BACK AT THE ADMIRALTY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2301, 7 November 1914, Page 7

BACK AT THE ADMIRALTY

' SIR PERCY SCOTT FAMOUS ADMIRAL ON "SPECIAL SERVICE" (Kec. November 6, 8.5 p.m.) London, November 5., . Admiral Sir Percy Scott has returned to the Admiralty for special service! 'Admiral Sir Percy Scott is 60 years of age, and had. served 46 years in the Navy when ho retired, somo months ago. Before he attained the rauk of captain in 1893 he saw service in Asnanti, in the Congo expedition of 1875, and in the Egyptian War of 1882. In the South African War Captain Scott served in the early months on shore with the Naval Brigade, and rendered great service in transporting heavy guns. It wa-s while he was captain of the Scylla in 1898 that- Captain Scott developed the theory of gun practice, with which his name will always be associated in the Navy. "He struck out j line of his own," writes a contribute! to "Brassey's Naval Annual." "He provided his own telescopic sights,' and instructed his men t with a loading teacher and dotter, both his own invention; so that presently the ship made a score at prize firing that the Navy had never thought possible. Many people believed that it had been faked, and it was not till it had , been repeated before independent witnesses that the fact gained general credence. But it was not till the captain of the Scylla ehowed that in-another ship, the Terrible, and with a different company, ho could better the previous performance, and several other vessels on the China station had copied the Terrible's methods with satisfactory results, that it was generally admitted that good shooting and straight shooting only meant careful .and systematic training.. Captain Percy Scott was made .commander' of the gunnery school at Whale . Island, and with the support of Sir John Fisher, then First Sea Lord, he introduced a new system of training, the principle underlying which was that the men should be trained by Tepeatedly doing the thing and not by reading out of a" book how it was to be, done. When he was promoted to flag rank, at the commencement of 1905, Rear-Admiral Scott 'was appointed to the newly-instituted post of inspector of naval target practice. For the first time the system was given a chance, and the results of all the gun practices were phenomenal. Admiral Scott provoked a keen controversy not long ago by giving public expression to his opinion that if submergiblos were to close ogress from the North Sea and tho Mediterranean it would bo difficult to see how our commerce could be much interfered with by rival navies. Thirty or forty submarines in the Straits of Gibraltar, he argued, would make the passage of a fleet hazardous, and any Power sending ships to hunt and destroy sub- j marines would be courting disaster. Britain, with its many harbours and much shipping, would be at a great disadvantage if an enemy had plenty of submarines. ' Sir Percy declared that as motor-cars had driven horses from the streets, so submarines had doomed Dreadnoughts. With seaplanes for scouting, a- battleship fleet would no longer be able to. put to sea or oven remain in safety in harbour, as tho submarines would be able to break the booms. The Admiralty, he urged, should spend money on submarines and seaplanes and a few firstclass cruisers. The future navy would be the nary of his youth, the only requirements being boldness and daring.