TURKEY'S NAVY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 309, 8 February 1910, Page 5

TURKEY'S NAVY.

BRINGING IT UP-TO-DATE. ADMIRAL GAMBLE'S SCHEME ADOPTED. By Cable.—Press Association—Copyright Received February /, 10.30 p.m. Constantinople. February V The Turkish Cabinet has adopted Admiral Gamble's scheme to s<iend 500,000 I Turkish pounds annually for eight years on the construction of" two battleships, 'three cruisers and ten destroyers. Most of them will be built in .i;-.;a'in. The Sultan subseriU-.i 100.000 towards the national naval :uud. In regard to the Turkish navy, recent ly rescued from the scrap heap_ an interesting account by the Turkish correspondent of an English paper appeared in The Dominion of February 2. Tiie correspondent pay* an enthusiastic , tribute to the work of reorganisation accomplished already by Rear-Admiral Sir D. A. Gamble, who has just resigned on the ground of ill-health. Describing the arrival of the fleet at Salonika, the correspondent writes:— I That the vessels had been rendered seaworthy was obvious, but I expected to see a somewhat straggling procession make a laborious entry into the gulf jand take up anchorage in more or less ■ragged lines. To my astonishment the Arrival was effected by means of a series of evolutions as brilliantly executed as' 'they were prettily conceived. Steaming up in two parallel lines, the battleships 'and gunboats on the right, the destroyers and torpedo boats on the left, the 'whole fleet veered round in a semi-circle to the left then formed up in single line, swung round at right angles, the larger ships taking up their positions' in two lines, while the torpedo-boats shot past the breakwater and anchored close in'shore. The whole movement was so quickly, perfectly, and suddenly executed that J rubbed my eyes and wondered whether this really could be the Turkish navy!" Among the effectives' of the Turkish navv are the battleships Messendieli, 'IO,OOO tons, carrying two 0.2-inch and 'twelve G-ineh guns; the Assar-i-Tewiik, 5000 tons; and three smaller battleships, 'armed with 0-inch and 4.7-inch guns; also three cruisers similarly armed, tonnage 3000 to 4000.