THE BRITISH NAVY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 14, 17 July 1934, Page 8

THE BRITISH NAVY

WELL UNDER TREATY LIMIT

ARREARS OF BUILDING

Under the pressure of an awakened public opinion, the Admiralty is enter-ing'-upon the task of re-establishing the British Fleet, writes Sir Archibald Hurd' in the "Sydney Morning Herald." For reasons of economy, it cannot bo restored to thfl position which it should occupy if it were to reflect the strategic needs of the British Empire, comprising nearly one-sixth, of the land surface of the globe. The cost would bo too great, even if the London: Nava| Treaty did not at present set limits on the expansion. But without in any way infringing tho provisions of that treaty, a good deal can be done immediately,; The First Lord of the Admiralty recently, recalled that "the total replaeament tonnage which can bo laid down in 1934, 1935, andj 1936 is liniited to the outstanding ton-^ riago over, ago on December-,1, 1936, together with the , tonnage becoming over age in 1937, 1938, and 1939." According to the official Return of Fleets, which is prepared by the Admiralty each year, twenty-six cruisers which aro still.on the adtivclist will be over age on December 31, 1936. These include twenty units of the "C": class, five, of-tho "D". class, and the Australian cruiser Brisbane, with" an aggregate of 111,895 tons. ; ■ i •

|j As a cruiser takes, about three years tp build, therp is no chance, however vigorous tlio. action of the Admiralty and however large the provision of money, that the treaty limits will be reached. In other, words, whatever steps may be taken in the near future, tho British Fleet for three or four years will remain much below the strength assigned to it by tho London Naval Conference., Tho fact is that tho naval authorities havo heavy arroars of cruiser construction to" overtake, apart from, new battleships which ought to be laid down, and any pro-i gramme which may be adopted for the, maintenance of the flotillas of destroyers and submarines, of which the units are wearing out. Indeed, it may be said that almost the whole British Fleet has -been permitted .to become obsolete during the discussions on the limitation of armaments, which have been carried on since the signing of the Peace Treaty. CHANGE OF THE BALANCE. Gestures of good will have been made, without result, except that com- j peting -Powers have 'been encouraged to press forward ambitious shipbuilding programmes. The following official figures show the strength of the leading navies.' (a) in 1914, (b) in 191S, when the struggle ended, and (c) now— HUITISII COMJIOXWEAIiTH. •

The British naval position can he summed up briefly in order to reveal the gravity of the situation: (1). All the battleships and battle cruisers now an service, except two, were designed before the Great War' and consequently embody none of its dearly-bought lessons. The only postwar vessels are the Nelson and Rodney. (2) There aro today only 36 really efficient cruisers. Shortly after the beginning of tho Great War the- Ad-

miralty found that even 10 were inadequate for the strategic needs of the Empire.

SMALLER CRAFT.

(:S) The British weakness in destroyers and submarines is notorious. It has been admitted by every First Lord since Mr. L. S. Amery was at the Admiralty and drew up a reasonable programme .of replacement, which has boon only partially carried out. (4) The failure to build new ships has forced the Admiralty to retain in service vessels which otherwise would have been scrapped. The result of this* policy is that the repair bill is steadily . mounting up, and will continue- to mount up, year by year, untii all the war-worn ships, especially cruisers and destroyers, have been replaced. ■ : ' (v) The dropping of ships from successive building programmes and the delay in building such vessels as have been laid down have led to widespread unemployment, not only in the shipyards and engine shops, but in all the auxiliary industries. When the keel of a man-of-war is laid down, orders flow out to hundreds of firms, for the crew of battleship or cruiser must live in some sort of comfort. (6) Slow shipbuilding has proved to be dear shipbuilding. Recent naval construction has been subject, not to tho strategic needs of the Empire, but to considerations of finance and political expediency—ships have : been built slowly at.a very heavy cost. (7) The personnel has been tragically reduced, with the result that the complements of officers and men in all the ships in commission have been cut down below the standard of efficiency. In the opening' year of this century, the British people maintained what was called "the Two-Power' Naval Standard," which meant equality in ' battleships with and superiority in cruisers and other craft over, the next two strongest Powers. In every ocean and sea the British Fleet was supreme. In, the Pacific Ocean, five battleships, 16 cruisers, 15 sloops, and eight destroyers were on watch and ward; while in European waters, 18' battleships, 19 cruisers and gunboats, as well as live torpedo gunboats and li destroyers, were in full commission, with a large reserve squadron, including 10 older battleships, as their support in an emergency. ' ■■'~ - ■ ■ ■ FALLEN AWAY. Now, as has been shown, the fleet has been reduced to'a shadow of what it was,-with, only 15 capital ships, and all of those of pre-war design, except two, and, in place of 70 cruisers^ which Earl Jellicoe has claimed to •be the minimum of reasonable safety, there are only 51, of which 15 are over age and inefficient. ' .. The resnlt of these reductions is that British influence all over the world has, suffered, for, the British Fleet has always been the main support of British diplomacy. In China waters piracy is once "more active, British merchant seamen haying been held to ransom; in the. Persian Gulf slavery is once more, a flourishing, though deplorable/ industry; the work of charting/ the world seas, hitherto the peculiar duty of the British Navy, is restricted, to the possible danger of : travellers by se^; and when earthquakes/ or other disasters occur the Admiralty is hard put to it to supply immediate assistance in the cause of humanity. . ,■•'...

With a fleet barely up to a one-Power standard, the .work for tho world which the British Navy has done for hundreds of years has inevitably suffered. As the BritislrFlect was regarded, not only in this country, but in other friendly countries, as the surest guarantee of liberty, of life, and of property, the peace ;of the world is less secure, than it w,as.; It is in these circumstances that all the members of the National* Government. . representing all the political parties, are agreed that tho task of restoring the British Meet can no longer.be delayed with safety.- ' • . .-.-••' ;

inn. Capital ships 60 : Cruisers 10S Destroyers ...... 2IG ■ Torpedo boats ... 106 Submarines 74 1018. ■ : r,n inn 433 !>4 137 IB34. 15 r.i 152 : ; TJ.S.A. 1.914. Capital, ships 33 ■ Cruisers SS Destroyers ...... 51 Torpedo boats ... IS Submarines 31 iais. 39 S4 110 17 in:u. •21 251 ■'■■,. • -JAPAN. 1 1914. Capital ships 16 Cruisers 37 Destroyers SO Torpedo-boats ... Rl Submarines 13 FIUXCE. 191S. 2S 73 24 ia 1934. 9 SI 101 59 . 1914. Capital ships .;.. 2(i Cruisers 34 Destroyers SS Torpedo boats ... 143 Submarines .... 54 191S. 20 20 91 121 63 1934. 9 IS 73 3 94 ITALY. 1914. Capital ships ..... 14 Cruisers 26 Destroyers ..... 33 Torpedo boats ... 01 Submarines .... 19 1018. 34 17 53 10G 78' 1934. 4 ?.i 0\ 4 43