An item referred to a interview published in the Evening Standard with the British admiral Sir John de Robeck (1) which left the navy after serving almost 50 years lately as commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet. He still believed that in the future battleships were necessary. Despite the First World War his opinion was not changed and in en eventual next war all supporters of the battleships would get it right. Submarines were no longer to be a threat while it was to dangerous to use submarines on large scale any longer. If there means had been available at the beginning of the war had the battleships between 75-80% been stronger en had been no doubts about their value. Another remark of him was that the British battle fleet had been seriously weakened. At the naval review off Spithead recently were just 10 battleships present while at the review in 1914 there been 55 battleships, even some old but still useful.
Note
1. Sir John Michael de Robeck 1e Baronet (10 June 1862 Naes, Ireland-20 January 1928 London, England). Admiral of the fleet, served between 1875-1924.
