We are sorry to have to chronicle the loss of
the ' Viper,' the fast torpedo-destroyer fitted with turbine engines, which took place on - rocks off the Channel Islands during the manoeuvres, while a heavy fog prevailed. The loss is a serious one, as the Viper' was literally the fastest thing on the water. We hope, if the Admiralty were satisfied with the working of the turbines (as we understand was the case), that they will order other vessels of the same make. Unless we are greatly mistaken, the next naval war will prove that rapidity of motion is as important at sea as on land. Rapid movement doubles the value of. ships as of men. The thing is to out- number the enemy in ships or men, not on paper or a hundred miles away, but at the point of action. As we have so often found with the Boers, they have outnumbered us in the field though we have ten times their fighting force in South Africa, simply because they move faster.
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