imental
knowledge; of the other, practically none. Hence theories about the
naval warfare of the future are almost wholly presumptive; and
although the attempt has been made to give them a more solid basis by
dwelling upon the resemblance between fleets of steamships and fleets
of galleys moved by oars, which have a long and well-known history, it
will be well not to be carried away by this analogy until it has been
thoroughly tested. The resemblance is indeed far from superficial. The
feature which the steamer and the galley have in common is the ability
to move in any direction independent of the wind. Such a power makes a
radical distinction between those classes of vessels and the
sailing-ship; for the latter can follow only a limited number of
courses when the wind blows, and must remain motionless when it fails.
But while it is wise to observe things that are alike, it is also wise
to look for things that differ; for when the imagination is carried
away by the detection of points of resemblance,--one of the most
pleasing of mental pursuits,--it is apt to be impatient of any
divergence in its new-found parallels, and so may overlook or refuse
to recognize such. Thus the galley and the steamship have in common,
though unequally developed, the important characteristic mentioned,
but in at least two points they differ; and in an appeal to the
history of the galley for lessons as to fighting steamships, the
differences as well as the likeness must be kept steadily in view, or
false deductions may be made. The motive power of the galley when in
use necessarily and rapidly declined, because human strength could not
long maintain such exhausting efforts, and consequently tactical
movements could continue but for a limited time;[1] and again, during
the galley period offensive weapons were not only of short range, but
were almost wholly confined to hand-to-hand encounter. These two
conditions led almost necessarily to a rush upon each other, not,
however, without some dexterous attempts to turn or double on the
enemy, followed by a hand-to-hand _melee_. In such a rush and such a
_melee_ a great consensus of respectable, even eminent, naval opinion
of the present day finds the necessary outcome of modern naval
weapons,--a kind of Donnybrook Fair, in which, as the history of
_melees_ shows, it will be hard to know friend from foe. Whatever may
prove to be the worth of this opinion, it cannot claim an historical
basis in the