REVIVAL URGED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20657, 10 September 1941, Page 3

REVIVAL URGED

N.Z. SHIPBUILDING NAVAL CHIEF’S PLEA WAR & MERCHANT CRAFT (Per Pres* Association.! AUCKLAND, this day. A plea for the revival and expansion oi the shipbuilding industry in New Zealand was made by Commodore W. E. Parry, Chief of the' Naval Staff, after the launching of the minesweeper Rimu. Not only would it be valuable to the navy, but it would help in the replacement of merchant shipping after the war, he said. Referring to Ihe difficulty that had been found in securing builders for naval ships, Commodore Parry said it was a mystery to him why there were not more shipbuilding yards in New Zealand In the old days there wore many yards which built wooden ships, but since steel construction became general the industry had to some extent languished. ‘•lf ever there was a country dependent for its life-blood on ships, it is New Zealand," be added. "yet for some reason shipowners needing ships have gone overseas.” Lack of Steel Not Bar It had been suggested that this was largely because the iron was not yetproduced in New Zealand. The great advances made by the industry in Australia had been based on the steel industry, and to some extent the Commonwealth had an advantage there. He very much envied the ships Australia was building, and wished New Zealand could do the same, but now a start was being made, the absence oi a steel industry was not a real bar. Japan, for instance, was carrying out a huge programme of shipbuilding, yet she had no iron. He felt quite sure this • was an opportunity that would be taken. He would like to think that this ship and her two sister ships of composite construction marked a transition from wood tc steel. The next minesweepers built would be of steel and would incorporate certain apparatus which could not be used in composite ships. A steel ship could hold more than a composite vessel of the same size. Demand for Replacement Even then we should not be content. Corvettes and even destroyers were being built in Australia, and we could do with larger ships, too. He felt sure the time was not far distant when we would be building them. "Even if the war ends to-morrow, there will be a big demand for the replacement of merchant losses,” he added. “What a fine thing it would be if New Zealand could built at least part of her own requirements in the future.” Supporting Commodore Parry’s remarks, in his address on behalf of contractors, Mr. E. H. Rhodes said that many years ago shipbuilding was one of the main industries of the city. A fleet of fast -schooners, staunch barques and barquentines, and coasters, under sail and steam, which operated from Auckland, were built and launched here.