NEW CRUISERS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3378, 13 June 1927, Page 8

NEW CRUISERS.

THE 10,000-TON LIMIT

Earl Jellicoe, supjxn-ting the proposed disarmament congress, favoured further limitation in the size of cruisers, pointing out that the fixation of the limit at 10,000 tons had at one stroke made nearly every cruiser in the British Navy obsolete, and had enforced a standard of 10,000 tons for all future cruisers.

The present position was recently made clear by Mr Archibald Hurd in the London “Telegraph.” He wrote that: — “The number of cruisers afloat is very much smaller than it was before the war, and so far as the Old World is concerned is still decreasing. We possessed then 110 and had 17 building; Germany had 48 and had 6 building; while Austria-Hungary had 7 and 3 on the slips, making 64 for the Central Powers. Italy bad built 16 and had 4 in hand, and the French squadron numbered 30. On the other hand, the United States could mobilise 25, and Japan possessed 23. The position now is very different, as the following figures, showing the cruisers built and building, for the various Powers reveal: —

When it is suggested, as it has been suggested, that the naval Powers have already entered upon a new race in armaments, and that they are building cruisers in large numbers in competition with each* other, these authentic figures may be quoted in disproqf of the assertion. It rests, as will be seen, upon absolutely no foundation, even when allowance is made for'the eclipse of German sea power and the complete disappearance of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. The figures for 1926 include all cruisers either building or projected, and consequently take into account the four British vessels which have not yet been laid down and the three American cruisers the building of which has just been sanctioned. So far as Great Britain is concerned, it cannot even be claimed that we are building bigger cruisers now than we were on the eve' of the war. We then possessed 38 large cruisers, with an average displacement of upwards of 11,000 tons, and in addition we bad eight vessels of more than 7000 tons each. The Admiralty consequently could mobilise 38 vessels of a greater displacement than any which can how be built under the terms of the Washington Treaty, which limits the displacement to 10,000 tons. There is a widespread impression which is very prevalent on the other side of the Atlantic, that the Washington Conference gave its assent to the building of cruisers of greater size than would otherwise have been laid down. The contrary is, however, the fact. Under the terms of the Treaty we and all other countries are debarred from constructing ships like the Minotaurs, the Warriors, the Drakes, or the Hogues, ranging in displacement from 12.0C0 up _ to 14,600 tons and mounting the familiar 9.2 in gun. The Washington Treaty definitely restricted both the displacement and gun-power of cruisers, though it left the Admiralties of the world free to develop the designs of destroyers and submarines up to 10,000 tons, provided that no heavier gun than the Sin is installed. In other words, restrictions were placed upon the cruiser—the gunship, but not on the destroyer or submarine —the torpedo-ship. Since defence from the torpedo inevitably involves, additional weight in the gunship, the Washington Agreement has always been regarded by naval officers in England with amazement.

Most of the cruisers which are now being built will be of the maximum displacement and armament permitted under the Treaty, That they would have been larger and even more powerful in defence, if not also in offence, but for this instrument, goes without saying. Designers have been placed in a position of great embarrassment, because they have been called upon to incorporate great offensive power ■in a hull of limited size. In the result most of them have striven to obtain high speed at the expense of protection. The theory is that the swifter the cruiser the less likely it is to be hit by a torpedo. Cruisers zigzag when in torpedoinfested waters, and consequently the higher the speed the more effective this method of defence. Moreover, the cruiser which is under attack has powerful guns on which to rely, forcing the destroyer or submarine with'its slow-moving torpedo to keep at a safe distance when opposed by the swift-travelling projectile of the gun. Since the Washington Treaty permits the Sin gun to bo mounted, and it is possible to carry eight of these weapons with a good supply of their projectiles of 2501b, {lie Admiralty lias, of course, gone to this limit, without, however, sacrificing speed. The cruisers which are being built lor the British Fleet can be regarded as the swiftest vessels which arc being constructed. and since speed is accepted as- a good defence against torpedo attack, we can he well content with the design of these cruisers winch on service will, of course, exceed 10, COO tons, as the weight of the fuel is not included in the calculation, but the great point to he born in mind, now that Parliament is about to authorise the laying down of additional cruisers under the five years’programme, is that when all these ships have been completed the British Navy will have less than half as many vessels of Ihe as it possessed on the eve of the war. We arc not building in competition with anyone, for our standard, the revised post-war standard, is absolute and not relative.

Built Bldg Tl. 1926. Tl. 1914. Diff. British Empire 48 14 62 12765 Germany Austria-Hun-8 3 11 5463 gary — — 20 1010 F ranee 16 4 3010 i toly . 14 2 16 204 Japan . 33 6 39 23f 15 U.S.A. . 32 5 37 25f 12 .151 34 185 289104