NAVAL WARFARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 194, 18 August 1930, Page 8

NAVAL WARFARE.

NEW FACTORS APPEAR.

CHANGED CONDITIONS

THE POCKET BATTLESHIP,

(From -3. Special Representative.)

LONDON, Aug. 6.

Radical changes in naval design, tactics, and strategy by Germany, France, and Italy are likely to follow the development of three classes of vessels. These are, firstly, the Ersatz Preussen, Germany's mystery pocket battleship, which will be launched at Kiel this month; secondly, Italy's eight new cruisers, which, though displacing only 5250 tons, are swift, powerful, and heavily armed; and, thirdly, the great French submarine Surcouf, which is more heavily armed than any existing submarine and could not be dealt with by ordinary anti-submarine measures.

Although the vessels are somewhat experimental, each raises problems of vital importance in the future dvelopment of naval defence. The "Daily Telegraph's" well-informed naval correspondent, Sir. H. C. By water, discusses details of the vessels in an article in that paper.

Mr. Bywater ■ regards the Ersatz Preussen as the most important of the three new departures. She was laid down two years ago, and was built with great secrecy. She embodies many novel features, including a new system of underwater defence, elaborate devices for-pro-tecting the crew from poison gas, a patent loading gear for the big guns, enabling four rounds to be fired in a minute. Diesel engines, weighing less than 181b per horse-power, compared with 1501b,, which is the weight of the lightest Diesel machinery hitherto installed in motor ships. ■ Deadly Blow at Cruisers. The Ersatz stows enough fuel for a continuous voyage of 10,000 miles at a speed of 20 knots. The maximum speed is 20 knots, which, though, lower than- the latest light cruisers, °is sufficiently high to place her in the battle cruiser class.- With machinery running economically, she could traverse IS,OOO miles without touching port. The newest British cruisers' maximum endurance is 10,400 miles, but only when the speed is kept down to 13 knots.

A British admiral, who is. a strategy expert, confesses that the Ersatz Preussen introduces a new factor in naval warfare. She is too powerful to be tackled by a cruiser and too fast to be overhauled by a battleship. Once at large on the trade routes she would be able to defy anything except a battle cruiser. As the supply of the latter craft is limited, it seems that a squadron of pocket battleships would be supreme, and many naval experts agree that the Ersatz Preussen has.. killed the 10,000ton, eight-inch cruiser. They argue that it is bad policy to build ships which Continental vessels, equal in tonnage, could easily blow out of the water.

This point, so far as the British Empire is concerned, scarcely arises, as the London Treaty precludes the Empire laying down more 10,000-ton cruisers, but the United States, France, and Italy are still constructing . these. France realises that these will be useless against a pocket battleship, and is planning to build a, 23,000-ton battleship. Italy's New Cruisers. Italy has also sprung a surprise by the Condottieri class of light cruisers. Mr. Bywater writes in regard to these: "Having seen the designs, Tarn impressed bv the possibilities of these amazing little ships. They have the speed of a very fast destroyer, and armament heavy enough to engage any cruiser- short of the British eight-inch type. Into a narrow streamlined hull, "597 feet long and 51 feet broad, is packed steam machinery developing 95,000 horse-power, or 20,000, more than the Mauretania's, which is nearly eight times as large. Their contract speed is 37 knots. The designers are confident that a higher velocity can be attained. "There are eight ships' of this class, and they are not only speedsters. Each carries eight six-inch guns in armoured turrets, four four-inch anti-aircraft guns, also machine-guns and torpedo tubes. Her vital parts are protected by an armoured deck. These ships would be most formidable in the narrow seas such as the Mediterranean, and even in oceanic warfare. France is reported to be evolving a counter type, as these Italian ships have largely cancelled the value of large flotilla leaders to which the French Navy hitherto attached prime importance." France's Submarine. In building the Surcouf, France has opened up new vistas of commerce raiding and oversea defence. The Surcouf is a cruiser endowed with the power of submerging and covering great distances without port facilities. She is 394 feet long and 291 feet in the beam. The sur-,

face tonnage unfuelled.is 3250, and submerged 4300. Diesel engines drive lier at , 18 knots, and she is able at lower speed ~ to run' 1200 miles without ,; "All the exposed portions when-^i. toe i surface arc sufficiently armoured to.witfr ;. stand direct hits from bombs and hgw projectiles, and it is difficult to damage ■; the bull with depth charges, J>f-l| = armed with four eight-inch guns/ j 2711b shell 25,000 vards. No other sun-. i marine has guns of such ; power.-. -W also carries 14 torpedo tubes .all jW*«!J . can be fired simultaneously.- *,'* i equipped with a small seaplane. .; Surcouf is constructed to dive gre. depths and remain under water* torw i hours. The crew numbers 130." 4 Mr. Bywater declares: "The : a#c*f ; ance of this formidable under-watertjF q raises problems of importance secoml.onj ; . to those which the advent of the ; Preussen has brought, into naval w. : cussions." i ' '■-'•■ |