THE WORLD'S NAVIES 



45 



We turn next to battle cruisers, a new class of ship of great significance in the naval 

 progress of the world. Of these there are three types in existence, although two of the 

 three do not bear the name. The first type is represented by the Italian " San Giorgio " 

 class, the Russian " Rurik," and the Greek " Giorgios Averoff." They range from 

 10,000 tons to 15,000, and are armed with weapons of about lo-inch calibre. The sec- 

 ond type are the Japanese " Tsukuba " and " Kurama " classes, ranging from 1 2,000 to 

 14,000 tons, and carrying as their primary armament 12 inch weapons. The third type 

 are the vessels, only built by Great Britain, Germany and Japan, which are fast "Dread- 

 noughts." Table II gives particulars of this latter class. 



Table II. Battle Cruisers. 

 GREAT BRITAIN (British Empire) : 



1905 Invincible ..... / 8-12 inch 



1908 Indefatigable . : '. ' / . \ 16- 4 inch 



1911 



GERMANY: 

 1908 



1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 



JAPAN: 

 1911 



Lion 

 Queen Mary 



Tiger . -. : 

 Von der Tann 



Moltke . 

 Goeben 

 Seydlitz 

 "K" . 



Kongo . 



8-13.5 inch 

 16-4 inch 



8-1 1 inch 

 10-5 inch 



lo-n inch 

 12- 6 inch 

 10-12 inch 

 12- 6 inch 



8-14 inch 

 1 6- 6 inch 



17,250 tons 

 18,700 tons 



26,350 tons 

 27,000 tons 



30,000 tons 

 19,100 tons 



22,640 tons 

 22,640 tons 

 24,000 tons 

 28,000 tons 



27,500 tons 



The " Australia " (a sister ship of the " Indefatigable ") and the " New Zealand " 

 are contributions of the British Dominions to the world's naval progress. 



The worth of the battle cruiser is shown by the fact that the British Admiralty have 

 determined to compose the Mediterranean Fleet entirely of this class of ship. It will 

 probably also in the future constitute the whole of the British fleets on distant service. 



Increase of " vision," in the case of ships, does not primarily belong to the ships them- 

 selves, but is owing to the immense advance made in aviation. The hydroplane is now 

 a recognised arm of the naval service, and it cannot fail to have far-reaching results in 

 the early obtaining of information about an enemy's fleet. It is too early to say that the 

 aeroplane has been properly co-ordinated with the naval service. But the establish- 

 ment of a naval section of the Royal Flying Corps in connection with the British Navy 

 gives promise of an efficient service. While Great Britain, France and the United States 

 have adopted the aeroplane, Germany seems rather to rely on the dirigible. 



" Hearing " is, of course, wireless telegraphy. A British warship off the coast of 

 Spain communicated in 1912 direct with Bombay. A British Imperial chain of sta- 

 tions is being established which will need only one relay from England to Australia. 

 During the Balkan crisis in the autumn of 1912, the " Weymouth," a British cruiser, 

 was in continuous communication from Constantinople with Whitehall. 



" Reach " may be either strategical or tactical. The former is expressed in the term 

 " enduring mobility," and is bound up in the question of oil fuel, which is estimated not 

 only to give three knots extra speed, but also to increase the fuel endurance of ships by 

 25 per cent. Added to which, they can take in fuel wherever they happen to, be without 

 returning to port for it. The latest battleships of the British Navy are designed to carry 

 oil fuel only. A Royal Commission, with Lord Fisher as Chairman, has sat to consider 

 the question of the supply of oil fuel to the Navy, and the feasibility of adopting the 

 internal combustion type of engine as the propulsive power. The Commission were 

 confronted in 1912 with the difficulty that internal combustion engines were all of the 

 reciprocating type. They were looking for one on the turbine principle. The only 

 internal combustion engine based on the turbine principle was the Gnome, generally used 



