MANIA FOR SPEED

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 34, 23 January 1931, Page 7

MANIA FOR SPEED

A NAVAL MISTAKE. USELESS EXPENDITURE ON VULNERABLE SHIPS. (United Press Association—By Cable— Copyright.] London, January 21. The “Daily Express’s’’ naval correspondent asks; “Are British 10,000ton cruisers—of which the Canberra and Australia are examples—which were built to the Washington Treaty limits, death-traps?” He proceeds: “To-day it il practically admitted officially that the ships are a grave mistake. Sir William Berry, late Director of Naval Construction, writing jn “Brassey’s Annual,” states that, as they are at present built, a wellplaced salvo of eight-inch shells would put the 10,000-tonners out of action. Protection has been sacrificed to speed. If more Treaty cruisers are built, they must be slower.” “These disclosures explain why the Admiralty stopped building the 10,000-ton type and started smaller types. ‘‘lllustrating the immense waste involved in 'constauction for high speed, ‘Brassey’s Annual’ instances a foreign cruiser which, to attain a speed of 30 knots required a 61,000 horse-power engine, while a 110,000 horse-power engine had to be installed for a speed of 32.75 knots.” The “Express” adds: “America is building 18 of the type, Franco seven, Italy seven, Japan eight, at a total cost of £100,000,000 —an ironic commentary on the limitation treaty, that rushed the peoples of the world helter-skelter into pouring out money on what naval experts now condemn.”