H.M.S. "CHERRYTREE."

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue LVI, 13 November 1925, Page 8

H.M.S. "CHERRYTREE."

? CUT DOWN " AT WASHINGTON BRITAIN'S LATEST BATTLESHIP NEW FEATURES IX ARMAMENT. The launching, of .the battleship -Nelson* at the yard-of Messrs.' Armstrong, AVhitworth,"" and ■ Co;'; •' Limited,- -Kew-; cas.tieronTTyne, recently, the 'naming ceremony, being - performed by Dame Caroline Bridgeman, .wife of the First Lord of the. Admiralty, was &n event of special interest in many ways (saysthe London "Times" naval- correspon-' dent)'. She has' been nicknamed,- the' "Cherry tree" because' she "was; cut down by the Washington - Conference; her tonnage reduced to the 35,000 limit £ti&>fiotifets ence. It is nine -years- since: : the- >■ last battleship' Avas • launched , .'in'- Great Britain! when the Ramillies, '■' of" the Royal Sovereign class, was put afloat at the Beardmpre yard, Dalmuir, ,\ on September 12, 1916. There has been one built" in the interval, the Hood, which was launched at :Clydei bank oh August 12,-1918, arid is 'the heaviest war vessel afloat. The Hood, however,' was H designed in the . early part of the war, whereas in" the Nelson's design advantage "can be taken of 7 the experience gained during ' of that .conflict, and particularly of . the lessons of "the. Battle' of Jutland..: ; ;Not that her designer. 'Sir Eustace ■ d'Eyneour t". thg late Director -of ■ Naval Con; struetion'. had an:-.entirely;free hand ;n the matter. In accordance with ; 'thc Washington Treaty of 1022, no capital ship must exceed'3s,ooo ton s displacement, or carry a, sruri with; acalibre' in pxc«ss'of 16in.. The; tonnasre 0f.: % the Royal Sovereign >lass is 25,750: of; the Hood 4i;000;vso that the /Nelson enmes;.. mjdway between them> in,- sizeThe- adoption of a 16tn gun. :mpreoyej\ introduces anew weapon into the Royal, Navy, as earlier canital ships have not' mounted guns heavier tlian 15in.

-> vThe Futur? '„', y^ Yet; although they mark a new departure in being. postwar battleships in the Prltigh'-iNayy-in-hav-ing to conform to a displ aceme nt limited by international agveeinent/and in introducing new features iifarmament,- .it.-is quite "possible that the Nelson, and her sister-ship, , the 'Rodney,.building; o,n the Mersey, niay, be .tlie last battleships put. afloat." • Future capital ships:. may very liiceiy- have the ot-present--day cruisers, ,the ..lonjiage of.-whjcjv.is-restricted to 10,000, and the - niaximum calibre of the guns to Sin. Xo other battleships may be laid down by Britain, Japan, or America until 1931. France and Italy have the option of resuming such construction in 1927, but they ex : pressly reserved the right of employing the capital ship tonnage'allowed them ns they might consider advisable, subject to the limitfl for individual ships. If these two Powers decide to construct other typee—cruisers,' submarines, or aircraft—the other nations might'we J 1 agree not to continue the building of vessels which cost six millions apiece.: The circumstances in which Great Britain besan the Nelson and Kodney immediately after the disarmament' conference at Washington may be briefly recalled. The American proposal -6n- : November 12. 1021, was for a complete; holiday from large warship' *building; arid for the scrapping of vessels in hand. The subsequent insistence of Japan on the retention of the .Mutsu, Ihen approaching completion, mnde & considerable difference tin the" efficiency of the proposed Japanese Fleet,--giving it two post-Jutland ships, ttio Mutsn arid Nagato; and. to preserve the equilibrium, the United States insisted on retainin" the West Virginia and Colorado, laid down in 1019-20. The British Gov-c-vnment then had no, alternative, approved proportionate ratios of 5—5 —3 for the navies of Britain, America and Japan were to be maintained, but to build two new ships, a necessity the conference recognised as unavoidable, and approved accordingly. ■

Triple Gua Turrets

.In accordance ,with official custom, fuil details of the Nelson and Kodney arc being withheld until the year of their completion. Laid down in December. 1022, they were expected to be ■built} in about three years from jthat date, but the boilermakers' lock-Qiit of 1923 and other causes have 'seriously retarded them, and it is now announced that the Nelson will be completed towards the end of 1920, and the Pvodney by April, -W27. Their ■dimensions are officially given as follow: —

Length of watcrline, 702 ft; extreme beam, 100 ft; and mean draught at standard- displacement of 35,000 lons, 30ft.

It.has been stated with some show of authority in America that the ships- will carry nine 16in guns, mounted in triple turrets. Not more than eight lOiii or 1-Mn guns have hitherto been placed iv one vessel, and the triple gun turret has not hitherto been adopted in the British Navy, although trials with it were known to have been made before the war. If the further statement in America that the total weight cf broadside from the new ships will be 20,0001b is correct, all the nine 16in guns must be able to bear on either broadside. The new weapons take a projectile of from 21C01b to 24611b. as compared with the J 9001b of the loin projectile. Nine of them would, therefore, discharge up to 22,1001b at one salvo. The original dreadnoughts could discharge l'2in projectiles on the broadside, a total weight of metal of OSOOIb, or less than one-thirdr: that. of. the Nelson;, and tl.* , bursting charges and fuses then in-use were such that their destructive powet was even less in proportion. v- : '■ r .

- may bq the relative propor--tion of the elements of hattie-worthiness J —speed,, endurance, ; protectfon,, -gunHi power, etc.—which-will, ultimately ■ bd j found in the design of the Kelson, it is:' quite unlikely; that vessels' of-such-_d-type will be repeated. Xo doubt fullprovision has been made : for. mesting. the two factors of air attack and umfcrr? j water.attack, but. the position is-certain j to- have changed- again before —the moment for designing mole' bis; ships arrives, if it ever,does. ;. :'"■