"BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 193, 18 September 1909, Page 4

"BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES."

INTERESTING 'FACPS - ABOUT 'JTiK BRITISH FLEET. Ye marinersof England, That guard our native seas; Whose flag has braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze.

Including marines, coastguard, and naval reserve, the grand total of uen available for naval service is close up m 185,400.

The annual cost of the present navy is £32,319,500, while ships to the value of close upon £8,000,000 sterling are at present under construction.

In the building and completing of a Dreadnought daily work is afforded for between 1000 and" 1500 skilled men. The total cost pf such a ship is £1,950,000. Battleships of the Dreadnought typo carry ten 12in quick-firing guns, with an effective range of over twelve miles. Each gun costs £IO,OOO, and each shot £BO. From first to last the manufacture of a Dreadnought 12in gun furnishes employment for 500 men.

Including all types of vessels, from submarines to battleships, Great Britain possesses 490 fighting craft. Her battleships number 61, as against Germany's 3G. France, it plight be mentioned, possesses more torpedo-boats than Great Britain, Russia, and Germanv put together. She has 283, Great Britain 104, Russia 85, and Germany 83.

In the matter of heavy guns Gre;it Britain possesses a huge advantage over Germany. In battleships and armored cruisers there is a total of 120 against Germany's 08, although in what are known as secondary guns Germany possesses 322 to our 188.

Changes in armament are being made almost every day, and it is said tluit the guns of the new Neptune class are to be of larger calibre than any yet supplied to any other European Power. The Germans have so far been content with an llin gun, while 9.4 guns are meeting with much favor in France.

As First Lord of the Admiralty, the Right Hon. Reginald McKcnna is immediately responsible for the general eOiciency of the liavy, his appointment being worth £4500 per annum. It is Sir John Fisher, however, who, as First Sea Lord, is really Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. He is paid £ISOO a year, in addition to being provided with a house. This is in addition to naval half-pay, which brings Sir John Fisher's income up to £2190 a year.

Here arc some of the salaries received in the navy: Admiral, £-1825; vice-ad-miral, £1460; rear-admiral, £1095; captains, from £4ll to £002; lieutenants, £9l to £310; midshipmen, naval cadets, £18; able, ordinary, and leading seamen, £23 to £32. Engineeis are well paid—from £155 for an artificer \o £.HTDS for an engineer rearadmir&i

Each of the torpedo-boats moored along the Embankment carries twentylive ton? of oil fuel, and is capable of travelling 20Jtnots per hour. The crew of each numbers thirty-five officers and men.

A Dreadnought weighs between IS,OOO and 20,000 ton 6, and is capable of travelling 21 knots an hour.

As a protection against heavy gnus, battleships of the Dreadnought type to armored with a belt of Krupp steel llin thick. The main' turrets have walls made of the same material 12in thick.

A 12in gun throws a projectile weighing 8501b: a loin, 5001b; a 9.2 in. 3801',); a 7.5 in. 2001b; and a Gin, 1001b.

A coach and four might easily be driven through one of the funnels of a modern battleship. The cost of electrical fittings on til.' Dreadnought, including thirteen searchlights, amounts to £50,000. When a modem battleship is gomg full steam ahead the coal consinnptT.j.i works out about eighteen tons per hum', the cost amounting to £l4. The latest tvpe of battleship is fitted with something like 100 miles of telephone wire connecting the fighting stations and navigating and living quart "is, while lifts are used to hoist ammunition, from the magazines to the gun crows on tho upper decks.

A Dreadnought is so designed that steaming at full speed she can stop in 1025 yds, and can turn in a radius of SGSyus at full speed.

The crew of a modern'battleship numbers eight hundred.

Although an Admiral may select any vessel under his command to serve 'as his flagship, he never interferes in the navigation and discipline. Captain and officers are appointed irrespective of the Admiral 'being on board. . * * Good-conduct pay in the navy works out at the rate of sevenpence per week for every badge conferred, up to three badges. Between £4O and £SO peri annum is the pension paid to men who reach the rank of chief petty olliner. A torpedo, which may sink a two-million-pound battleship, costs about £SOO. The biggest torpedoes are iSin in diameter and nearly 20ft long. They contain a bursting charge of nearly 2001b of gun-cotton. .' Tho .great gunnery school for the British Navv is situated on Whale Island, in the upnev reaches of Porc3'inouth harbor. Here sea artillery is taught in the most exhaustive and comprehensive manner.