Indeed, the more we force ourselves to picture the hideous course of a modern naval engagement, the more one is inclined to believe that it will resemble the contest between Mamilius and Herminius at the battle of Lake Regillus, or the still more homely conflict of the Kilkenny cats. That is a very satisfactory reflection for the stronger naval power.
1912, 18 March.
The battle, possibly mythical, was described in Macaulay s Lays of Ancient Rome which fascinated WSC as a boy. It was a Roman victory, led by Mamilius over Herminius and the Etruscans, possibly between 509 and 493 BC. The Oxford English Dictionary describes a "Kilkenny cat” as "one of a pair of cats fabled to have fought until only their tails remained”. Hence the phrase describes "combatants who fight until they annihilate each other”.
A vessel which has no weapon of any kind to fire is afraid of a vessel which has perhaps only a rifle if it is faster.
1913, 17 July.
If you want to make a true picture in your mind of a battle between great modern ironclad ships you must not think of it as if it were two men in armour striking at each other with heavy swords. It is more like a battle between two egg-shells striking each other with hammers.
1914, 17 March.
In old wars the capture or destruction of ships was nearly always accompanied by an act of surrender which was a proper and very necessary subject of investigation by court-martial. But mines and submarines, especially submarines, create conditions entirely novel, presenting to naval officers problems of incomparable hazard and difficulty. In these circumstances a court-martial would frequently be inappropriate in our judgment, and often even harmful.
1915, 15 February.
World History
