BRITISH NAVY

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10095, 7 September 1925, Page 2

BRITISH NAVY

LAUNCHING OF BATTLESHIP NELSON. PROBABLY LAST OF CLASS TO BE BUILT. FUTURE SHIPS WILL BE RESTRICTED TO 10,000 TONS. (A. and N.Z. Cable Assn.) LONDON, Sept. 3. The battleship Nelson has been successfully launched at- Newcastle-on-Tyne. The whole design of the vessel lis the result of experience gained iu the war, particularly at Jutland. It will conform to the Washington agreement displacement limit of thirty-five thousand tons. The gun calibre is not in excess of 16in. The tonnage of the Royal Sovereign class is 25,750: that of the Hood 41,200. The Nelson, therefore, is midway between these two vessels. It is considered likely the Nelson and her sister ship the Rodney will be the last battleships built. The capital ships of the future very likely will have the elements of the present-day cruiser, the tonnage whereof restricted to ten thousand tons with guns of the maximum calibre of eight inches. So other battleship may now be laid down by Britain, Japan or America until 1931. The Nelson cost £7,000,000, with a yearly maintenance cost of £400,000