THE AMERICAN ARMADA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 37, 3 February 1908, Page 3

THE AMERICAN ARMADA.

FOKOIXU SOI'TH . Received 2nd, 4.10 jmii. Buenos Aires, February 1. Admiral Evans' fleet has parsed Cape \ irgencs, at the extreme south-east of llic Argentine Kepublic.

| Sixt. en first-class battleships and six , de-u.,y,r-. forming the main ,trench I Hi the I lilted State, Atlantic licet, have i *»et out cover tile distance of 15,7UU I I" 1 , l ,ans Hampton Roads from ,he Caliiornm, coast. X CV er before! ' u, 'son in the "Daily! , Mail ) ha- so enormous a tone attempt". ! j ed -'"''l a ' l "Ration. Admiral lioide-- ! I ictakj - ill-fated fleet was in every p,„. I ; »u>le respect interior to Admiral Evan- - command. the number of ships in the Ku-sian Baltic Ueet was sWlitlv I larger. The battleship which are goini - l / acllle arc uew }, 'Hl ]iou<>ri'ii J-li'l'-i- be oldest -liij, j„ i|,, (1 ,,t was launched in IS!»8, and is therefore less than ten years old.

I -VI! the battleship* are fitted with the Litest appliance-. an,J ] laV( , r ,.,. v | v ,,,| control installations for the accurate di'«,U"n of th t . artillery, these liaviii" wn l ,!a, «< «» board the older vessel" during the jia-t three months. All iU v equipped with the latent pattern of wireless telegraphy and telephone, so tintl Admiral l-.v.m-. situ',,- i„ his eabin. can engage in conversation with his junior admiral- and captain-. The artillerv mounted k- of exi-eptiomillv powerful type, the big guns of the Minnesota clashing as iiKKlern as those of the British Dreadnought, anil more modern than the heavy guns of the British King Edward*. line total nunilier of heavy gun* carried is -i\teen lain., fortv-ei'dit 12in eighty Sin., sixty Tin.. 124 liin. These' heavy guns represent a liitting power incomparably greater than that wliien «a» at Admiral Kojdcslven.-kv's disiiot•ii.

' ll ''' * llJ 'l above thc-c' vessels, there aic tlie large armoured cruisers Tennirsee and Washington, each of 14,500 tons, which started in advance of 'til • main licet for the Pacific on October

I litli. anil which leit Punta Arenas, in I the straits ot Magellan, on November 28th. J'.otli are new and powerful units, carrying four lliin. and sixteen (iin. guns , apiece. There are also the armoured cruisers West Virginia, Colorado, .Maryland, Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Milwaukee Charleston, and California, all at present on the Pacific toast, and the battleships .Nebraska and \\ iseomsin, which are also , on that coast and under orders to join j Admiral Evans's Hag. llius, the whole fleet nulilies eighteen I modem battleships and ti? modem arj moured cruiser.,, by far the most powerI fu! force under one command in any j navy in the world. The British Channel tleet is weak by comparison with it, the (ierman High Sea Fleet is left far behind. The route pursued by the Atlantic tleet is as lollows:—From Hampton j Roads, on the Virginia coast, it will, under evicting arrangements, proceed to the British island ot Trinidad, in the West Indies, where it will coal for the first time. The Brazilian port of Kio de Janeiro will be the next point made on the sth or tith January, and there the fleet will coal for the second time, when it will proceed to Punta Arenas, an Argentine port in the Straits of Magellan, leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific, where the third coaling w'ill be carried out. It will steam up the Chilian and Peruvian coast to Callao, in Peru, where the fourth coaling will take place. On March sth it will arrive at Alagdaiena Bay, a splendid harbour on the Mexican coast, where it will meet the other battleships and cruisers now on the Pacific coast, and where it will spend a month in target practice and war evolutions, coaling twice. Finally, it will reach San Francisco on 10th April, luuo, alter covering the 15,700 miles of ocean. According to some reports it will next proceed across the Pacific to the Philippines; but all luture ptans are vety uoubtful. What is not probable is that ( any part of it will return at an early date to the Atlantic. The announcement lias been made that , the voyage wm Lie accomplished under , war conditions. The ships, that is to saj, will be prepared lv» no.,tilil.es, ami w ill take every nulita... pi Ism ! lire la.t remain* tlut >u war it would i not be poss:ble to use neutral ports, and u is upon neutral ports that Admiral I t-.ljl,- ...1. ... j..-ud I.J ,10 ill., coa.Mi-. All I Hie points at which lie intends to coat in neutral bands, and all would Inclosed in the event oi war, it oun unougii possible tears o: possible denial! i« lor damages by a be.iigercm. Another tact na.s to tie noted. Tlic twenty-one colliers wiiicn will supply the licit are r.riusli, and under real war condition* neutral assistance to a belligerent neet would nut be perriiitte.i. lUc lapauoe in I'JW gave notice tti.it iuc> would smh any neutral co.111 Is accompanying the Baltic licet, ami iliey were perieciiy wittiin their rignts in »o doing. Their action caused luucil Uepedatiou among the neutral vessels accompanying the Russian licet, wlncii ■lll promptly praytd to ue excused the tianyer. Elaborate arrangement have been made to provide lor this colossal licet. Hi coal alone it will consume upwards of ton?, which lias been lor the most part ordered in the Lnited States. Vast quantities ol provioioiis wilt be snipped. The orders given out are for 5,0u0,0001bs oi tarious comestibles, oi upwards of :io,boo tons, including jijuj tons ol iresli bcel, 5000 tons oi vegetables, such as potatoes, onions, and tomatoes; 5000 tons Hour; 500,1)0011* of tinned fruits; ldo/WOlbs ol condensed milk; 400,0001bs of peas; 400,0001bs of tinned vegetables; and ham, collee, tea, pepper and salt to match. The catering will thus be on a gigantic scale. The nautical dillteulties of the voyage will not be very serious, though the American battleships ol the kearsage type are not good sea lioats. But they crossed the Atlantic without mieadveuture, and they stiould thus be capable of facing the storms of the I'acilic. The ileet will twice have to pass through the tropics—on its way south, and on way north from -Magellan Straits,, and the iuten-e lie.lt may try tlie -mokeless powder, which i- very ajit t.. )>• elected i ity ingli temperatures, j Numerous change* liave been made in j flii- command ..I Hi.- -;.T i >s in order to .il.t.iin y./iingti .11-ia■ n•, as the chief ' del. -t of the ]ier-omiel ~f iSir- American I Naiy i- the advam-d age ..i its senior ! officers. Many oi tin- uMcr captain- have • been removed and replaced. | 1 lie world will watch with intense interest this great experiment of a 1.1.f1n0 ! miles cruise, essayed by what is practi- | caliy an entire Navy, with a displacej u.ent of upwards of 250,000 toils— UK),000 tons more than the fighting chips which I Admiral Kojdestvensky led under his , • Ha« to the supreme disaster »t T-u ■ | shima. Many will ask what is its real | meaning, and will pause for a reply.