332 
BATTLE OF SANTIAGO. 
belted cruisers might be—even our Diadem —that too was only belted and naked 
from the waist upwards. The American Admiral went on board afterwards and 
he picked up a paltry 1-pr. shell from this flag-ship, the Infanta Maria Teresa 
and even that paltry shell had penetrated her, and she too was lost by fire. It 
may be answered that the wooden parts of the vessels were the cause of their 
destruction by fire. But I would ask what the future will be with the quick- 
firing guns improved as they will be and made still more formable by bursting 
charges of melinite. I think it is madness for any country to send battle-ships 
out only with their vitals protected—only armoured from the belt downwards, 
only with a turtle deck and above that nothing. How different was the Cristobal 
Colon ! As we have been told she was armoured cap-a-pied—hom head to foot. 
Lieutenant Myers of the United States navy says in his report, a 5-in. shell 
would not enter her because of her armour. There was no fire there. If her 
officers wished to launch a torpedo they could have done so. She was covered 
with 6-inches of Harveyed steel, and yet the weight of armour she carried was 
no greater than the Vizcaya or the Maria Teresa , only the skilful designer had 
placed it where it was wanted ; and what was the result ? The few shots that 
told upon the Brooklyn , all came from her. I now go on to speak of England’s 
enormous food carrying trade. One ton of meat per minute for instance being 
landed in this country. To protect this trade she has a fleet of 100 cruisers 
but it is no small matter to know that these are of the same type as the Spanish 
vessels which were destroyed, viz.: belted—their vitals protected, but, ‘naked 
from the waist up.’ A Naval officer told me they would never be able to come 
to terms with fast foreign cruisers who would give them the go-by and keep out 
of range of their guns. The Diadem herself under fire of 5-in. guns and picric 
shells would not live ten minutes. The solution of the problem is in my opinion 
to build large cruisers fully plated, such as the Drake class, combining the 
strength of Vulcan with the fleetness of Mercury; but there are only four of 
these provided for in our naval programme. There is great activity in foreign 
dockyards ; other nations will see our weak point and will build large armour- 
plated cruisers which could not be touched by English battle-ships because they 
would not have the speed, nor by English cruisers because they they would not 
have the strength. 
Commander Mark Kerr, Koyal Navy :—Colonel Jocelyn and gentlemen, this 
is the first time I have ventured to speak in public, and it seems to me that I 
have had a sharp blow below the belt from Major Aston whose remarks about a 
Flag-Lieutenant were directed at me, for I have been four times in that position. 
There was one point out of many in the lecture in which I agreed with the 
lecturer thoroughly, and one point out of very few with which I disagree. The 
point in which I agree with him is, that even without her primary armament I 
would sooner be in the Cristobal Colon than the Brooklyn in a fight. I had the 
good fortune to meet many of the American officers who had been in the fight at 
Santiago de Cuba at New York shortly after their return, and I was most hospitab¬ 
ly entertained by them on several occasions and took the oportunity of picking 
their brains as to their impressions of the fight and its lessons, and the information 
I gathered convinced me of what I had always thought before, of the vital im¬ 
portance of side armour to cruisers, just thick enough to take off the shot. The 
projectiles they told me, hardly ever hit point on, I think there there was only 
one that did—the greater number glanced off. The point I venture to disagree 
with the lecturer upon is this,—he said there were no divers on board the Spanish 
ships. I have had a good deal of experience of Spanish ships, and I have no 
doubt there were divers, but I am equally certain there was no diving apparatus, 
for that had no doubt been sold long ago. (Laughter). Then to go to the point 
