The details referred to are not unimportant in
themselves; but the importance of several of them if put together
would be incomparably less than that of the great question to
which I have tried to direct your attention.
The supply of a fleet is of high importance in both peace time
and time of war. Even in peace it sometimes causes an admiral to
pass a sleepless night. The arrangements which it necessitates
are often intricate, and success in completing them occasionally
seems far off. The work involved in devising suitable plans is
too much like drudgery to be welcome to those who undertake it.
All the same it has to be done: and surely no one will care to
deny that the fleet which has practised in quiet years the system
that must be followed in war will start with a great advantage on
its side when it is at last confronted with the stern realities
of naval warfare.
POSTSCRIPT
The question of 'Communications,' if fully dealt with in the
foregoing paper, would have made it so long that its hearers might
have been tired out before its end was reached. The following
summary of the points that might have been enlarged upon, had
time allowed, may interest many officers:--
In time of war we must keep open our lines of communication.
If we cannot, the war will have gone against us.
Open communications mean that we can prevent the enemy from carrying
out decisive and sustained operations against them and along
their line.
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