The Navy and Army Illustrated
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Vol. V.— No. 54.J FRIDAY, JANUARY 7th, 1898. Photo. E L IO T T & FRY, Baker Street. ADMIRAL SIR LEOPOLD G. HEATH , K.C.B. D M IR A L H E A T H entered the S ervice in 1830, w as prom oted lieutenant b y prize com m ission in 1840, A captain in 1854, and rear-admiral in 1871, being placed on the retired list in 1873, and has since risen to full admiral on the retired list. As commander of the “ Niger” he saw active service in the attack on Lagos in 1850, also in the “ Niger” and “ Sans Pareil” during the Russian War; he was principal agent of transports at Balaclava, for which he was promoted and received the C.B.; he was also commodore in command of the East Indian Station in the “ Octavia” during the Abyssinian War of 1868, receiving the thanks of Parliament for his services, and was made a K .C.B.; he also holds the Crimean and Turkish medals, Sebastopol clasp, the Medjidie 4th Glass, and the Abyssinian medal. In 1836 he gained-the xst medal at the Royal Naval College. THE NAVY AND ARMY iLLUSTRAl ED. [Jan. 7th, 1&98. THE NEW AUSTRALIAN FLAG-SHIR, “ROYAL ARTHUR." ' I 'H E first-class baltle-ship “ Hannibal” is one of the last one of the two remaining “ Sovereigns” in the Channel J- to be completed of the “ Majestic ” and “ Magnificent” Squadron. The “ Royal Arthur ” was named by Her set of battle-ships, with certain later improvements. She Majesty the Queen, in honour of the Duke of Connaught, has been built under the Naval Programme of 1895, was when she christened the ship on February 26th, 1891, and launched at Pembroke Dockyard, and finally completed at is one of our very successful first-class cruisers laid down Portsmouth. At her recent official speed trials in the under the Naval Defence Act of 1889. She came home last Channel, the “ Hannibal” developed a speed of i6-3 knots year from serving as fiag-shipon the Pacific station, under the with natural draught, and 18 knots with forced draught. The flag of Sir Henry Stephenson, and has recently left England “ Hannibal” will be ready to hoist the pennant in March to relieve the “ Orlando,” as flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Hugo I,- next, when she will replace the “ Repulse” or the “ Resolution.” Pearson, new Commander-iu-Chief on the Australian station. c/twit. HANNIBAL" ON HER TRIAL TRIP. Jan. 7th, 1898.1 THE NAVY AND ARMY ILLUSTRATED. The Bicycle Afloat for Pleasure and Business. E have already at various limes made note of how readily the Navy, both officers and men, avail them W selves of the cycle for runs on shore whenever oppor tunity offers, and for racing at Squadron and Fleet gymkhanas. At Naval athletic meetings, from Esquimault to Malta, there is never a gathering on shore at which the bicycle is not seen— more particularly at Malta, the scene of the gathering shown in one of our photographs to-day. The bicycle has been in the highest popularity with all ranks and ratings of the Mediterranean Fleet for years past, its popularity in no small degree being due to the example set by the late Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, now Port Admiral at Portsmouth, Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, himself a first-rate athlete and keen cyclist. Whenever his Fleet was at Malta, Sir Michael was constantly to be seen having a spin along the roads of the island with his officers,, and the example had a very great deal to do with the enthu siasm with which the Mediterranean Fleet went in for the new j'astime. Our photograph of a group of cyclists belonging, to the “ Nile,” of the Mediterranean Fleet, is in point here. Out of a total ship’s company of 560 men, there are 110 fewer than 60 accomplished riders among the warrant and petty officers, bluejackets, and marines of the “ Nile,” all of whom have representatives in our group. “ We ‘Niles,’” says the corre spondent who sends us the photograph from Malta, have been scouring the island lately, and are looking forward to taking similar pleasure at home in our towns and villages, when in a few weeks the ship returns to England to pay off.” •< Our photograph of a midshipman of the “ Jupiter,” in the Channel Squadron, shows the business application of the bicycle in the Navy, the young officer being seen equipped From a Photo. B y a N aval Ojjicei to act as A.D.C. to the officer commanding a landing party. A Cyclist A.D.C. of the “ Jupiter.” When the Channel Squadron was at Gibraltar recently, a general landing of the brigade of seamen was organised, and the day before a signal was made ordering all midshipmen having bicycles to report themselves, that they might be attached to the different battalion leaders. There were in all some twelve or more, and very useful they proved themselves in taking messages— 110 sinecure, seeing that there were 3,500 men landed, and the line of march alone covered considerably more than a mile. The officer shown in our illus tration formed onfe of this party, aud his smart, workmanlike turn-out should satisfy the most critical of the military bicycle experts at home, whether Army orvolunteer, as to what the Royal Navy can do in this line of business when occasion arises. Elsewhere, it may be added, in one of our East Africa coast expeditions, two or three years ago, other Naval cyclists have done good work Photo. MiK. Malta. 6 W Men at the Wheel from the “ N il e ” copin&iu.-H. & k on tile jjne 0f communications with the front. IN MEMORIAM:— The “ Serpent.” N officer of the Channel Squadron sends A„ us the accompanying photograph of the memorial erected near Villagarcia, Arosa Bay, on the north-western Spanish coast, to the memory of the ill-fated crew of the British cruiser “ Serpent,” which was wrecked near by in a storm on the night of N ovem ber 10th, 1S90. The memorial is erected on an isolated peak near the sea, on the summit of a natural cairn of gigantic boulders, visible from a great distance all round. There are really here two memorials of the “ Serpent.” One is the tablet of marble with gilt lettering, setting forth how the “ Serpent” was lost, w ith between 100 and 200 men drowned, and the date of the disaster, erected at the instance of the British Admiralty. This is the large tablet shown apart from the others, to the left of the photograph as you look at it. The second memorial comprises the tall cross set up on the railed-off top of the large projecting boulder in the centre of the photo graph. It was erected as a special mark of sympathy by the Spanish Government, and the cross bears an inscription, “ To the victims of the sea.” The remaining tablets From a Photo. ’p j l f “ Serpent " Memorial. B y a N aval Officer. are Spanish memorials of other wrecks. 160 The nAVy AND a r m )' ILLUSTRATED. flan.7th, is „ 8 . H.M. Coastguard and Royal Naval Reserve. HE accompanying pic tures to a great extent rexplain themselves. They represent some of the scenes at a recent inspection of the coastguard station and Royal Naval Reserve men and their battery at King’s Lynn, by Commander R. E- Berkeley, the inspecting commander of the division. Commander Berkeley is a firm believer in the possi bility of forming a thoroughly reliable Naval Reserve under Mr. Goschen’s statesmanlike scheme, especially from the hardy fishermen and coasting seamen who surround our islands, if only they can be induced to submit themselves to a course of six months’ training on board a man-of- war. Most of their gunnery instruction can be, and is, imparted to them at their batteries on shore, which are The Inspecting Commander Homeward Bound. built to resemble the fighting deck of a ship; but it is a.l-important that the> should date man-of-war to “ find tlieiiway about,” “ to rub shoulders spend at least six months on board' a thoroughly ’jp-to- with the long-service bluejackets,” and, above all, to obtain thaV perfect confidence in and prompt obedience to the orders of their officers which distinguish the man-of-war’s man of to-day. Many of the drill batteries of the Royal Naval Reserve are being brought up to date by having modern quick-fir ing and breech-loading guns substituted for the old- fashioned muzzle-loaders. It will be seen that L,ynn still possesses one of the latter type, but it is to be shortly removed, and will probably be replaced by a 6-in. quick-firing gun. A 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun is also to be mounted in this battery. The question is some times asked, Can six months’ training, however good, make these men competent to per Rallying Round the Flag. form all the duties of our highly-trained seamen-gun- ners and torpedo-men? The answer, of course, is no, not a ll the duties; but there are numbers of these highly-trained men besides Royal Marines who in time of peace are employed in the magazines, sliell-rooms, at machine guns, and other duties which could be per fectly well carried out by men of the Royal Naval Reserve, who should be pre pared, on the order being given for general mobilisa tion for war, to assume them at once, thus freeing hun dreds of seamen-gunners, torpedo-men, and Royal Marine gunners to attend to the more scientific duties connected with hydraulic machinery for working heavy guns and turrets, torpedoes, etc., which they, and they alone, could efficiently per form on board the newly-com missioned ships that we should have to man on the slightest prospect of war.