Produced by Al Haines THE SEA IS HIS _Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known. --Psalm LXXVII. v. 19._ The Sea is His: He made it, Black gulf and sunlit shoal From barriered bight to where the long Leagues of Atlantic roll: Small strait and ceaseless ocean He bade each one to be: The Sea is His: He made it-- And England keeps it free. By pain and stress and striving Beyond the nations' ken, By vigils stern when others slept, By lives of many men; Through nights of storm, through dawnings Blacker than midnights be-- This sea that God created, England has kept it free. Count me the splendid captains Who sailed with courage high To chart the perilous ways unknown-- Tell me where these men lie! To light a path for ships to come They moored at Dead Man's quay; The Sea is God's--He made it, And these men made it free. Oh little land of England, Oh mother of hearts too brave, Men say this trust shall pass from thee Who guardest Nelson's grave. Aye, but these braggarts yet shall learn Who'd hold the world in fee, The Sea is God's--and England, England shall keep it free. --R. E. VERNÈDE. [Frontispiece: VIKING MAN-OF-WAR.] FLAG AND FLEET HOW THE BRITISH NAVY WON THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS BY WILLIAM WOOD Lieutenant-Colonel, Canadian Militia; Member of the Canadian Special Mission Overseas; Editor of "The Logs of the Conquest of Canada"; Author of "All Afloat: A Chronicle of Craft and Waterways"; "Elizabethan Sea Dogs: A Chronicle of Drake and his Companions"; and "The Fight for Canada: A Naval and Military Sketch." WITH A PREFACE BY ADMIRAL-OF-THE-FLEET SIR DAVID BEATTY G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O., Etc., Etc. TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD., AT ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE 1919 COPYRIGHT, CANADA, 1919, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED To _Admiral-of-the-Fleet_ _Lord Jellicoe_ _In token of deep admiration And in gratitude for many kindnesses during the Great War I dedicate this little book, Which, published under the auspices of The Navy League of Canada and approved by the Provincial Departments of Education, Is written for the reading of Canadian Boys and Girls_ PREFACE BY Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir David Beatty, G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O., etc. In acceding to the request to write a Preface for this volume I am moved by the paramount need that all the budding citizens of our great Empire should be thoroughly acquainted with the part the Navy has played in building up the greatest empire the world has ever seen.