. Submarines, mines and torpedoes in the war . one of theways of destroying an enemys mine-field ; and even the strongest fleetcannot guard every portion of a longcoast line with many harbours exposed *76 Mine-Laying Fleets to attack. The judicious laying ofmine-fields will often prevent raids byhostile submarines and torpedo-boats;and will limit the theatre of operations,as was done by the British Navy in thesouthern portion of the North Sea inOctober, 1914. The axiom that a reallystrong navy needs to be strong in everybranch, therefore holds good in this, asin all other respects. Mine-Laying
. Submarines, mines and torpedoes in the war . one of theways of destroying an enemys mine-field ; and even the strongest fleetcannot guard every portion of a longcoast line with many harbours exposed *76 Mine-Laying Fleets to attack. The judicious laying ofmine-fields will often prevent raids byhostile submarines and torpedo-boats;and will limit the theatre of operations,as was done by the British Navy in thesouthern portion of the North Sea inOctober, 1914. The axiom that a reallystrong navy needs to be strong in everybranch, therefore holds good in this, asin all other respects. Mine-Laying Thetis. Naiad. Intrepid. Iphigenia. These are all second class cruisers offrom 3,400 to 3,600 tons, built about1891-2, which have been convertedinto mine-layers. They are equippedwith a very large number of submarineexplosive mines, which can be auto-matically lowered into the water as thevessels steam along. Their speed isabout 15 knots, and their armamentconsists of four 47-inch quick-firing. as ft. tf ^ w B >H 03 o < !-l J 03 CD w 00 g .5 Si a o U K V CO a H a HH (0 ^ jq pq H W aj H Mine-Laying Fleets *77 guns. Their complement is about 150officers and men. (1890). Nautilus (1906). Albatross (1907). Arkona (1903). All these vessels, with the exception ofthe Arkona, which was a protectedcruiser, have been specially built formine-laying work. Their displacementis about 2,000 tons. The Pelikan has aspeed of 15 knots, the Albatross andNautilus of 20 knots, and the Arkona of2\\ knots. They are all fitted withspecial gear for dropping the largenumber of mines carried, and theirarmament consists of from four to eight21-pdr. quick-firing guns. Their comple-ment is about 200 officers and men. Austria. The Austro-Hungarian Navy possessesonly one regular mine-laying warship—the Chamaleon, which was being com-pleted when war was declared. She isa vessel of 1,800 tons displacement, *78 Mine-Laying Fleets with a spee
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