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Article: Frigates: brown water bargains. (need to upgrade Navy's ships) (Column)
- Article from:
- Insight on the News
- Article date:
- September 19, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Lord Northbrook, a 19th-century member of the English Parliament, initiated the acquaintance. "I want to introduce Capt. John Fisher, who commanded the Inflexible, our biggest battleship, with 24 inches of armor and four 80-ton guns." Prime Minister William Gladstone studied Fisher for a moment. "Portentous weapons!" he finally said. "I really wonder how the human mind can bear such responsibility." Replied Fisher, "Oh, sir, the common vulgar mind doesn't feel that sort of thing."
Just as Fisher and the British Grand Fleet considered the lack of naval adversaries and the flux of new and controversial weaponry toward the end of the last century, the U.S. Navy is ...