BATTLES OF THE FUTURE

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43103, 11 June 1907, Page 4

BATTLES OF THE FUTURE

Tn a speech at the festival dinner of the StL George Society, London, Admiral 'Sir Robert Harris remarked: “Before I,sit down I should) like,to say that the' 'battles of the future will not be fought a® they were in ,the past. Judging by the pictured at Greenwich, if the artists ; were correct, the ships Were within ten yards of one another. The battles of the future ,will be fought (at ranges of sixty thousand and seventy thousand yards, at which distance the enemy’s vessels will appear about the size of your thumb. Now, it has often occurred) to me, which requires the best men—the fighting ,of Nelson’s days, or that of to-day, when you have to ',fight your battle at'' sixty or seventy thousand yards? The answer needs some careful thinking. I may also tell you that ai broadside from Nelson’s ships is about equal to the maximum of one shot from our modern battleship. If by any accident in battles fought at such long ranges our fleet is victorious, Ii ask you not to press the Admiral too closely to those Articles of War the first of which is that he shall design and do his best to close with and sink and destroy his enemy. Ini a battle fought at sixty thousand yards it is not always, possible to do this, because the Admiral may have a little difficulty to get alongside.