We shall have to wait at least two or three weeks to know the details of the foundering of H.M.S. Serpent, and it may turn out that it was due to some inevitable accident, to which the strongest and best-designed vessel might have succumbed; but for a time at least her loss must seriously increase the distrust with which our newest men-of-war are justly regarded. For a comparatively new and yet not untried vessel—for the Serpent has been tried in two years' mancuvres—to founder when two or three days out from home, and drown the whole ship's company except three men, is a terrible thing in itself, and a heavy indictment against our naval constructors. It seems explicable that while our private yards turn out the finest steamers in the world, the efforts of our naval constructors result in a long succession of failures. The Wasp and the Serpent probably foundered from the same cause—the taking on board sea after sea which the high bulwarks made it! impossible for the vessel to discharge quickly enough; and they may either have rolled over, as the Musashi Maru did the other day in the Kii channel, or been literally swamped. The Ser pent, too, had the farther drawback of being provided with the sponsons which all naval officers hate, and which are unfailing water traps in a seaway. Built for speed, with enormous power} for their size, these modern torpedo cruisers are made as light as possible, and their decks are then lumbered up with guns of all kinds and torpedo gear, nuiil, we are assured, there is not a captain in one of them who does not poy that he may never get into really weather, as he i ays a li doubtful of the fate of his vessel if he} does. 'I'he loss of a costly vessel is bad, and the loss of almost the whole of her crew is still much worse, but almost worse still is the feeling of insecurity which such a disaster must give to all the officers and men who are sent to sea in our new ships, and to their relatives and friends at home. In the case of the Serpent it is good to know that three men have been saved, so that it is known already, we may expect, how the disaster occurred, and her fate will not be shrouded permanently in unsatisfied conjecture, as has been the case with the Wasp and the Atalanta. The Admiralty cannot any longer deny that there are grave shortcomings in the construction department. Unfortunately, as we have remarked before, it is a rule in our government departments that no one is ever punished for his mistakes, however grave; and the customary chivalry of the parliamentary heads of the departments obliges them to defend all the acts of their subordinates, however really indefensible, to the last gasp. It is to be hoped that when Parliament meets next week the House of Commons vill be stirred up by this latest disaster to insist on a full and independent enquiry into the construction department. of the Admiralty; and will not be content to accept the escape of the Calliope from Samoa as a set-off to the foundering of the Wasp and the Serpent, and the constant breakdowns of our new men-of-war; for never a week passes now without our reading in the home papers of some breakdown, more or less serious, of a man-of-war.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.