e vital distinction which
differentiates them from the small craft of the past in that in certain
circumstances they are capable of taking a formidable part in a fleet
action even as against the most powerful battleships. But we are here
considering them solely from the point of view of their cruising
functions, whether as guarding their own shores or watching those of the
enemy with a view to fighting on occasion and to observation at all
times. Their supports will be cruisers of larger size, disposed at
suitable distances in the rear, and themselves supported in like manner
by successive cordons or patrols of cruisers increasing in size and
power, until we come to the battle fleet as the concentrated nucleus of
the whole organization. This is merely an abstract or diagrammatic
exposition of such an organization, and it is of course liable to almost
infinite variation in the infinite variety of warlike operations at sea,
but it serves to exhibit the _rationale_ of the differentiation of naval
force into battleships, cruisers, and small craft.

It has sometimes been argued that, inasmuch as the torpedo craft is, or
may be, in certain conditions, more than a match for even the biggest
battleship, battleships together with all intermediate ships between the
battleship and the torpedo vessel, are not unlikely to be some day
regarded as superfluous and in consequence to be discarded altogether
from the naval armament of even a first-class maritime Power. It is true
that the range and accuracy of the torpedo have latterly undergone an
immense development, so that a range of even ten thousand yards or five
sea-miles is no longer beyond its powers. It is true that the
development of the submarine vessel has vastly intensified the menace of
the torpedo and it may soon be true that the development of aircraft
will add a new and very formidable menace to the supremacy of the
battleship. But except for this last consideration, which is at present
exceedingly speculative, a little reflection will disclose the
underlying fallacy of arguments of this kind. The enduring mobility of
the torpedo craft is necessarily limited. It is incapable of that wide
range of action which is required of warships if they are to establish
and maintain any effective command of the sea. It is exceedingly
vulnerable to ships of a larger size, and of more ample enduring
mobility. These again will be vulnerable in their turn to ships of a
still larger size