SCIENCE AND THE SEA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 February 1927, Page 8

SCIENCE AND THE SEA.

SHIES OF THE WORLD

FAR-lIEAOHING CHANGES. In the preface to the issue for 1927 of Brassey’s Naval and Shipping Annual, published. in December, it is remarked that far-reaching changes in the application of physical science to sea transport as veil as sea defence are taking place. Attention is specially directed to the developments in engineering, and it is pointed out- that the naval authorities are incorporating their deductions from the experiences of the Great War in the designs of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. “Everything concerned with sea affairs is undergoing a change, which is finding expression in a variety of ways, and is, in particular, affecting the equipment of all types of ships.” This movement is revealed in the illustrations, diagrams, and profiles which are contained in this volume, and in particular in the picture of the new British battleships Nelson and Rodney. A revolution is occurring at sea. The steamer, having vanquished the sailer, has recently been challenged by the motor-ship, and now Sir John Biles suggested that, owing to the research of'The Hon. Sir Charles Parsons, the motr-ship may find a serious rival in vessels fitted with high-pressure steam turbines of the type which is being tried experimentally in the Clyde pleasure steamer King George Y. The Admiralty is still maintaining almost complete silence as to the offensive and defensive powers of the two new battleships which will be commissioned this year, but the editors of Brassey’s Annual declare that “the.se vessels represent as revolutionary a development- of the capital ship as did fhe original Dreadnought when she took the water 20 years ago.” Commander A. Colquhoun Bell also foresees a reconsideration of the cruiser problem, in view of the varied uses to which such swift ships were put during the Great War. He considers the existing types as ill-suited to tlie probable demands of -any future war. Sir George Thurston, the well-known naval architect., is, on his part, dissatisfied with the torpedo-boat destroyers which are- now passing into the fleets of theworld, remarkable in fighting power and speed as these vessels are.

FUTURE OF THE CAPITAL SHIP

Yery complete accounts of the progress of the fleets of the British Empire and of foreign countries are given in two succeeding chapters by Commander Charles N. Robinson and Com-, mander H. L. Hitchims. The former officer suggests that with the approaching completion of the battleships Nelson and Rodney, the battle fleets of the principal navies of- the world will reach a state of equilibrium .in accordance with the ratios set forth in the Washington Naval Treaty. “When, these two battleships pass into commission, no capital ships,” it is remarked, “will be under construction lor any Power, but naval opinion holds that these will not be by any means the last vessels of the type to be built, but represent rather a new phase in naval construction, which will he entered upon as soon as the replacement programmes are taken in hand under the terms of the treaty.” The contention is that so long as no limits are placed upon modern weapons of war the big ship will be essential in order that adequate defensive measures against mines, submarines, and aircraft bombs may be associated with superior* offensive qualities. The battleship, it is evident, is not dead, but dormant, and as soon as the naval holiday is at an end new vessels of this large and costly type will be constructed. In this connection the explanation by Commander lehco Sato, of the Imperial Japanese Navy, of the naval policy of his country will be read with close interest, for the naval authorities of Japan, though they are pressing on with a programme of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, are in no doubt as to the assured future of tlie capital ship.

STATE OF MERCHANT SHIPPING

The outstanding feature of the section of Brassey’s Annual wliich is devoted to merchant shipping, is a contribution from Mr. IValter Bunciman, M.P., the president of the Chamber of •Snipping, which gains in importance in view of the forthcoming international conference on trade barriers. Though he is specially concerned with the fortunes and misfortunes of shipping, as a former President of the Board of Trade he does not ignore other issues which are certain to be discussed at Geneva. He deals trenchantly with the. contention, which various Socialists have sponsored, that if shipping were nationalised losses would bo turned into profits, and in disproof of this thesis points to the unhappy and ruinously costly experiments of this kind which have been made' by the United States and other countries. There arc special considerations, he urges, applying to the British people which reinforce the general arguments, for without the invisible exports which freights provide the country’s trading account could not be balanced from year to year. As in past issues, a large part of Brassey’s Annual is devoted to statistics on naval and merchant shipping affairs in a convenient form for ready reference, and there are hundreds of profiles of vessels of all types. It is claimed that this annual, which was founded by the first Lord Brassey, 38 yea is ago, and has in the past few years been greatly enlarged in scope as well as in size, is ‘‘the only publication of its kind either in the British Empire or any foreign country.” This challenging declaration, in view of the contents of the new issue, will be difficult to dispute.