RACE IN CRUISERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 210, 5 September 1925, Page 9

RACE IN CRUISERS.

• ♦' ECONOMISTS ROUTED.. IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. HOW OTHER NATIONS STAND,. The battle in the British Cabinet between the economy people and tho advocates of a big navy is over. Officially, it is described as a compromise, but actually it is nothing of the kind. Once more the economy advocates havo been routed, and Britain is committed to four new cruisers of 10,000 tons, each costing £3,000,000. Mr. Baldwin leads what is supposed to bo an economy Ministry, but it has long been obvious that the forces which make for spending are too strong for him. Mr. Churchill has had to admit that he is unable to make any substantial cuts in expenditure at home, in view of the opposition of the heads of th 6 great departments. The pressure has been even stronger in the case of the fighting forces that the nation relies upon for defence against real or imaginary danger from abroad. The real problem, of course, is to find security without extravagance. But what is the basis of security? Experts differ. Some still think that dominance at sea depends ultimately on heavily armoured capital ships. The new school argues that battleships "will be useless against the submarines and aeroplanes of the future, supported as the latter will be by smoke screens and possibly poison gases. And in between them are the moderates, who admit the importance of capital ships, but think that, in the present conditions of the world's navies and the Empire's finances, Britain needs nothing more than fast cruisers, backed up by aeroplanes and light craft. Britain Still Leads. To what extent the building programmes of the Powers have been affected by a sincere desire to carry out the Washington Treaty, as distinct from forced economy or a secret conviction that the day of the battleship is over anyway, it would be hard to say. But the fact remains that Britain is the only Power now building battleships. No battle cruisers are now being built abroad, and the Rodney and the Nelson, now On 'tho stocks, will be by far the most up-to-date and powerful vessels in the world. The actual figures are:— Battle-Cruisers. Britain > .••-*! 4 Japan ...., 4 Others ..., Nil Cruisers. Britain -.>«../ 40 U.5.A......... 31 Japan ....>.-.....,..,.-........i 2S , France , >..-..i 10 Italy ~.,.......,.., 13 These figures are misleading, however, for Britain, with the. sole exception of Italy, is the only Power that wiped out her obsolete cruisers at tho end of the war. Reckoning only modern cruisers, the figures are:— Britain i 40 U.S.A. :.........■..:..:.».■.•., 9 Japan , ...,. ... ~. #l . ~~.„. , ( 19 ' France !..,....;..(.., 7 Italy ~....,.,.., 12 But the really significant fact is that tho Washington Conference, though it limited the number of capital ships, did not limit vessels of 10,000 tons and less. The experts of all the leading Powers have concentrated on turning out vessels with the maximum speed and striking power possible to this class, and it looks as if the next year or so will see a new race in armaments, with cruisers tnking the place of battleships. Already Britain is building five vessels of the Kent type, in addition to those of the Hawkins type. Each will cost about £3,000,000, or considerably more than the most powerful Dreadnought afloat did a few years ago.