The Steam Navy of England. By Harry Williams, R.N. (W.
IL Allen and Co.)—There are two points of vital interest in Mr. Williams's work,—the raising of the standard of universal efficiency, and the efficiency of naval machinery at great speeds. Mr. Williams has drawn out a plan by which he has shown the way to rendering stokers efficient in gun-drill. He proposes, by adding to the complement of stokers and dividing them into four divisions, to contrive that one division shall always be doing deck. work, and so, by rotation, the whole complement of stokers should pass the gun-drill. Part of this' increase would take the place of the seamen, and so, he urges, without increasing the total com- plement, the efficiency of the ship's company would be raised. The most serious objection would be the diminution in the efficiency of the stokers, apparently a more important point than any weakness in gun-drill on dock. In favour of the plan there is this advantage to be urged,—that in the case of the 'Anson,' for example, there would be 115 men, both stokers and gunners, in place of 109 men who can- not fight the guns, and 313 seamen who cannot stoke the fires. Mr. Williams says battle-ships cruise with just sufficient complement and no reserve ; but surely he is lenient, for some of the great battle-ships are notoriously undermanned, and the fact is care- fully concealed from the inquisitive. Another point worth con- sidering, though it is only a minor detail, is the physical benefit to the stoker, whose life is "not a, happy one." The other point in Mr. Williams's book is the boiler difficulty. The fact is, that good manceuvring-speed cannot be got out of the present boilers, except in some good cruisers, without a forced draught, meaning a strain the boilers cannot stand. Boilers are reduced to the smallest compass for obvious reasons ; but their wear and tear is so great, that continued efficiency is well-nigh hopeless. Engineers must recognise this, that the heating sur- face must wear, that iron is only iron, and that there is no use in increasing this wear and tear because room is wanted. Boilers must be larger. This is a well-written and well-expressed dis- cussion of the subject, and it brings home very forcibly the vital importance of effective engineering. Without power of continued and rapid motion, a battle-ship might just as well be a more gun- case floating oat a pond.
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