In the Great War we have not, at the time of writing, yet had a fleet action. The German Navy has shown itself most determined--to take no risks. It seems to be imbued with the principles impressed by the French Government on its sea commanders in the old wars with us.[73] Never, on any account, are ships to be hazarded against superior force, or, in other words, the ships of the "admiral of the Atlantic" are not to fight unless in very superior force to their antagonists, as was the case in the action off Chile. The German squadron, starting out on the second raid on our coasts, no sooner clapped eyes on Admiral Beatty's ships--which only numbered one more ship than the German squadron--than it turned tail and made off for all it was worth. So the British had no chance of crossing the "T", or of any manoeuvre other than a stern chase. Such a chase is proverbially a long one, but in this case it was long enough to enable our seamen and marines to sink one German and badly damage at least two others, who only got away "by the skin of their teeth", thanks to the intervention of their mine-fields and submarines. FOOTNOTES: [68] Engineer-Commander Chas. E. Eldred, R.N., _Everybody's Book of the Navy_. [69] "The Progress of Dreadnoughts", _Journal of Commerce_, 4th March, 1915. [70] "Your Navy as a Fighting Machine." Fred. T. Jane. [71] Particulars from _Submarines, Mines, and Torpedoes in the War_. C. W. Domville Fife. [72] Paper by Lieutenant C. N. Hinkamp, United States Navy, reprinted in _Journal of Commerce_, 29th April, 1915. [73] German ships, by the way, are often provided with a heavier astern fire than a forward one, so that apparently they have long decided to fight a retreating action. The opposite system is pursued in our navy. CHAPTER XV The Manning of a Ship "We're sober men and true, And quite devoid of fe-ar. In all the Royal N. There are none so smart as we are. When the wind whistles free O'er the bright blue sea We stand to our guns all da-ay; When at anchor we ride By the starboard side, We've plenty of time for play." --_H.M.S. "Pinafore"._ W. S. Gilbert. AT the beginning of our naval story we found our fleets composed of rowing-vessels, fought and commanded by soldiers. Then came a time--the viking period--when fighting-ships were manned and fought by warriors who were emphatically "soldiers and sailors too". In battle their dragons and long-serpents relied mainly on their oars, but the sail began to take a much more important position than before, and the oars were not pulled by slaves but by the crew proper, all of whom were fighters. In the period that followed, the sail--in northern waters at any rate--continued to grow in importance, till in the biggest ships it entirely ousted the oars.