The Berlin correspondent of the Deify Telegraph very properly calls
attention to a remarkable article on Lord Fisher's administration at the Admiralty in the Marine Rund,schau, a periodical edited in the German Ministry of Marine. Admitting the need of reorganisation in the British Navy, the writer condemns the fusion of the naval engineer and marine officer as involving too high a demand on the powers of the same officer. He considers the Dreadnought' policy unnecessary and provocative of endless international rivalry. " Moreover, the efforts of England to obtain in secrecy a great advance over other nations has reacted to a certain extent on the value of her own Fleet. It becomes obsolete sooner." The writer applauds the main principles of Lord Fisher's naval strategy, while doubting the political wisdom of massing ships in the. North Sea, where the absence of docks on the East Coast will for some time remain a cause of weakness. In conclusion, while acknowledging Lord Fisher's brilliant gifts and intellectual qualities, the writer shows how they were obscured and neutralised by his masterful nature, his precipitancy, and his inability to estimate the full effect of his actions both at home and abroad. " The era of Lord Fisher as Second and First Sea Lord of the Admiralty will be a milestone in the development of the English Fleet, but a long time will elapse before the mistakes of his administration have been overcome." There is not a word in all this which might not have been written by a well-informed English naval expert.
Previous page
