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Rh —a difficult matter, having regard to their different sizes and powers, and to the rule that the speed of the slowest must determine the pace. Not being a sailor, I shall not attempt to decide whether the three fleets will merge into one, protected by all Germany's cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo-boats, or whether each fleet will sail independently, escorted by its own quota of warships of every kind.

But most naval officers will, I think, agree with General Bronsart von Schellendorff that a troopship to-day '* is quite defenceless when opposed to a modern man-of-war, which can sink it without difficulty. Troopships must therefore keep outside the range of an enemy's guns or torpedoes. For this reason it is very inadvisable that a fleet of