AMERICAN NAVY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 62, 10 September 1937, Page 8

AMERICAN NAVY

ASKS MORE BIG SHIPS

A REPLACEMENT PLAN

Funds for building two more 35,000----ton battleships are to be asked of Congress by the Navy Department in the Appropriation Bill for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1938, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Naval Operations, announced recently, says the "New York Times." Tentative construction plans also call for the building of two light cruisers of 7050 tons each to replace ships of -the Omaha class.

' The battleships will be replacements for the oldest of over-age ships and increase to four the number of that class being built Plans are now being completed at the New York Navy Yard for the two battleships already authorised, the keels df which probably will be laid early next year. Their construction will mean employment for 5000 men. each at the New York and Philadelphia yards, where they are to be built.

There were indications that the navy hopes to have Congress authorise two new battleships a year until replacements have been made for the fifteen battleships now in commission, as all are or soon will be over-age, but there was no definite announcement to this effect.

Admiral Leahy said that the navy was adhering to its policy of building up to treaty limits and had not embarked upon a programme of matching, ship for ship, the new British programmes, which contemplates five new battleships. • ■ . Nor, he added, was it intended to recondition the old battleships as they are replaced, although it has been reported that Great Britain planned to recondition her old battleships.

The battleships to be replaced were not designated, but the oldest ones are the Arkansas, completed in 1912', 26,100 tons; the New York and Texas, each completed in 1914, 27,000 tons each, and the Oklahoma, completed in 1916, 29,000 tons. , Presumably the new cruisers will replace the Omaha and Milwaukee, both of which were completed in 1923.

PLANE CARRIERS DELAYED.

Coincident with this announcement, Admiral Leahy revealed that the new 19,900-ton aircraft carriers Yorktown and Enterprise, which are being built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, would be delayed nearly a year in taking their places with the fleet, due to faults in the reduction machinery and minor mechanical repairs found necessary. The expense of replacing the reduction machinery and making the repairs to bearings, lubrication equipment, and other parts, he said, would be borne by the shipbuilding company. There was no question of sabotage, Admiral Leahy added, the reduction machinery having been found to produce excessive vibration and noise, and the other mechanical defects being of a minor character usually experienced in the building of all ships before they are finally accepted by the Navy. The Yorktown was to have been completed on August 16 and the Enterprise on December 21. The two carriers, authorised in 1933, were to cost £4,750,000 each.

The two new battleships already authorised, the North Carolina and the Washington, which are to be built respectively at the New York and Philadelphia Navy Yards, will be of the most up-to-date character under the plans being drawn at the New York yard, the Navy Department said recently. "The quality of materials and workmanship will be fully up to the established naval standards, and every effort has been taken and will continue to be taken to improve present engineering practices wherever practicable," according; to the announcement.

"The various navy yards and laboratories are conducting numerous tests and experiments to improve material and design, and 'the results of such tests will be worked into the design of the battleships, and also on other types of vessels under construction.

PROTECTIVE MEASURES,

"Definite steps are being taken with the aim of getting fabrication under way early in 1938. If this can be accomplished, it will tend towards preventing further discharges of workmen at the two navy yards concerned, and also will open up work on the ships for the finishing trades at an earlier date than would otherwise be possible.

"It will also result in earlier placing of orders for raw and finished materials in the mills and factories throughout the country." The Department said that the most complete protection against aeroplane bombs, mines, and torpedoes which can be devised will be provided in the North Carolina and the Washington.

"It is expected," the statement said, "that these two battleships will be at least the equal of any in the world with respect to this type of protection. "During the past decade all large naval Pawers have conducted numerous experiments to determine the effectiveness of various types of protection against aeroplane bombs, mines, and torpedoes. : "As a result of such experiments, the larger naval Powers are satisfied that the up-to-date battleship is not more vulnerable to bombs, mines, and torpedoes thatt to modern guns using high explosive charges. > , ",The decision of the Navy Department to proceed with the construction of battleships verifies the expressed opinion of experts of all the larger naval Powers, that the battleship continues to be the backbone of naval power, regardless of the advent and improvement of important, weapons, such as aeroplane bomb, the mine, and the torpedo."

Bids were opened by the Navy Department for the construction of four 1600-ton destroyers in private yards. Six companies submitted offers ranging from £1,200,000 to £2,000,000, with the Bath Iron Works Corporation of Maine the lowest bidder.

The low bid compares with a low offer a year ago of £1,000,000 for a destroyer of about the same size.

The increased costs were attributed by the National Council of American Shipbuilders to the fact that the four now to be built are of .somewhat different design, to higher costs «of materials, to new requirements concerning installation of propelling machinery, and to advanced labour costs.