The tops of conning towers
Start up from every wave,
For you are blind as moles below,
And light and air ye crave.
Where Tryon, Drake, and Shovel lie
Ye submarines now go,
As ye creep, etc.
Now battleships and cruisers
The seas no longer sweep,
Since danger lurks beneath the waves
A dozen fathoms deep;
With Whitehead’s fell torpedoes
You pot them from below,
As ye creep, etc.
[!-- original location of full page illustration --] [!-- blank page --] The meteor flag of England
Shall still terrific burn,
And submarines that start from Brest
Shall never more return:
The T. B. D.’s will nab them when
They rise to get a blow;
Though they creep through the deep
Where six-pound shells don’t go,
Their men can’t stand the tinned air long,
Though they’re safe down there below.
THE “BRITANNIA” DRESSED FOR THE KING’S BIRTHDAY.
Photo: W. M. Crockett, Plymouth.
The “tinned air” is a right merry conceit; it is to be hoped that the prophetic words of the last verse may come true in case of war. We are doing a good deal of business in the matter of “tinned air” in England just now, which ought to assist in keeping the “meteor flag” flying.
The officers who commanded the Britannia during the ’nineties—and after, are as follow:—
Captain A. B. Thomas, appointed September 8th, 1892.
Captain A. W. Moore, appointed April 17th, 1894.
Captain the Hon. A. G. Curzon-Howe, appointed April 21st, 1897.
Captain M. P. O’Callaghan, appointed February 20th, 1900.
Captain C. H. Cross, appointed April 22nd, 1903.
Captain Thomas had to resign his appointment through ill-health. Captain Cross is still in command, and will probably see the end of the Britannia as at present constituted.