GERMAN NAVY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 221, 14 June 1930, Page 11

GERMAN NAVY

Influence of New Ships “It is remarkable, to say no more, that Germany was not invited to the recent Naval Conference, the “Liverpool Post” remarked recently. “It was perhaps felt that, in her present disarmed condition, she had no real interest in such deliberations, and might, therefore, be left out of account. But, in fact, she may well prove to be a very important factor in the naval disarmament movement It looks, indeed, as if the promoters of the conference had failed to appreciate the significance of Germany’s intention to build five ‘pocket battleships’ of the Ersatz Preussen type. “This type, the last word in armoured vessels of the class, is likely to become the model for other naval Powers. Already the French Admiralty is reported to be studying how it can go one better on similar lines. . . Obviously, if Germany persists in her naval ambitions, her neighbours, especially France and Poland, are . likely to increase their strength. That, in turn, must logically lead, on the maxim of parity, to an increase in the Italian navy. What will become of the ThreePower Pact in such circumstances? A clear obligation to apply the ‘safeguarding clause’ would then arise for Great Britain, and it would be very strange if America and Japan could avoid following in our step*,”