adjust compasses, or to go into dock--she
burns more coal than if she remained stationary. These occasions
of movement may be counted in with the days in which the ship
is at sea, and the total taken as the number of days under way.
It may be assumed that altogether these will amount to six or
seven a month. In time of war the period under way would probably
be much longer, and the time spent in expectation of getting
under way in a hurry would almost certainly be considerable,
so that expenditure of coal and machinery lubricants would be
greatly increased.

The point to be made here is that--independently of strategic
conditions, which will be considered later--the difference in the
supply of a given naval force in war and in peace is principally
that in the former the requirements of nearly everything except
provisions will be greater; and consequently that the articles must
be forwarded in larger quantities or at shorter intervals than in
peace time. If, therefore, we have arranged a satisfactory system
of peace supply, that system--defence of the line of communications
being left out of consideration for the present--will merely
have to be expanded in time of war. In other words, practice in
the use of the system during peace will go a long way towards
preparing us for the duty of working it under war conditions.
That a regular system will be absolutely indispensable during
hostilities will not be doubted.

The general principles which I propose to indicate are applicable
to any station. We may allow for a squadron composed of--

4 battleships,
4 large cruisers,
4 second-class cruisers,
13 smaller vessels of various kinds, and
3 destroyers,

being away from the principal base-port of the station for several
months of the year. The number of officers and men would be, in
round numbers, about 10,000.

In estimating the amounts of stores of different kinds required
by men-of-war, it is necessary--in order to allow for proper
means of conveyance--to convert tons of dead-weight into tons
by measurement, as the two are not always exactly equivalent. In
the following enumeration only estimated amounts are stated, and
the figures are to be considered as approximate and not precise.
It is likely that in each item an expert maybe able to discover
some variation from the rigorously exact; but the general result
will be sufficiently accurate for practical purposes, especially
as experience will suggest