The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1914. GREAT BATTLESHIPS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 34, 26 September 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1914. GREAT BATTLESHIPS.

It car hardly be regarded any longer asS'secref history that'at the time of the naval crisis of 1909, Mr Reginald M’lvcumi and all his colleagues on the Board of Admiralty resigned in order to secure tire construction o. eight largo armoured shins—Dreadnoughts (writes a corresp ndont of the London Daily Telegraph). A majority of the Cabinet were unwilling to embark on so large a programme, but Mr M’Kenim. on behalf of the Admiralty, stood firm, and, according to report, was supported by the Prime Minister and Sir Edward Grey. The First Lord by his firmness—and thanks in no small measure to the determination of his colleagues on the Board—won, tJiough it is .no exaggeration to say that practically the whole Liberal party regarded the result of the contest of si l ength with disfavour. Eventually Mr Asquith took the field in the House of Commons; ho was supported by Mr Balfour; and the cause was gained, The Admiralty, however, refused to lay down all the eight new ships at once and gave no explanation of then apparently dilatory action. r Jwo ot the eight siiips aero only begun in July, an ! the commencement of the others was postponed. The Board was condemned by a large section of the public at the moment; it was held that it ought to have lost no time in placing the keels in position. The nation was not, as a matter of fact, in a position to express any opinion on this matter, because it was in ignorance of the trncj ir.waidness of Admiralty policy, and

l'ijf the authorities.to have enlightened it would have conveyed to the world ' a secret which it was desirable «n < patriotic grounds not to reveal. It is 1 now known that the Admiralty was on b the eve of obtaining a new and most 1 powerful battle gun to replace the )( familiar 12in. weapon with its 8501 b •; projectile. The completion of the design and the preliminary trials were pressed on. but the guns could not bo ( ready for the six ships if the keels i were placed in position at once, and | ships without guns are useless. r J he Hoard resisted the pressure which was hi ought to hoar upon it, and only two of the octette of Dreadnoughts were ■ he.gnu iu the summer. Two others v, ore commenced at Portsmouth and Devonport dockyards in the November following, and contracts for the other ) rVur were placed in the spring of 1910. The result of all this is that those ships, which constitute the spearhead" of the Homo fleets, mount in place of thi‘ 12in. gun the new 10. bin weapon. l')m two battleships which, to secure 0 „r safety, had to he put in hand in the summer of 1909, had to receive the 12;; 1 gun, but by delaying flic order for the other six we obtained a gmnp of battleships which are still unique in thei ■ power among the ships of all the fleets of Europe. In no ship in commission under any other flag is as powei "nl a gun to bo found. . The result h one on which we ran. as a nation, indulge in a feeling of satisfaction. Tt is further now assorted that the new gun; with its deadly projectile of 125011), was mounted also in the live ships of the 1910-11 programme, and in the group—also live—for which the Admiralty, under Mr M’Konna. a sued in the succeeding year. But only

two of the latter have been finished and placed in commission. Delays have occurred—unavoidable delays—but nevertheless we have to-day the pride of possessing at the head of the Home fieer thirteen ships which by reason oi their armament, a'e unique: Programme. —1909: Orion, Conqueror,) Monarch, Thunderer, Id on, Princess, Poyal; 1910; King George V., Cen-| tendon, Ajax, Audacious, Queen Mary; 1911 : Iron Duke, Marlborough. These thirteen battleships and battle cruisers —without their equals under any flag! —are to-day, in the opinion of naval authorities, the main source of security of the Empire, and the Board of Admiralty, which, by its courage and determination, placed Britain in the present position of advantage, deserves to be remembered in gratitude. It may be added that the most powerful gnu in the German navy—and that is carried in only nine ships—is the 12in. gnu: all the other German battleships mount an Hin. gun with a projectile of 7601 b. The 13.5 in. British gun, as stated above, fires a projectile of 12601 b. That these marvellous ships will play a great part is certain—if tne Germans evil] but venture out to meet them.