CAPITAL SHIPS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 41, 12 November 1936, Page 11

CAPITAL SHIPS

Value Not Lessened By Threat From Air

NAVY’S SAILORS KNOW

Efficient Weapons in the Fleet (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, November 10. As far as the Navy is concerned tile fleet air arm is indispensable, but the time has not yet come for the abolition of capital ships. The Government is of opinion that no aircraft can play the role of capital ships. This was the opinion expressed in the House of Commons to-night by the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence. Sir Thomas Inskip, on the controversy whether the development of military aircraft' had now relegated naval power to a secondary place in the defence of the nation. Let anyone ask a sailor who was familiar with the recent intensive training in the Mediterranean with regard to the possibility of air attack and the dangers of air attack, continued Sir Thomas. Practice during those weeks had produced a remarkable change in the view taken by sailors as to the efficiency of the weapons with which His Majestys Navy was provided. Experience alone could show whether this confidence was well or ill-founded. He said he had heard to-day of the last steps in negotiations for a new proposal for gun production by a group of firms in the north of England, and these proposals bad been submitted for final approval. He regretted very much that it had not been possible to publish confidential information, and he recognised that In consequence the report on this subject wore a somewhat meagre and thin appearance. He hoped that the report would be accepted as settling not the design but the status of the capital ship for the time being. He was not going to admit that the Navy had met an opponent which it could not master. They knew now how to grapple with the mine and the torpedo, and he believed that the same result could be achieved by the Navy in relation to the air menace. x Trading in Arms. Replying to au expression of regret that the King's Speech contained no promise of legislation to implement the report of the Royal Commission ou the manufacture of and trade in arms. Sir Thomas said that as the Commission had not indicated in what way the arms manufacturing capacity of the country should be controlled it was not unreasonable that the Government should require further time to pursue its inquiries to arrive at a proper solution. Discussing broader issues, he said that the Navy continued to be the first line of defence. As long as we were dependent on overseas communications no one would under-estimate the need of a supremely strong Navy. To say that the growth of air power had destroyed our historic security as an island was only a fraction of the truth. Protection of the home bases of the Fleet and of the ports was, however. a prime necessity which brought them to a consideration of the need for co-operation between the Navy and the Air Force.

The main purpose of the expansion of the Air Force was to provide for defence against risk of attack from the air. It was the Government's aim to develop as a deterrent as powerful a fighting force as it could, and it believed that in capacity, speed and range Britain’s new types of machines were not inferior to any that existed abroad. The year 1937 would see the output of machines extending on an increased scale up to 1939 aud 1940. The resources for the provision of new and powerful guns required in connection with the air defence scheme had been supplemented. Apart from the existing Government establishments and special private l firms,' large additional capacity had been created in the form of a Government factory at Nottingham, which begins production in six weeks’ time.