NAVY AND THE AIR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 191, 26 May 1938, Page 2

NAVY AND THE AIR.

ITS WORK AGAINST RAIDERS. i It is widely assumed that the Navy is incapable of taking part in the defence of this country against air •attack. That may have been true a few years ago, but it is not so to-day, writes Hector By water in the “Daily Telegraph and Morning Post.” With the growth of the air menace, the Navy’s first task was to protect itself. Over a long period the process was hampered by shortage of funds. The deficiencies in naval anti-aircraft equipment revealed during the Mediterranean crisis in 1935 were due entirely to economy. Since those days extraordinary progress lias been made, and it can now be stated that the Navy is not worrying about air attack. Not only do new ships bristle with high-angle guns of various calibres, but the accuracy of these guns has been greatly increased by the introduction of improved fire-control methods. i New principles of ship construction have also been adopted to minimise the effect of bomb hits. In modern battleships and cruisers the armour is distributed to protect the vitals from bombs, and all important controls are splinter and bullet-proofed. Every modern vessel of the Navy from the capital ship down to the destroyer and the sloop, is now able to hit back with telling effect at hostile aircraft. This is also true of the oldei units, which have been modernised and re-armed. Merchant Vessels. Having provided for its own defence against the air threat, the Navy took measures for the protection of“ merchant shipping. Here, again, the progress made in two years has been astonishing. 1 have already described the large fleet of anti-aircraft ships now being built up, mainly with a view to keeping air raiders at a distance from convoys. Tins special fleet is, however, only part of the immense organisation created to ensure the safety of food and raw material supplies in war; an organisation in which all three fighting Services are co-operating with the shipping, port, and transport authorities. Regarding the possibility of air raids on London and other centres, the Navy does not propose to be a passive spectator. It would provide sea patrols to give warning of approaching aircraft, and although the difference in time between warnings from this source and those from coast watches might bo small, every -minute gained would be of value.

Daylight raiders flying over the sea would be liable to come under fire from naval vessels, while the growing strength of the Fleet Air Arm will give the Navy powers of’ long-distance retaliation which a potential aggressor is not likely to ignore.

No other navy in Europe has tho same power of launching oversea ail offensives. By 1941 we should possess six modern and four older carriers, with a total capacity of 550 aircraft.