A FLEET AT WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 246, 18 October 1939, Page 5

A FLEET AT WAR.

BRITAIN'S SEA POWER.I

FOUR YEARS' TREMENDOUS GROWTH.

racTT raw ships this tear.

When the British Navy went out into the blue in August ready to meet the •hock of battle should Mr. Chamberlain's peace negotiations fail, the greatest armada that the world has ever known took up its stations in the North Sea and round the rugged coasts of the island kingdom. Writing of its strength on the eve of the call, Mr. Herbert W. Dawson in "United Empire," the journal of the. Royal Kmpire Society, said that it was difficult to picture the recent tremendous growth of the fleet. In 10.1.") there were 92,338 officers and men «*>rving with the Fleet and the Naval Estimates amounted to £50,550,000. On the eve of war these figures stood at 133,000 officers and men—exclusive of Reservists called back into service— while the cost of the Royal Navy has risen to £147,770.000, the greatest amount ever in times of peace. The following table gives some indication of this growth, being the comparative strength of the Roval Navy in March, 1935, and March, 1939:— 1935. 1939. Build- Build- ProBuilt. Ing. Built, ing. jected. Battleships .. 12 — 12 7 Battle Cruisers 3 — — — Aircraft Carriers 5 — 6 6 — 8 - Inch Gun Cruisers ... 15 — 15 — — I'idhl Cruisers 31 10 46 21 4 Destroyer t.cudera 18 1 IS 3 — Destroyers .. 127 23 14!» 20 16 Submarine* . . ."16 3 r>4 1~, 4 Kurort, Vessels L' 7 1 33 4 22 Many vessels serving in 1935 have been replaced by newer ships—without increasing the total number of that class. During the financial year 1938 no fewer th.tn 44 new «hips were commissioned, including 3 cruisers, 1 aircraft

carrier, 17 destroyers, (! submarines, 3 escort vessels and 5 motor torpedo boats. Nearing completion were HO vessels—s cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier, 15 destroyers. 14 submarines, 4 escort vessels and 13 motor torpedo boats.

Just before the conflict the Hood, Repulse and Renown all rejoined the Fleet after extensive overhaul and modernisation.

Perhajis the most striking feature of British na'.-al strength was the maintenance of powerful cruiser squadrons on overseas stations. There was not a single vital junction of trade routes that is not guarded by the grey policemen of the seas. Including men-of-war in the Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Indian Navies, there are 109 combatant vessels on the trade routes; backed by auxiliary forces, gunboats, submarines, supply ships and 'planes. Once hostile raiders were rounded up. these ships, of course, would be available for duty with the main fleets. In design, armament and protection the British Navy has nothing to fear from any oither fleet. In training—particularly tactical training at sea—it is far ahead of any rival. Despite their age, Nelson. Rodney and Hood are still the most powerful battleships afloat, and the new King C!eorge V. class will set a new standard in battleship design 1 —just as Dreadnought revolutionised naval construction in 1908.

Ships on overseas stations and in the Mediterranean are constantly at sea— the only proper training ground for sailors —and units of the Home Fleet jspend at least eight months of the year in "training cruises." The term "cruise" is misleading, and gives no indication of the work that goes into the building of an efficient fleet. Exercises during these "cruises" are made as realistic as possible, and every type of weapon is brought into use. Ships exercise as a complete fleet, in squadrons and as individual units; mine-fields are laid and swept up. torpedo attacks are made under all conditions, and day and night firing is carried out from both turret [and secondarv armaments.

The Royal Xavv to-day contains no lehips similar to the battle cruisers that were lost at Jutland, or obsolete cruisers [such a« fought heavy odds off Coronel. ITlie fleet to-day is a new fleet; powerful, fast, heavily armoured and trained

to hit hard—and to hit often. Naval policy is governed, so far as modern conditions allow, by the orders of Lord Nelson: "To seek out and to destroy the enemy." There ir« no douht that the men and ships which make up British power at sea are fully capable of performing this mission. The Reserve Fleet alone was sufficient to "contain" or even to fight a delaying action against any hostile European fleet. Sixty men-of-war were fully recommissioned by men who had long served in the Navy, some of them in the 1914-18 war. Every chip is in full fighting trim, and the numbers include 23 cruisers, 2 aircraft carriers and 44 destroyers.