The Silver Grey Renown.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1927, Page 3

The Silver Grey Renown.

A Mighty Fighting: Ship.—Produc* of the Lessons of the War. Even now the Romum is one of ibc tinv*t battleships afloat, Shf is ihe finished prodnd of experiences in the naval battJfs of ilio < imM War. It was demonstrated again and again— ui Corcmol, where Von Spec's fleet destroyed Adin;ra] Craddock's squadron, at the Falkland*, vhcre. in 1 urn, Admiral Sturdoe destroyed Von SprcV hquadron, and at Heligoland—lhal hirh sixvo , :md ]<m;r rnrpv and aecuraU , pmfirc -were ihr cshCTiliMl ' '<■ » J '-i modern naval warfare, and ihal ship's with those essentials had an overwhelming: adrantapc. It was ivhrn four balUesliips of ;m improved R'Oyal Sovereign type were :il>out to bo built that the naval authorities had taught tlirrn a grim Jcsson. and they cancelled \he order :md decided to build lavo battle-cruisers — tlio Renown and the Repulse—of an eniirely new design, able to si-ram 32 knots and carry ins a main armament of fix ]n-inch guns and a. secondary armament of wvenl<*>n 4~iijch pins. The building of the Renown was onlrusU-d in ilm Fairficld Yard, on the Clyde, and Jut kw] was laid on January 2;% 1935. She vac launched on March 4, 3936, and made ready for sea by the following September, when she "wcni under The, flag of Admiral Jclliooe, •who Ava.= afterwards t<« bo Governor-Cenera.] of N'nv Zealand. The Renown and the Repulse were both engaged in a. running fight with a German squadron on Jinvi'?nber 17, 1917, in which the Huns played ilie panuo of tip-and-run. Efficiency Unimpaired. Tbe efficiency of the battle-cruiMcr Renown u>. a. fighting unit will not be in the slightest way impaired by her being used for lie Anl.ijicidc.an cruise of ili« Duke and Duchess of York. Of course, eotne of the internal arrangemente had to be altered so an l.n give additional a.coommodation to the Royal couple and suite. Tbe stern gallery has been rcaffixod ;in •»-a.s tbe case when the Prince of "VVaJc.P uwd the Renown for bis oversea fceore. The mess })la.te, which belonged to the battleship Commonwealth, hae been lent to the Renown for the occasion. When the Commonwealth wae given t.o the E.oyal ICavy by Australia twenty-two years ago the meRP plat* included several article* that were presented by the people of the Comnjonwealtb, end which eerrcd her officers' ujesa til! she m broken up after tie war. A "Jackie* , Creation. Tbe Jlcnowo and bcr sii<tc>r ship. the Rfputac, n'preecnt the late Lurd v i-lrr'« idea of a battle cruißcr. "Jackie's* , favoured e*per*.ion was Iha.t Iho ideal ing ship should be armed with the biggest possible big guns and the smallest practicable secondary guns, while her defenen-e qualities should be sacrificed t» engine-power, as in his opinion speed was the best protection. Accordingly the tvro battle-craisers were built to bis ideals in tbe early days of the -war. They were originally intended for special operations in the Baltic and, like most wartime productions, did imt come up to anticipation. Thry were laid down in 1814 to follow tbe type of the Koyal Sovereign clukk, but the outbreak of the war led to their roconeti-ue-tion, when they had to be re-designed, cut in 1w«, and Icnpihened by nearly 170 foet, so that when they flew their maiden pennants they were lightly armed, shallow-draft, very fast battle-cruisers. The experiences of our ships at Jutland HTwtuaUv prevented »Lfeir reprodurtion. Of the two ships, the KepuW v«s tJje only one which saw actual active service, althoiiph both eerred with the Grand lleet from ifIJC Kinen the war closed the Renown and the Eepulse were fitted with bulges along and below the waterlinr., which is eupposd to be torpedo-proof. The Renown has ■ displacement of 26,500 t.ons. bul her full loud displacement is well up to 35,000 tons. Her chief dimensions are: Ijength 704 feet, beam 102 feet !♦ inches, and draft 31 J feet. Her chief armaroeni <'cinsists of Fix 35-snch in three turrets, two forward and one aft; fifteen 4-inch guns in five tri]>]<:! xnouatings, tbe triple mountings being designed to seeuie a maximum concentration of fire from the mo*t advantageous positions without interference, but it is said with not anticipated success. A couyile <>f anti-aircraft guns a.rp earned abreast of the BW«rnd funnel, while eight above-water 21-inch torpedo tubes were recently substituted for the original two submerged tubes. Protection was originally given by a 6-inch belt along the waticriine between the end turrets with a short 4-inch internal continuation forward and 3 inches aft, but since, the war the itanown has t»een with a S-inch be.lt alonp the waterline, with 0 inches over the main deck side and between tic <>nd turrets. The ]. r >-innb guns are in bouses armoured from 31 to 7 inches in depth, and tbe barbettes arc armoured to a depth of 7 t.o 4 inches. Turbines of 120,00(1 h.p., driving quadruple screws, are supplied by 42 boilers, which are fired by oil only, the designed speed of 30 knots having bneu exceeded by 2or 3 knots. The full complement of the Renown for a.ctive service comprises 1240 officers and men. The Renown was built ni Fairficld, lfll. c >-l(i, taking up a period of 2(1 months, -joined tbe Grand Fleet in September of the laH.er year, and served m the First Battle Cruiser Squadron till 3W9. She ctwiveyed tbe Prince of Wales on his tour 1.0 IT.S.A. and Australasia., 1920-23. and to India and Japan, l«21-2i. After her recent improvements th' . Renown eott something like £4.000,000. Tbe Clippers Of Old. A valuable series of old maritime prints has been lent for the voyage of the Renown by Messrs. T. Ti. I'arker, the historical picture deralers, of Berkeley .Street, London. For the dining saloon the Duke iuid Duchess have chosen a selection of rare coloured aquatints, portraying events in the history of Australia, including a scarce set of four views of fcydney, X.S.W., published in Ibid, only e few years after Phillip founded tliis first Australian Colons-. The 32/iva] drawing room <m board will be hung with fine lithographs of the old Australian clipper ships—diminishing memorials of the great era of the rush U» that country for wool ajid gold—and among these are the Murray, a pa.6sc.nger ship built by Mes-rs. Ball, of Aberdeen, in 18C1; the Coonattu, built by Mfwer*. Bilbo., of London, in ]803, a la*t JiUk- ship tliat was finally lost on Beachy Head in 3870; the YaUla. also built by Messrs. Bilbe, in lfcftS, which was the fastest, but went ashore ai.d became a Urtal h,hn Cape tiris-Nez, March "7. JK72. All three were owned by Messrs. And* i— ■> Thompson and Co., generally known as thu < >. . Line. Another is the celebrated Aberdeen V,, clipper Ethiopian, built in 1864. She «.,- ;i :• i" ■• ship, and when Norwegian -own'-d v;i ■ . '■ . ' 181)4, but was picked up and !(■■, •■: ■].;..!. \ '■■ : c she was condemned. A record of the won] mi. : •'■! ■ " •■"' ■<•% would not be complete v.- ' ■■: i<■■ i ■• •■■•■ ■ ' '■ i'■ ' 1 1'btmted Blackball Lin< :h 1 ;:n ••■;•:■ ;■■ \rnyl in the print of the .la; 1 , .......-. -•: '.• .-<-<1 i>. Ithe finest of the qu«i: • ■■: ' 1.- i' ■■ ! M»'-1.«.v :<iBoston, U.S.A.. !•■ ' '''-" : ! ; - v n-'wri <!■• - ing her four }<•)»;- i.i a'-'.M , . , !>•' -i A■■ tunately burned «i 1 i»«-n 1 ■••■ ]" k To c-t>mj.,(l<- tin- f<i)].-<; ;. :; ..* • ■••■ , . • r tb<i Fri;-«ie- i- •■• ' •!■ : •■: ••' the -Sum--*." T.-.>" .■■ - 1 , ■ ' ■": "-I owned by >!!<-"-■ >!<•»'•/ ' ■' >-' • altbough not wj speedy »h« "• ■ ■-'■' <- ] <* ma.de iriany fine jia.SKag"« urn il >7J • . -.'.•• v»i wrecked near f^eelojip. There arc ;il~:i •■> f< « i...-. ;' ■ Mints, ;il] of excej'lional werrity. ?•*' --'■ '■• <r lujre ]<'nt ihe colleetion 1« r< .!<■>■ ai.d t>ie monotony of the ba-c tU.'<-] i<u kL'-uu-, a.iid po make the suite a IjH'ic more houe-lii».e J >r tb'.lr Royal Higijicsscfi during the cruibc - ' —- —