POCKET BATTLESHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 103, 28 October 1932, Page 7

POCKET BATTLESHIPS

GERMANY BUILDING THIRD

FRANCE'S REPLY

PARIS, 27th October. Because Germany is building a third pocket" battleship, Cabiaet has decided to proceed with the construction of the tattle cruiser Dunkerque, as voted by Parliament last year. /The construction of Germany's "pocket battleship" has, been a source of,disquiet to France for some time, for it is realised that there does not exist in her present navy any ship which is capable of both catching and fighting the novel and powerful German vessel. Tentative proposals for constructing such a ship as that now to be built have been advanced, on a number of occasions, but each time decision was deferred. In July of last year, when the revised naval programme was before the Senate, M. Lemery attached a motion "trusting to the Government to > place before Parliament at the next session a Bill for the immediate laying down of a cruiser designed to reply to tho construction of the DeutseMancl," the German "pocket battleship." Another Senator declared that Franco should declare herself willing to give up the idea of a 23,000-ton ship if Germany would scrap the Deutschland and build no more vessels of this type. Loud applause greeted this statement.

The delay in construction has been for the purpose of working out the details of the new ship and also for financial reasons. It is thus seen that although tho Versailles Treaty was intended to Tender Germany innocuous as a naval power constructive enterprice is already making her a factor in armaments competition.