FLEET WEEK IN LONDON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 182, 6 September 1909, Page 4

FLEET WEEK IN LONDON.

FORTY IIILES OF BATTLESHIPS. AN IMPOSING SPECTACLE. | London, July 23. I The imposing spectacle of 150 of the liwst warsiliips of ithe world sbretchhg in line from the iXorc to Westminster lias sent London- delirious, -with excitement in the week. The Port of London extends to tile Nore, so there is no exaggeration- in saying the capital of the Empire beheld a sight the. universe could not equal. Grim, mighty, a-nd ever stately, t-liey slipped imto position on Saturday morning, trooping" through a tliiclc Ihazc up the enokc-liike waterway, and anchoring silently, eaeh at its appointed station. When the. wheels of London life wore in full .-whirr there was a wondrous armaoa on the waters of its broad river—a panorama of nmjesfcic organised 'war force, stretching in a long, if broken, lino from tlie Houses of Parliament to a. point beyond the little X'ore lightship wlhere the river hurls it-self into tlie sea.

The head o'f this mighty fleet of Home defence lay seaward—the big ships coming in as near as safety permitted—and Hhe tail nail out to two gray submarines at which our legislators eou'ld gaze from the terrace of Westminster Palac. Eaeli anil every one of the vessels was in fighting trim, reudy for instant tattle. Tliey -represented the Home Fleet —once styled tlie Channel Fleet, commanded by Admiral Prince Louis of Bat- , teuberg. The combined fleet comprised: Battleships .. ..24 Armored cruisers .. ..10 Protected criiiiseirs- & scouts 14 Torpedo craft (destroyers and torpedo boats .. 55 Submarines .. .. 35 Auxiliaries 0 Total 150 This is a.naval assembly complete in nil its units, as—in the other field o>f war—any airmy corps- which- the camps of Europe haw ever provided, and yet responsive to the slightest order of one lirain—a. single commander-in-chief, Admiral William 11. May. In tlie Ihistory of maval powor there has never liefore been such a lighting force fitted for sen.

ARRIVAL IX THE THAMES. Kotlling could have been more tensely dramatic than the conditions under which the fleet took up its station on Saturday. Hardy a breath of 'wind stirred the grey 'bunting which met the eye at evo-ry point ait Southend. At noon <'..■ sea itself lay calm amd rcposo'tuil, aim away o.n. ithe horizon hung a pall of pearly ■white mist. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, a gentic breeze had Ibecn; kissing the eifent sea into nipples, and as the great fleet advanced "m one long line, longer than 'the eye could pearce, the sun bro';c through and teansforaned the ncarir ship into dark silhouette on a sea smiling in the sunliglht. The Drcalnough't, Admiral May's fiagsliip, led the line. From her foremast floated the rod St. George's Cross or» a. ■white ground. Suddenly this most famous o.f all the world's modem battleships turned a few points to stanboard, and in succession each ■vessel did likewise.

As the fleet drew in, it was seen that it was organised in the- order in which it would cast anchor—one long line of tone finest and anost powerful ships to be found in the navy, a line of about six mile* long. Kach ship occupied its exact situation with mechanical accuracy, two caiklcs in each ease case from stern to how.

Xo spectacle eveir seen ashore could equal this great martialled force as it borne down on Southend Pier. The the noisy chains ended the silence did something aki n to awe, and mot until Hie noisy drains ended the silece <iid welcoming cheers break forth. From the coastguaird signal station on the pierhead signals were flung out in manycolored flags. Doinn on the fleet from the Nore then bore the Undine, the graceful yacht of ithe Commander-ia-Chief at the Nore. Admiral Sir Cha;!cs Drury, with a large party on board, and from all directions pleasure steamers and yachts, which had been in the offing while the ships were under weigh, drew an to ibegin an. inspection. In the brilliant sunshine the scene was as gay as could he imagined—a scene for eyes lired of the dull skies and rain of this remarkable summer.

Shortly afterwards the Atlantic flee*, under Vice-Admiral Prince Uouis of Battenherg, reached the anchorage of Shoeburyness. Led by his Serene Highness' flngslhip, the Prince of Wales, it took up its line on the leeward side of the second division of the Home Elect, the Prince Wales lying abreast of the King Edward Vfl., with, trailing away behind, the battleships Queen, the Implacable, the Al'bion, the Formidable, the Corrrwallis, and the HiisscH, the armored cruisers Good Hope (flagship'of Rear-Admiral Frederick T. Hamilton), the Duke of Edinburglh, the Leviathan (flagship *>E Rear-Admiral A. M. Farquhar), and the Donegal. The Black Prince was delayed by the loss of on anchor off Deal, and did not take up her position between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Leviathan until many hours later.

Half-an-hour after the coming of the Home fleet a gunboat crept in from tlic sea. towards Southend, Mowed by a line of submarine.*, travelling in sn awash condition, with- only their gray coning towers and the uppermost part of tlieir turtle lacks Visible. Traveling at about eight knots speed, they reached thcii billets, and then lav a; rest, stretching i n a dmiblo line from the East River middle buoy to the. seaward side of the battleship JiTie, head-id 'B>y the Dreadnougfht, and 'well in view of the crowds on the -pier. A few minutes later (mother procession came -within rawge of vision. In dignified haste, and in double line ahead, steamed a flotilla of the ocean-going and "river" destroyers, their coal-Mack I noses thrusting .the -water on either ftide <sn they pressed forward. Then camo other destroyers to take their appointed stations, with depot slhips, repair ships, and other auxiliary Vessels, which go to the,composition of a great fighting fleet.

TORPEDO CRAFT MANOEUVRES. " On Tuesday the Lord Mayor of London visited the fleet, and from the deck of one. of England's seven Dreadnoughts watched in mimic attack upon her by a flotilla of destroyers.

Before these grim, soot-black vessels came on the scene, picket-boats, with flaming red flags of danger, had been dodging about, maiming excursion stciroi-' ers to keep at a safe distance from the line of advance, and, withi admirable smartness, the Wueiackets had swung out the torpedo net defence until it formed -a crinoline Mlmig <me side of 'lie Dreadnought. The attack would iinve 'been attended' .with some danger had not the skippers of the crowded pleasure craft obeyed with admirable alacrity the instructions to keep at a sate distance. As it was. as a precautionary measure, the destroyers advanced at a, comparatively slow' speed. The Rix ships steamed in a straight Ihe past tllie 'battleship, and when nbeam the Dreadnought launched three tor-, peitoes. one-after the other. Two of] these iwere caught i n the net defence, but the other—probably owing to t'.'.e I fact, that the torpedoes were running at very low pressure, in eonspnucnc<T o p the mhnrliiess of range—missed the ship 'and ;went on an independent and unauthorised course, .spluttering her ealeium light to the am'uscinent and astonishment of the spectators. Then down the seaway crept linlf a dozen su'hinarines in various trims—some well out of the water, and some awash, while one exhibited the ease will, which these porpoise-like craft can go "beneath the water and rise again to the surface. The spectacle, in its realism, made a most powerful appeal to the imagination of the spectators.