NAVAL ESTIMATES

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 7 March 1935, Page 5

NAVAL ESTIMATES

Britain’s Proposal to Spend £3,500 000 More than Last Year CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME TWENTY-SEVEN NEW CRAFT (British Official Wireless) Received 1 p.m. to-day. RUGBY, March G,

The Navy estimates for 1935 exceed the net total - for 1934 by £3,500,UU(> The total expenditure is set down at £60,050,000. The sum of £2,553,000 is being expended mainly on large ropahs and modernisation of capita) ships with a view to the prolongation of their lives by the London Treaty

Provision is made for an increase ol 2000 in the Fleet’s personnel. In a statement, accompanying the estimates, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Bolton Eyees Monsell, says of this increase £246,196 is required to make normal progress with new construction. There is a rise of £166,200 in non-effective votes, which is an automatic increase of £53,500 in the expenditure of the fleet air arm.

The new construction programme for 1935 is three cruisers, eight destroyers, three submarines, a depot ship, four sloops, namely, three minesweepers and one convoy sloop, one surveying ship and seven small vessels. The building of the new' cruisers, destroyers and submarines will continue to be governed by the London Naval Treaty until the end of 1936. As part of the celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the wring’s accession, a review of the combined Home and Mediterranean Fleets will be held at Spithead in July. After the review it is hoped that the King, m the yacht Victoria and Albert, will lead the fleet to sea and witness tactical exercises for the week. During the day a number of ships of the Home Fleet wil be present" off Southend, and some, it is hoped, will be moored in the' Thames to allow' the public to seo them. The total increase in the estimates ol the three British defence services approximates 4110,000,000. As' explained in the White Paper and in the notes accompanying the separate estimates, most of this money is required for modernisation in view of the economies made in recent years, largely with a desire of aiding rather than embarrassing the efforts towards an international peace agreement Only in the case of the air is any enlargement of the force contemplated, and Britain, which had the largest air force in the umrld at t(he end of the war, now ranks only fifth or sixth in (joint of size.