Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/137

 It is considered that this will enable them to cover 5000 nautical miles at a speed of 10 knots an hour. One matter must be taken into account, and that is the drain on the coal for work unconnected with propelling the ship. Numerous small engines are continually going for driving electric light apparatus, ventilating fans, pumping machinery, and other services, so that practically one boiler is always in use. Coal used in cooking and distilling water swells the total expended in this way, so that even when lying at anchor the stock diminishes at no inconsiderable rate. In time of war, when high speed will have to be maintained, the question of fuel must be a constant anxiety, and I should prefer an addition in this respect at a sacrifice of a few hundred tons of armour in vessels of such dimensions. Nevertheless these eight new first-class battle ships are noble designs, worked out with the ability which has characterised all that has emanated from the brain of Mr White, the present Chief Constructor of the Navy. They will form, as he has said, a squadron of identical character and qualities, capable of proceeding and manœuvring together. As a single group they constitute a naval force which the entire fleets of few other States can equal.

With this unstinted commendation I must at the same time express my preference for a greater number of vessels of smaller size. This is a difficult question, but it has been somewhat obscured by the extreme views of those who advocate vessels of 2000 or 3000 tons for battle ships as a limit. It has been even