FLEETS OF POWERS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 210, 18 June 1935, Page 2

FLEETS OF POWERS.

COMPARATIVE FIGURES., POSSIBLE POSITION IN 1940. What will be the relative strengths of all the considerable navies of the world in 1940, and how will those relative strengths compare with the situation in 1914 and to-day? asked the naval correspondent of the "Morning Post" in a recent article on the German naval claimSj which are now to be discussed in London. In 1914 the British Navy, although the old twoPower standard had been forsaken, showed a considerable preponderance of force over any other party. Taking as a basis of comparison the total number of ships possessed by each nation in, the four main categories of fighting snips—capital ships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines —the situation as regards the seven major navies in 1914 was as follows: — British Empire 503 Germany • 271 Japan 231 France 214 Russia 171 United States , 142 ' f Italy , L... 89 The Great War naturally produced a large increase in the armadas of the combatant Powers. A very large proportion of these swollen fleets were, of course, dissipated r immediately after the cessation of hostilities. The Washington Treaty of 1922 speeded up this process and carried it further than the natural order of tilings would have taken it." Then followed years in which ■ ideals came gradually to be regarded as a substitute for security. Disarmament was the cry, and the British Empire led the way in making "gestures" in the hope of convincing other Powers that an ideal forms a tangible protection. Seven Big Navies To-day. The position of the seven largest navies of pre-war days is to-day as folloavs, so far as completed ships of the five major categories (capital ships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and submarines) are concerned: — < United States 356 British Empire ] 285 Japan 217 France 197 Italy 182 Russia' 53 * Germany 29 The figures for the United States is swollen by a large number of oyer-age destroyers, which she has kept in service, but the figures for other navies also include over-age ships, and America has now set herself to replace these ships at a rapid rate. It will be seen that there is, in the above figures, far less discrepancy between the navies of the five major Powers than was the case in 1914. 'Comparison with the figures for 1914 shows clearly that this levelling process has been achieved almost entirely at the expense of scaling down the British Fleet. Calculation Regarding Future. And what of 1940, the date upon which it is calculated Germany can reach the ratio of naval strength which she claims? Consideration of probable building and scrapping programmes leads to the production of the following , table for the number of ships completed by that date (the same categories being considered as before: — United States 312 British Empire 285 Japan 273 France 252 Italy 216 Germany 90 Russia 80 These figures can, of course, only be considered as approximate especially in the case of Powers mot bound by naval treaties, but they should form. a fair means of comparison of naval strengths. If we consider' only ships which will be under the accepted age limits in 1940 we get the following table: — United States 246 France 190 British Empire 162 Italy .........1.... 162 Japan 158 Germany 90 Russia 70 What Germany Achieves. It will be seen the British Empire suffers the greatest disability through the age of her ships, while Germany suffers none. The result is that Germany achieves, not a. 35 per cent, ratio with the British Empire, but a numerical ratio of over 50 per cent.