February to, 1916. 
LAND ANDWATER' 
we are asked to believe is that tlie ships Germany has in 
preparation are more formidable than anything afloat, 
and that she is changing the character of the ships she 
already possesses. 
The 17 in. Gun Scare — and its Purpose. 
It is now nearly eight weeks since an effort was first 
made to work up a kind of scare by spreading the story 
that the Germans had built a 17-inch gun, and were 
arming all their new ships and re-arming their old ones 
with this formidable weapon. For some time the censor- 
ship succeeded in keeping this story out of the. papers, 
but somewhat more than a fortnight ago — all other 
efforts having failed — Mr. James Douglas of all people, 
got the story into — the Daily Slews I Unfortunately 
Mr. Douglas gave his reasons, instead of his authority, 
for his statements. And the reasons resolved them- 
selves into this, that a 17-inch shell had been fired 
into the town of Dimkerque from a naval gun. The 
facts which are fairly well known arc, that some time 
last spring a few rounds of heavy shell were fired into 
Dunkerque, but they were 15-inch, and not 17-inch, and 
an airship reconnaissance showed that they were fired 
from a giant howitzer and not from a naval gun ! Mr. 
Douglas illogically deduces from his wrong information 
that as it was a naval gun, it must have been built by 
Krupps, that the Ersatz Hcrtha — now christened the 
Hiudcnbur^ — must be armed with it, that probably a 
homogeneous squadron of such ships are already afloat 
and in commission, that the whole German Fleet fs being 
re-armed with this weapon, and that any way monitors, 
or some surli craft, carrying it will be sent on some 
(undefined) mission for our destruction. 
The talc was from the beginning a flight of imagina- 
tion and would not be worth commenting on but for the 
discxission to which it has given rise. ' It may be said 
to have culminated in the Daily Telegraph and The 
Observer calling for Lord Fisher's return. The argument 
for Lord Fisher's return has durin.g the last few months 
been based on the following curious series of statements. 
1. He is our greatest sailor and naval strategist since 
Nelson. 
2. If he is a very old man — a disadvantage in war 
— well, so was Lord Barham. 
3. He is the creator of the Dreadnought fleet — 
and therefore the only person capable of using it ! 
4. He discovered the means of destroying German 
submarinesin home waters. 
5. No sooner had he left the Admiralty than sub- 
marines began to appear in the Mediterranean — a tiling 
he would not liave allowed. 
6. Gennany has adopted a gun bigger even than 
Lord Fisher adopted, and therefore Lord Fisher must 
return to produce a bigger one ! 
7. Germany is preparing a series of naval surprises 
for us. Lord Fisher is the only person who can discount 
these surprises and invent counter surprises of a still 
more astonishing — and no doubt — practical nature. 
8. Lord Fisher was the author of the Falkland 
Islands success. 
q. Although as first sea Lord he could have preven- 
ted the Dardanelles fiasco, his failure may be excused 
because naval opinion was divided on the possibilities 
of effective bombardment. Hence the fact that he signed 
svery order necessary for the Garden and dc Robeck 
attacks, leaves him in no sense responsible for the policy 
that dictated them ! 
All the above statements are quoted almost textually 
from the columns of various papers of influence — many 
of them from the signed articles of professed naval 
correspondents. They are all cither untrue, or non- 
sequiturs. It is somewhat of a task to attempt a 
reply to statements of this kind. How are we to com- 
pare any seaman with Nelson until some sailor has 
handled fleets in war and in action with some results 
comparable to Nelson's ? There hangs in front of me 
as I write an old picture of Nelson surrounded by the 
effigies of 26 sail of the line at whose capture he had 
assisted between 1793 and 1801, that is before he had 
accounted for Villcneuve's fleet at Trafalgar. What 
common ground is there between the career of a man 
who' had seen thi« amnnni- nf fighting before he was 43, 
and the record of a sailor statesman whose sole experience 
of war was the bombardment of Alexandria ? It is 
impossible to go through these arguments in detail. The 
truth is that Lord Fisher's friends are more enthusiastic 
thanchscriminating. Note that it is purely a Press cam- 
paign. In the navy, where admiration for Lord Fisher is 
genuine, but instructed, a very different, but perhaps saner 
view is taken of that remarkable man's career and capacity. 
To the majority of officers, the objection to Lord Fisher's 
returning to power is twofold. First, his failure either to 
formulate a sound technical judgment of his own, or to 
organise his staff so as to ensure the best technical guid- 
ance, was absolute ; and this failure was Mr. Churchill's 
only defence for the lamentable blunder of last February. 
Secondly, if Lord Fisher were once more put in authority 
the loyalty of the Navy to Whitehall would be strained to 
an intolerable point. " The Band of Brothers " would 
be split into cliques. And this is a matter I would seri- 
ously ask the newspapers to weigh. It is really more 
important that the navy, which knows it business, should 
be satisfied with its rulers, than either the public or those 
that guide the pubhc. For they do not, and cannot know 
the navy's business so well as do the men on the active list. 
A very distinguished officer, holding a high and important 
command, was discussing a day or two ago the latest 
manifestations of the Fisher campaign. " Is Fleet Street," 
he asked, " so called because real knowledge of naval 
stratcg3' and of the inner working of the British Navy is 
onlj' to be found there ? " 
Arthur Pollen. 
The Two-Stroke Enf;ine, by Dr. A. M. Low, D.Sc. (Temple 
?res^, IP. 6d. net), the first full manual on the subject of 
the two-stroke engine, is designed to redncc technicalities to 
such a level that the layman will be able to comprehend them, 
and at the same time to be of such a qualitv that it shall not 
be beneath the notice of tlic expert. 
Dr. Low has fa\ ourcd the ex| crt rather than the layman, 
andsomeof his sayings will ;.rove hard to the common under- 
standing. Such a compromise as he has attempted, however, 
is a very difficult matter, and in fairness i't must be said that 
tlic merest tyro will gain from the l-.ook a very good idea of the 
two-stroke engine, its advantages, its defects, and its various 
patterns. The book is fully illustrated with diagrams that 
assist an easy comprehension of the text, and the work 
throughout is as authoritative as it is complete. 
SORTES SHAKESPEARIANyE, 
By SIR SIDNEY LEE. 
THE ZEPPELIN RAIDS. 
Some airy devil hovers m the sky 
And pours down mischief. 
KING JOHN, III., ii., 2-4. 
"The War OfTice has control of the defences of London. The 
COflSC-line and the rest of Enfllnnd are the care of the Admiralty.*' 
— THE ;/;MfiS, FebniBryllh 
My soul aches 
To knoiv, wJten huo authorities are tip. 
Neither supreme, how soon confusion 
May enter 'iwixt the gap 0/ both. 
CORIOLANUS, III., i.. 108.11. 
THE FATE OF L19. 
For tvhat doth cherish weeds but gentle 
air? 
And ivhat makes robbers bold, b\U too 
much lenity ? 
3 HENRY, Vr., U., vi., 21-2. 
II 
