GERMANY'S FLEET

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22166, 20 July 1935, Page 13

GERMANY'S FLEET

STRENGTH OF BATTLESHIPS MANY BIG. DESTROYERS LONDON, July 10 That there is a real threat in the new German naval programme just announced is emphatically pointed out by the well-known naval expert, Mr. Hector Bywater, in the Daily Telegraph. The writer visualises Germany with two heavily-armed 26,000-ton battleships, and Britain with only one battleship, the Hood (built in 1920), fast enough to i;peed it with them at 31 knots.

Mr. Bywa.ter barely hints at what would happen in war if the Hood were disabled. Describing what he calls the " real surprises " of the new German High Seas Fleet, he draws the country's attention to " the many big destroyers and the large number of submarines." "Each of the 16 German destroyers," says the writer, " is nearly 300 tons larger than the latest British type. The armament is also heavier. These destroyers are actually flotilla leaders of exceptional power, and are probably the German reply to the French 'pocket cruisers,' of which 32 have been built or laid down.

" The two German 26,000-ton bat-tle-cruisers are obviously a reply to the French 26,'i00-ton vessels, Dunkerque and Strasbourg. Tho German boats have been masquerading for more than a year as 10,000-tonriers. " The only British ships combining high speed and heavy-calibre guns are the Hood, Renown and Repulse, and the last two will certainly be slower than the new German units. " The submarine programme means that Germany has already provided nearly half the tonnage to which she is entitled under the Anglo-German agreement. s " The 2.50-tonners are evidently being built in large numbers to provide training facilities for officers who are to man bigger submarines of the future. " The' whole programme will certainly be carried out with unusual speed, because the German shipbuilding aud armament factories are fully mobilised, and have been working overtime for the past year."