NAVAL EVOLUTION

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 107, 7 May 1924, Page 18

NAVAL EVOLUTION

CONQUERED MENACE OF THE SUBMARINE

EARL BEATTY ON CAPITAL SHIPS

CRUISER REPLACEMENT URGED

Earl Beatty, responding for the 'Navy ■at the-recent Guildhall Banquet, said that at the Washington Conference the strength of the' navies of the Great Powers was definitely laid down so far as capital .ships and aircraft carriers were concerned. It was recognised that our peculiar situation as a scattered Empire admitted of special treatment in the matter of cruisers. The approximate length of the British trade routes was 80,000 miles. -At any.given moment there were over one thousand Brit-, . ish .merchant ships scattered over these routes, and as attack might be made at any. point of the .80,000 miles it would be. realised what a gigantic task was the protection of shipping in war time, and how. impossible it • was to carry it. out without'an adequate number of cruisers.- .'..' _ ''' '■ .■ '.■■"'.■■".'. ■ : Owing to the need for economy, however, our cruiser-building" programme had not kept pace with our needs. The older vessels were "wearing out, and they must be replaced by new and up-to-date ships. The.Prime Minister had already announced the forthcoming replacement of the county class, which were first laid down specially, for trade protection in' 1899.- ":'."'"...■■.■" V Speaking of the term "capital ship," Earl ,Beatty. said "it-seems to me that it can best be defined as a ship which combines the greatest offensive powers with powers of defehcef .which'make it capable of withstanding attack' from all other types and. weapons. that- can be brought against it.- . It, must, in. addition, possess speed and good sea-keeping 'qualities':''' The capital ship of to-day has to meet very different forms of attack from .those to which it was expos_ed:a few years a(g'o. ,; ■ .... : . '.'Not only. have, guns and torpedoes developed immensely, but submarines and aircraft are additional weapons tc^ contend, with. The gun- has greater velocity, the shell has. greater bursting charge, and the protecting armour ki's had to be; increased accordingly. The increased ••'efficiency of the •' torpedo :hns led to the / successful adoption of new methods of underfwater protection. SUBMARINE AND AIK ATTACK "The advent of the submarine has increased the__ liability ,of ships to ; tor- ' pedo attack; and; this', lias necessitated the development of anti-submariiie;meas-ures.. To-day the' development of aritisubmarins, dsvlccs is; more than keeping pace; with the submarine; so much so that to the' Power in'command of; the surface of the sea.the submarine is not; a ■ great menace: To a Power weak on the. surface of the sea it is a serious menace. ' '■■••-■' ■ . "Then we come to the question of air attackon the. capital ship and the means for countering and' defeating it. The improvement in armour protection against the gun is effective a,gainst; the bomb, and the •urider-water protection against the torpedo is equally effective against aircraft ■bombs 'bursting .;-close alongside a. ship.- Anti-aircraft lire has: made great strides, and we should be able to rely on our own fleet aircraft for counter attack, ■ ..:,..•. "The .decision that capital ships can be equipped to withstand all these forms of attack has not been reached without the most careful investigation or without giving every consideration to the points which have been urged against .it by those who hold that the day of the large surface is s past. The decision, is based upon experiment and exhaustive trial fortified by the' best naval.opinion, available and the advice of all.officers ■ who have held important command within, the, last' ten years, the- period durinj; which" the new menaces have developed! Naval constructors corroborate the naval opinion and their views are in turn.confirmed by the decisions reached in the United;, States and Japan. ' "The capital ship—that is td"i say.'^the most powerful ship afloat—is the basis of sea power. It is the unit.upon the support of which depends the freedom of action of every, less powerful type-of craft. It is a match.for any.s'tiip or weapon that can bejbrought against it. "To turn again to/the;'air.' It is not. too much to say that.in the future no fleet, no ship 'will be fully equipped without; aircraft. Victory may well dependupon this. : It must be remem-' bered 'that aircraft can function only in comparatively narrow waters. • The great oceans "which carry our ttrade.and commerce'are as free from their influences as' ever.; As in the i;ase of the submarine it is only the Power which commands'the sea that-can secure the full, use and freedom of action of1 aircraft-borne in aircraft carriers and in other vessels, of the fleet. .. ' ;•,'■-'■. SINGAPOEE. ' Earl'Beatty went on to defend the , Singapore project.' . For years, he, said, bmgappre .had been, recognised as the best strategical position in the Far East As for the naval forces of the Empire, he said he wished to make it clear that the Admiralty were definitely in favour of. the policy of the development of -Dominion .navies. He concluded with an appeal for .the- maintenance of the personnel of the navy." 1 The Earl of Cavan, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, expressed gratitude to Lord' Derby, for his definite pronouncement that there would be no further reductions in the fighting troops lhere was no militarism, in" the British Army, . but there was one point where their armour was weak, and he appealed for help; recruiting for the anti-aircraft bn G ades in the. Territorial Army was not-good. They had only. 700 men but of the 3000 required and later they would want, broadly speaking, another 21,000, and they were wanted for the definite task of defending their own homes and their own kith and kin Sir Samuel Hoare,. Secretary for Air replying for the Royal Air" Force, spoke o£ : the. increasing strength of the Air Force, and said that it would increase in strength until "eventually as the first necessary stage in our expansion we should have a home defence force of 532.squadrons comprising about 600 first line machines.". As to civil aviation he could; not.see why the first steps should not be taken for startingV Wat Imperial air route between Groat 'Britain and the Far East.