so THE VANGUARD is to be scrapped-at last. Com- pleted
after the end of the war, she was given an extremely expensive refit three or four years ago, in spite of the fact that battleships were already obsolete—and that she suffered from structural defects that would have made her a liability even in the kind of war for which she was designed. She was kept on the strength though, because she made quite an imposing, if rather uncomfortable, headquarters; giving chair- borne admirals the illusion of having a navy, old style, under them. They will now have to content themselves with taking rides on HMS Tiger, the latest cruiser to be commissioned. It is gratifying to hear that Tiger can fire fifteen tons of shells a minute; its enthusiastic gunnery officer claims that 'any target ship would disintegrate in thirty seconds under such a plastering.' Unfortunately target ships and shells—and cruisers, for that matter—are expensive toys, as even Mr. K. has been forced to admit. Cruisers have just about as much use in modern warfare as cavalry; and in fact they are being maintained for no better reason than cavalry was kept in the years be- tween the wars.
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