When Britain first, at Heaven's command,
Arose from out the azure main,
This was the charter of her land,
And guardian angels sung the strain:
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the
waves!
Britons never shall be slaves!
Her Majesty's First Lord of the Admiralty, the Right Hon. J.P.L. Thomas, shattered the decorous precincts of the House of Commons last week with a depth charge that rattled the windows of history. Confessed Thomas ruefully: "Russia has today the second largest navy in commission in the world." He added: "The first is, of course, the navy of our American ally."
The news that Britainfor 200 years "ruler of the waves"was now...
