A POWERFUL NAVY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 34, 10 February 1939, Page 7

A POWERFUL NAVY

OWNED BY GERMANY,

OFFICIAL REVELATIONS

Reichsfuhrer Hitler's navy, it is disclosed, has made strenuous efforts to keep pace with the German Army and Air Force, which Nazi leaders have described as the most powerful in the world, cables Sigrid Schultz from Berlin to the "Chicago Tribune." Strong increases in every category of -the German Navy, from superbattleships to 20-ton speedboats, are disclosed by the Official Navy Year Book of the German Admiralty. The construction xof two 35,000-ton battleships at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven is rapidly progressing. A third battleship of this type *is'planned. All three will be armed with eight 15-inch guns, twelve 6-inch guns, and anti-aircraft artillery. The first of these vessels will be launched next year. The 26,000-ton battleship Scharnhorst will be placed in commission soon. Thii will be thfe second battleship of this class in the German Navy. Germany is planning four light cruisers—X, L, M, and N—each displacing 7000 tons. Two other ; light cruisers, armed with 6-inch guns and displacing 10,000 tons, are being built. In accordance with treaty obligations, Germany will not increase the number of -its more heavily armed cruisers. Two of these are in commission and a third is under construction. Details of their armament, *,disclosedby the Year Book, show they are more efficiently equipped against aircraft than any vessel of the same type in the navies of other natipns. ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS. In addition to their main armament Of eight 8-inch guns, these 10,000-ton cruisers have anti-aircraft artillery of twelve 4-inch guns, twelve 1.5-inch guns, and a great number, of superheavy machine»guns, probably of 29 mm! bore. These . vessels also, are heavily equipped with torpedo tubes. They have twelve each of 21-inch bore in triple mounts. Despite their heavy armaments, the cruisers have a designed speed of 32 knots. They carry three seaplanes aboard. The first of Germany's two 19,250----ton aircraft carriers will be launched at Kiel in a day. or two. This vessel is remarkable for its comparatively heavy armament, which is designed to enable it to defend itself against lighter enemy seacraft without depending on the protection of cruisers or destroyers. It is armed wila sixteen 6-inch guns, ten 4-inch guns, ,and twenty-two 1.5-inch guns. The carrier has a designed speed of 32 knots. It is added that the maximum speed probably will be greater. The vessel carries 40 aeroplanes. It is explained that if this is somewhat lower than ships of the same type and size other navies carry, the German figure does not include aircraft fastened to the flying deck, but only such planes as can be stowed away in the hangars below deck. , THE PLANES DESCRIBED. The hew German ship will carry threes-setter planes of the AR-95 type, with twin floats and landing gear enabling them to operate on land. They are equipped with two machine-guns and can be used as scouters, bombers, and torpedo planes. They fire torpedoes weighing 1763 pounds. Germany now has _30 destroyers, either in commission or being built. The construction of twelve 600-ton torpedo boats is planned in addition to eighteen recently completed. Germany is planning the construction of ten more submarines, which will bring the total in this category up to 71. This is more in numbers than the British Navy has, although the German U-boats are smaller in tonnage. Fifteen of these suHmarines are of the 740-ton class, 24 of the 500-ton type, and 32 designed for coastal defence, displacing 250 tons each. Germany also is planning the conUtruction of 12 minesweepers and 18 .speedboats, bringing the total in the latter category to 37. , The Danube Fleet, which has become of great importance since the annexation of Austria and Sudetenland, is be-~ ing increased by 12 warcraft for the removal of river booms, mines, and other obstructions. A training ship for anti-aircraft gun[ners also is under construction.