‘You are forced,’ he said, ‘by the general consensus of opinion to have these useless warships and this therefore is your wisest choice. I say to you deliberately that aviation has entirely dispensed with the necessity for this type. What you do want is the super-Swift—all oil—and don’t fiddle about armour; it really is so VERY silly! There is only ONE defence and that is SPEED! for all small vessels (except those who go under water).
‘The super-Swift is MAINLY wanted for the submarine. The submarine has no horizon. The Swift tells her where the enemy is and then flees for her life with 40 knots speed!
‘The super-Lion, the super-Swift and the super-Submarine—all else is wasted money!
‘The luxuries of the present are the necessities of the future. Our grandfathers never had a bath-room.... You have got to plunge for three years ahead! And THE ONE thing is to keep Foreign Admiralties running after you! It’s Hell for them!
‘The Germans are going to have a motor battleship before us and a cruiser that will make the circuit of the world without having to replenish her fuel!
‘What an Alabama!
‘The most damnable person for you to have any dealings with is a Naval Expert! Sea fighting is pure common sense. The first of all its necessities is SPEED, so as to be able to fight—
When you like
Where you like
and How you like.