Thither go the crew, and in a very short time things are. got ahoard. Much, of course, always is , on board the reserve ships. There is coal in their bunkers, amnnmition in their magazines, and best of,all a 'skeleton crew.' There js a chief engineer who knows the tricks of the engines (and the engines of warships have often the most strange individualities). He, too, knows the state of the boilers, which ones had better be , dealt gently with, which repairs ordered to be done' have been shelved for other 'work, and he has his private list of. dockyard repairs not done as he would have had them done. Some, of these perhaps he will put his people to see to at once if time admits—it is often the privileges of engine-room complements to have.to dp over again work eupposed 'to havo been done for . them in the yard. _ "Probably the ship has Belleville boilers, and" the engineers will'get ready nil the spare tubes they can, for any day may j-.ring a shot in tho boilers. If the hit is not too serious damaged tubes can be taken out and fresh ones screwed in, this ability to repair being the 'military' quality of tho Bellevilles of which we hear so much now and ngain. It is only found in boilers of French invention, and has been the catise of bother before now in peace time when badly screwed-in tubes have leaked, but when war is in the air it ie an 'inestimable advantage, ' for no ships that can possibly be kept with flie fleet can be spared for dockyard repairs after a battle. ' Clearing for Action.

"While our ship is getting up steam, tho people above will have been busy clearing for action as they clear in commissioned ships. The men who, each with his hammock and bag, stuffed witlrhis worldly goods, crawled on board like a disturbed coterie of ants carrying will now be running to and fro with sacks of coal from lighters alongside or from trucks upon the jetty. In every possible corner those coal bags ■will be stowed, reinforcing turrets, filling cabins, everywhere'; for in war every ounce of coal is worth its weight in gold, and the fleet that can steam longest is tho fleet most likely to win. AYoe betide the stoker wlu> shoyels coal anyhow , under his Bellevilles in defiance of the ethics of that canny Frenchman, who said, 'Coal it is that will win the naval battles of the steam age. 1 " •

A meeting of the committee appointed in connection with the Lower Hutt potato planting scheme was liold at the Main School last evening, the Mayor (Mr. H. Baldwin) presiding. Several proposals towards raising funds to complete the work were considered, and tha chairman intimated that more volunteers would be acceptable for the work of planting at the Eastern Hutt School next Saturday. About £20 is required to. pgnjpjaje t&§ ysvK