ABSTRACT
The terrible news was trumpeted over England the following morning. The disaster that many thinking men had foreseen had come to pass. The British navy had been crushed by a skilful combination of powers, and England and her vast Empire lay like a helpless and unwieldy log at the mercy of her enemies. The German Autocrat had made his calculations and deductions with terrible accuracy. His secret agents had for years been engaged in ferreting out the defects of the British navy. He was fully aware that the British public was grossly deceived concerning its boasted naval armaments, and that outward show concealed vital defects. The German admiralty knew the size, power, and defects of every British vessel directly it was launched, and had always gone one better than its prospective enemy. But while British naval preparations were amply advertised to the world, German naval affairs were kept a profound secret.
