It was hardly surprising in the circumstances that many persons thought the Admiralty was bent merely upon economy. If the naval authorities had had foreknowledge of the course of events they could not, in fact, have adopted a wiser course. From March onwards, week by week down to the middle of July, the elaborate and complicated drafting arrangements were examined and readjusted. Then, after the assassinations at Sarajevo and on the eve of the final developments on the Continent, which were to make war inevitable, the test mobilisation was carried out. The principal ships passed before the King off the Nab Lightship, a column of seaplanes and aeroplanes circling high above the ships, and then disappeared in the Channel to carry out what were believed to be peace exercises, but were, in fact, to prove the manœuvres preliminary to war. Later in the same week, the vessels of the Patrol Flotillas were engaged in testing a new scheme for sealing this narrow exit to the North Sea. [Illustration] _H.M.S. Neptune._ _Photo: Sport & General._ =NEPTUNE CLASS.= COLOSSUS, NEPTUNE, HERCULES (slight differences). Displacement: 19,200 to 20,000 tons. Speed: 22 knots; Guns: 10 12in., 16 4in.; Torpedo tubes: 3. [Illustration] Astern fire: Broadside: Ahead fire: 8 12in. 10 12in. 6 12in. A week afterwards the thunderbolt fell; the crisis found the First and Second Fleets ready in all respects for war, and, after additional reserves had been called out on Sunday, August 2nd, the Admiralty was able to give the nation a certificate that by 4 a.m. the following morning the British Navy had been raised from a peace footing to a war footing, and was fully mobilised. Immediately the curtain fell, hiding from view the movements of all British men-of-war, not only in the main strategical theatre, but in the outer seas. Two battleships, which had just been completed for Turkey by those whom Mr. G. H. Perris had denounced only a short time before in his pamphlet as the “War Traders,” were taken over by the Admiralty, proving valuable accessions to our naval strength. Two swift destroyer-leaders were also compulsorily purchased from Chile, the appointment of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe as supreme British Admiral of the Home Fleets was announced, and all the preliminaries to the great war drama on the sea were completed without delay, confusion, or panic. The nation will remember in gratitude the courage and decision exhibited by Mr. Churchill in the hour of supreme crisis. He proved himself a statesman.