A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 126, 21 February 1941, Page 6

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Increasing Strength THE ROYAL NAVY A recent American cable message purported to give the numbers of new ships recently commissioned in the Royal Navy. The list, which included two battleships, two aircraft-carriers, live cruisers and 11 destroyers, major may not be correct. Progress made in Britain’s wartime naval construction programme is a well-kept secret, lint wc have it on the authority of Mr. Churchill that, the Navy’s strength is growing rapidly, not. only iu the classes of ships mentioned above, but in escort ships, corvettes and other highly important types. Many Ships Building It cannot be doubted that a large proportion of the vessels under construction in British yards for the Royal Navy during 1939 have long since been completed and passed into active service. The shipbuilding yards have been working al high pressure ever since the war started. As fast as Ships are launched their places on the building-slips are taken by the keels of new vessels. it has been stated officially more than once that 1,900,000 tons of warships of all classes are under construction in Great Hritaiu. This huge tonnage includes battleships, aircraft-carriers, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, escort ships, corvettes and auxiliary craft of many kinds. A considerable volume of naval tonnage, mostly small craft, such as destroyers, escort ships, minesweepers, etc., is under construction in Canada. In Australia several destroyers and corvettes are being built. New Battleships The recent visit to the United States of the new 35,000-ton battleship King George V was the first intimation that this ship had been completed and commissioned. There are five battleships in this class. The Prince of Wales was launched on May 3, 1939, 10 weeks after the King George V had taken tin■water. The launch of the Duke of York was originally officially fixed for September 16. 1939, but as the outbreak of war occurred at the beginning of that month, no public announcement was made that the launch had taken place. 'When the war started no dates had been announced for the launchings of the Jellicoe and Beatty, the remaining two ships of the class, but. as their hulls were well advanced, they doubtless entered the water at the end of 1939 or the beginning of last year. That being so, it is probablithat exiieclited fitting-out lias enabled all five battleships to be commissioned by this time. There is a strong probability that the 40,000-tou battleships Lion and Tcmeraire have been launched. Those ships were laid down at Walker-ou-Tyne and Birkenhead resi>ectivel.v in 1939 ou' the slips vacated by the King George V and Prince of Wales The .contracts for two other 40.000-ton battleships of Hie Lion class were placed in August and September, 1939, one order going io John Brown and t 0,, at Clydebank. • Aircraft-Carriers When the war started there were six aircraft-carriers of 23.0<>0 tens displacement under construction in Great Britain- —the Ark Royal had been commissioned for’ service in November. 1938. Tlte first of the six to go into service wits 11.M.5. Illustrious, whose presence in the Medirerratiean w.imade known after site had taken part in the famous attack on rhe Italian fleet in Taranto harbour. Since tlien she has been damaged by German aircraft while assisting to escort a large convoy through the Medilerraneaii. Repairs to the Illustrious were carried out. in Malta dockyard, and I tic vc-se! afterward proceeded to Alexandria at 23 knots. Two other aircraft-carrier.-- of the Illustrious class —lhe Formidable ami Victorious —are known to have been launched in 1939. the former at Belfast on August 17, and lhe latter on Ihe Tyue on September 14. A fourth ship, tho Indomitable, was due to be launched at Barrow-in-Furness a few months later. The aircraft-carrier Implacable was ordered in October, 1938. fro.m rhe Fairfield Shipbuilding Company at Govan, on the Clyde, and the contract for the Indefatigable was placed alien; the time the war started in 1939. The Victorious and Formidable are fully due for commissioning, if they have net already- gone into service. Cruiser Strength Fairly large additions to Britain’s cruiser streugtli ’nave been made ,-iuve the beginning of the war. The Belfast and Edinburgh, ships of an imi>roveJ Southampton class, mounting twelvfl inch guns, went into service in August-September, .1939. They were to have been followed quickly by the lir.-t live cruisers of the Fiji class, the uanrship. Kenya. Mauritius, Nigeria, and 'Trinidad. These ships were of the 1937 pro.gra.mme, and four others of the same type. Ceylon, Gambia, Jamaica, an'd Uganda, were ordered in 1938. Other cruisers well advanced when the war started were rhe Dido class, smaller vessels titan the Fijis. This class includes the Dido, Bonaventure. Hermione. Charybdis, Cleopatra. Scylla, Eury.-rtns, Naiad. Phoebe, and Sirius.

Work on most of the Dido class was well advanced when the war started and probably a number of these cruisers are now in commission.

The Navy Estimates for the financial year 1939 included four more cruisers. 16 destroyers. 22 escort ships ami numerous auxiliarj- vessels. As soon as tlie war started work on all ships ordered was speeded up and a large war programme was put in hand. Many Flotillas

This doubtless included whole flotillas of destroyers, escort ships, minelayers, minesweepers. submarines, motor torpedo-boats and other small craft. 'Vhe building of destroyers ami submit fines is a highly specialized business and every firm experienced in their construction will have full order books. Some 300 destroyers were built during I'JI I-IS tuni it is probable that that number will to- exceeded during the present struggle. Tim Navy can find full use for them.

In asking for ;i "token ' vote,” in pl.-tee of tin- usual Ntivy Estimates at tin- beginning of last year, Ml I'hui-ehill, the then First. Lord of tinAdmiralty, told tlie House of Commons that Im wanted "a little money. ,-i tew .ships ami some more men.” This covered what was in reality a vast programme of new construction.

Apart from the ships mentioned in this article and concerning which most details were published before the war, there must be many others whose identity is a closely-guarded secret. Tim course of the war has made heavy and ever-increasing demands ou tne Royal Navy in overj part of the world. The story of Britain's shipbuilding achievement will be an interesting one when il can lie told. — (S.D.W.)